Can't get a certificate signed on Ububtu server

[lostme]

Hallo, I work on Openvpn on Ubu Server, I tried to get a certificate signed with "sudo openssl ca -config ca.cnf -in xxxx.req -out newcerts/xxxx.crt -notext", but I get only "usr/ssl/serial: no such file or directory" and "error while loading serial number". What's wrong?

[mwandelaar]

Do you have the right directory-structure in place for openssl ca?
In the configfile there should be paths to files. And in the directory used for the entire CA-path, you need the file "serial" with the next available serialnumber for the upcoming cert.

All these files are clearly mentioned in the ca.cnf file you are using already.
And it's clearly written down here in the manpage

Hope this helps