OpenVPN Support Forum

In Linux using OpenVPN if I want to sign up for a VPN service, like many of them you see on the internet, do I need to use like the client.conf or anything else to set it up?

From what I can see all I need to do is compile/install OpenVPN then drop in the conf, key and cert files from the VPN provider and run OpenVPN like this;

openvpn --auth-nocache --config /etc/openvpn/config.conf --ca /etc/openvpn/certs/ca.crt

And that's really all there is to it?

The thing is, I'm having problems with a VPN provider, my connection drops like every hour typically.

I have a DSL connection, with a 7MB line that is really stable that I've never had any problems with for 2 years, no problems with my router or modem either and I've tested the connection with no firewall running either to exclude this possibility and still I get disconnected.

I also don't have anything in the router to drop connectivity if I'm idle, or if the system was to sleep or hibernate, I have nothing like this either.

So I'm wondering is OpenVPN designed as a fail safe for when there is no activity for a certain length of time it just disconnects you?

One thing that caught my attention in the 'xinetd-client-config' sample was the line at the bottom;

inactive 600

What does this inactive 600 deal with?


THANKS

P.S. After making the post I'll try this;

openvpn --auth-nocache --keepalive 10 60 --config /etc/openvpn/config.conf --ca /etc/openvpn/certs/ca.crt

We talked in IRC.
it ended with you needing to get support from the vpn provider, because their settings may override yours for things like a keepalive
i pointed you to the manual to understand --inactive
feel free to let us know the solution (it may have been needing to remove --inactive)