OpenVPN setup does not offer what i need for my vpn server....

gpatel-fr

I don't know if you are still struggling with this OpenVpn configuration, it seems that the default configuration generated with PIVpn assumes that every access should be routed by the server, if you have as a symptom that all Internet access is lost after launching the VPN this could be a reason, routing everything through the server is often not what is wanted anyway. Try to use easy-openvpn-server instead, from what I remember it generates a more usable configuration.

Vlad Nirky

@gpatel-fr
Solved.
Add this in nmconnection file before import.
~~cipher AES-256-CBC~~
cipher AES-256-GCM
auth SHA256
ncp-disable

Critical lines in your Ubuntu Touch log
WARNING: ‘auth’ is used inconsistently, local=‘auth SHA256’, remote=‘auth SHA1’
phde/188.5.220.190:1210 Authenticate/Decrypt packet error: packet HMAC authentication failed
The server uses SHA256 authentication
The Ubuntu Touch client uses SHA1 authentication
Result: the HMACs of the data packets do not match → rejection.

Why does Fedora work?

Fedora (OpenVPN 2.6.15 with AEAD/DCO) does not need separate “auth” because AES-256-GCM mode already includes authentication in the encryption.
Ubuntu Touch, on the other hand, still forces an older mode (AES-256-CBC + SHA1 authentication).

Vlad Nirky

@gpatel-fr @OtaDr @gpatel-fr

Thanks for your help !

gpatel-fr

@Vlad-Nirky said in OpenVPN setup does not offer what i need for my vpn server....:

Fedora (OpenVPN 2.6.15 with AEAD/DCO) does not need separate “auth” because AES-256-GCM mode already includes authentication in the encryption.

probably a mismatch in Openvpn versions, they have this habit of changing some parameters meaning. Nice wrap-up, thanks for the explanation.

jagdtigger

@Vlad-Nirky
Did your method with the nmcli import command (only had to add the user+pass in the UT GUI), still get timeout on the phone and the same errors in openvpn log. And i think i know why. Seems like nmcli has its own mind and omitted settings from the imported config....
Original

client
remote '<domain>'
tun-ipv6
cert '/home/phablet/Documents/vpn/phone.crt'
key '/home/phablet/Documents/vpn/phone.key'
ca '/home/phablet/Documents/vpn/server.crt'
auth-user-pass
dev tun
dev-type tun
proto udp
port <port>
tls-crypt '/home/phablet/Documents/vpn/tls.key'
tls-version-min '1.3' or-highest
nobind
auth-nocache
script-security 2
persist-key
persist-tun
user nm-openvpn
group nm-openvpn

Imported:

root@ubuntu-phablet:/home/phablet/Documents/vpn# cat /etc/netplan/90-NM-f1365f35-54fb-432f-8a95-fd811aafd906.yaml 
network:
  version: 2
  nm-devices:
    NM-f1365f35-54fb-432f-8a95-fd811aafd906:
      renderer: NetworkManager
      networkmanager:
        uuid: "f1365f35-54fb-432f-8a95-fd811aafd906"
        name: "main-vpn"
        passthrough:
          connection.type: "vpn"
          vpn.ca: "/home/phablet/Documents/vpn/server.crt"
          vpn.cert: "/home/phablet/Documents/vpn/phone.crt"
          vpn.cert-pass-flags: "1"
          vpn.connection-type: "password-tls"
          vpn.dev: "tun"
          vpn.dev-type: "tun"
          vpn.key: "/home/phablet/Documents/vpn/phone.key"
          vpn.password-flags: "1"
          vpn.port: "<port>"
          vpn.remote: "<domain>"
          vpn.username: "<user>"
          vpn.service-type: "org.freedesktop.NetworkManager.openvpn"
          ipv4.method: "auto"
          ipv6.addr-gen-mode: "default"
          ipv6.method: "auto"
          proxy._: ""

No wonder the server has tls errors, the tls-crypt option is missing.

Vlad Nirky

@jagdtigger
I imagine it also depends on the VPN server and its configuration...
This works for me.

phablet@ubuntu-phablet:~$ cat /home/phablet/Documents/KeePass/phde.nmconnection 
client
remote '<my_server>.ddns.net' 1194
cert '/home/phablet/.cert/nm-openvpn/phde-cert.pem'
key '/home/phablet/.cert/nm-openvpn/phde-key.pem'
ca '/home/phablet/.cert/nm-openvpn/phde-ca.pem'
cipher AES-256-GCM
auth SHA256
ncp-disable
dev tun
proto udp
remote-cert-tls server
verify-x509-name rpi3_9b0ae2d9-f297-4706-ab24-8b9d63b3a51f name
tls-crypt '/home/phablet/.cert/nm-openvpn/phde-tls-crypt.pem'
tls-version-min '1.2'
nobind
auth-nocache
script-security 2
persist-key
persist-tun
user nm-openvpn
group nm-openvpn
route 192.168.128.0 255.255.254.0

gpatel-fr

@jagdtigger

oh well TIL that Ubuntu is patching network-manager to backup the network configuration changes to netplan. I was sticking to the old advice 'either netplan OR network-manager'.

For your information, network manager is a Gnome thing and wants nothing to do with netplan that is an Ubuntu thing. Since Ubuntu mostly uses Gnome, this patching tries to make for a better config since network manager is deeply integrated into Gnome. Adding OpenVpn and Ubuntu Touch (that don't use Gnome) is not making things much clearer in the corner cases unfortunately.
So I don't find the idea of getting a netplan config invalid or fighting with Network Manager particularly surprising.
I have no idea if just editing the netplan file and restarting netplan with sudo netplan apply will 'stick' in UT.

jagdtigger

@Vlad-Nirky
Every other client, including this phone with the openvpn app when it was running android connected just fine so i have doubts about the server causing it.
Server log:

Oct 26 11:23:17	openvpn	68034	openvpn server 'ovpns1' user '<phone>' address '<phone_ip>:2866' - connected
Oct 26 11:23:17	openvpn	89539	MULTI_sva: push_ifconfig_ipv6 <ip6>
Oct 26 11:23:16	openvpn	63105	openvpn server 'ovpns1' user '<phone>' address '<phone_ip>:2866' - connecting
Oct 26 11:23:16	openvpn	89539	phone/<phone_ip>:2866 MULTI_sva: push_ifconfig_ipv6 <ip6>
Oct 26 11:23:16	openvpn	89539	phone/<phone_ip>:2866 MULTI_sva: pool returned IPv4=10.125.220.2, IPv6=<ip6>
Oct 26 11:23:15	openvpn	5699	user '<phone>' authenticated
Oct 26 11:23:15	openvpn	89539	<phone_ip>:2866 [phone] Peer Connection Initiated with [AF_INET]<phone_ip>:2866
Oct 26 11:23:15	openvpn	89539	<phone_ip>:2866 peer info: IV_COMP_STUBv2=1
Oct 26 11:23:15	openvpn	89539	<phone_ip>:2866 peer info: IV_COMP_STUB=1
Oct 26 11:23:15	openvpn	89539	<phone_ip>:2866 peer info: IV_LZO_STUB=1
Oct 26 11:23:15	openvpn	89539	<phone_ip>:2866 peer info: IV_PROTO=990
Oct 26 11:23:15	openvpn	89539	<phone_ip>:2866 peer info: IV_CIPHERS=AES-256-GCM:CHACHA20-POLY1305
Oct 26 11:23:15	openvpn	89539	<phone_ip>:2866 peer info: IV_MTU=1600
Oct 26 11:23:15	openvpn	89539	<phone_ip>:2866 peer info: IV_TCPNL=1
Oct 26 11:23:15	openvpn	89539	<phone_ip>:2866 peer info: IV_PLAT=linux
Oct 26 11:23:15	openvpn	89539	<phone_ip>:2866 peer info: IV_VER=2.6.14

Phone console output (usb adb shell):

phablet@ubuntu-phablet:~/Documents/vpn$ sudo openvpn --config ./main-vpn.ovpn
2025-10-26 11:23:09 Unrecognized option or missing or extra parameter(s) in ./main-vpn.ovpn:11: block-outside-dns (2.6.14)
2025-10-26 11:23:09 OpenVPN 2.6.14 aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu [SSL (OpenSSL)] [LZO] [LZ4] [EPOLL] [PKCS11] [MH/PKTINFO] [AEAD] [DCO]
2025-10-26 11:23:09 library versions: OpenSSL 3.0.13 30 Jan 2024, LZO 2.10
2025-10-26 11:23:09 DCO version: N/A
Enter Auth Username: <phone>
Enter Auth Password: ••••••••••              
2025-10-26 11:23:15 TCP/UDP: Preserving recently used remote address: [AF_INET]<server>
2025-10-26 11:23:15 UDPv4 link local: (not bound)
2025-10-26 11:23:15 UDPv4 link remote: [AF_INET]<server>
2025-10-26 11:23:15 WARNING: this configuration may cache passwords in memory -- use the auth-nocache option to prevent this
2025-10-26 11:23:15 [openvpn_server-cr] Peer Connection Initiated with [AF_INET]<server>
2025-10-26 11:23:17 Options error: Unrecognized option or missing or extra parameter(s) in [PUSH-OPTIONS]:3: block-outside-dns (2.6.14)
2025-10-26 11:23:17 Options error: Unrecognized option or missing or extra parameter(s) in [PUSH-OPTIONS]:4: register-dns (2.6.14)
2025-10-26 11:23:17 WARNING: You have specified redirect-gateway and redirect-private at the same time (or the same option multiple times). This is not well supported and may lead to unexpected results
2025-10-26 11:23:17 WARNING: You have specified redirect-gateway and redirect-private at the same time (or the same option multiple times). This is not well supported and may lead to unexpected results
2025-10-26 11:23:17 WARNING: You have specified redirect-gateway and redirect-private at the same time (or the same option multiple times). This is not well supported and may lead to unexpected results
2025-10-26 11:23:17 sitnl_send: rtnl: generic error (-101): Network is unreachable
2025-10-26 11:23:17 TUN/TAP device tun0 opened
2025-10-26 11:23:17 net_iface_mtu_set: mtu 1500 for tun0
2025-10-26 11:23:17 net_iface_up: set tun0 up
2025-10-26 11:23:17 net_addr_v4_add: <ip4> dev tun0
2025-10-26 11:23:17 net_iface_mtu_set: mtu 1500 for tun0
2025-10-26 11:23:17 net_iface_up: set tun0 up
2025-10-26 11:23:17 net_addr_v6_add: <ip6> dev tun0
2025-10-26 11:23:17 Initialization Sequence Completed

The network unreachable error is odd, but right now the main issue is that the nmcli+ntplan combo is royally screwing up the config itself when imported or when forced to add user+pass in the gui....

@gpatel-fr
I was aware from the getgo ubuntu does stupid things like NM+NP, not to mention their obsession with their failing app packaging format.....
Anyway as i said above i think it does something iffy with the config. The tls-crypt option missing inside the netplan yaml even though it was there before import i think is a pretty good indicator of that.

Luksus

@jagdtigger do you have VoLTE enabled? For me, it somehow affects VPN connections and I need to disable it for VPN to work.

Vlad Nirky

@Luksus
voLTE is always enabled for me (Xiaomi Redi Note 9 Pro 24.04 Stable (at the moment))
No effect on VPN connections

Luksus

@Vlad-Nirky thanks for the info, then it may be my mobile provider which causes the issue.

jagdtigger

Had a bit of time playing with this. Looks like when i add the needed luser+pass UT borks the config.
After import but before edit in gui:

root@ubuntu-phablet:/home/phablet/Documents/vpn# cat /etc/netplan/90-NM-52d84ad9-6e22-45a6-b0cc-77e6639f57dc.yaml 
network:
  version: 2
  nm-devices:
    NM-52d84ad9-6e22-45a6-b0cc-77e6639f57dc:
      renderer: NetworkManager
      networkmanager:
        uuid: "52d84ad9-6e22-45a6-b0cc-77e6639f57dc"
        name: "main-vpn"
        passthrough:
          connection.type: "vpn"
          vpn.ca: "/home/phablet/Documents/vpn/server.crt"
          vpn.cert: "/home/phablet/Documents/vpn/phone.crt"
          vpn.connection-type: "password-tls"
          vpn.dev: "tun"
          vpn.dev-type: "tun"
          vpn.key: "/home/phablet/Documents/vpn/phone.key"
          vpn.password-flags: "1"
          vpn.port: "<port>"
          vpn.remote: "<domain>"
          vpn.tls-crypt: "/home/phablet/Documents/vpn/tls.key"
          vpn.tls-version-min: "1.3"
          vpn.tls-version-min-or-highest: "yes"
          vpn.tun-ipv6: "yes"
          vpn.service-type: "org.freedesktop.NetworkManager.openvpn"
          ipv4.method: "auto"
          ipv6.addr-gen-mode: "default"
          ipv6.method: "auto"
          proxy._: ""

After adding user+pass:

root@ubuntu-phablet:/home/phablet/Documents/vpn# cat /etc/netplan/90-NM-52d84ad9-6e22-45a6-b0cc-77e6639f57dc.yaml 
network:
  version: 2
  nm-devices:
    NM-52d84ad9-6e22-45a6-b0cc-77e6639f57dc:
      renderer: NetworkManager
      networkmanager:
        uuid: "52d84ad9-6e22-45a6-b0cc-77e6639f57dc"
        name: "main-vpn"
        passthrough:
          connection.type: "vpn"
          vpn.ca: "/home/phablet/Documents/vpn/server.crt"
          vpn.cert: "/home/phablet/Documents/vpn/phone.crt"
          vpn.cert-pass-flags: "1"
          vpn.connection-type: "password-tls"
          vpn.dev: "tun"
          vpn.dev-type: "tun"
          vpn.key: "/home/phablet/Documents/vpn/phone.key"
          vpn.password-flags: "1"
          vpn.port: "<port>"
          vpn.remote: "<domain>"
          vpn.username: "phone"
          vpn.service-type: "org.freedesktop.NetworkManager.openvpn"
          ipv4.method: "auto"
          ipv6.addr-gen-mode: "default"
          ipv6.method: "auto"
          proxy._: ""

Emtyied the file then inserted the origynal config, reboot, then trying to connect with nmcli:

phablet@ubuntu-phablet:~$ sudo su -
[sudo] password for phablet: 
root@ubuntu-phablet:~# nano /etc/netplan/90-NM-52d84ad9-6e22-45a6-b0cc-77e6639f57dc.yaml
root@ubuntu-phablet:~# nmcli con up id main-vpn --ask
A password is required to connect to 'main-vpn'.
Password (vpn.secrets.password): ••••••••••
Error: Connection activation failed: The VPN service stopped unexpectedly
Hint: use 'journalctl -xe NM_CONNECTION=52d84ad9-6e22-45a6-b0cc-77e6639f57dc + NM_DEVICE=ril_0' to get more details.

Output from yournalctl from the last line:

Nov 03 19:44:41 ubuntu-phablet NetworkManager[1855]: <info>  [1762195481.3645] manager: (ril_0): new Broadband device (/org/freedesktop/NetworkManager/Devices/8)
Nov 03 19:44:41 ubuntu-phablet NetworkManager[1855]: <info>  [1762195481.3696] device (ril_0): state change: unmanaged -> unavailable (reason 'managed', sys-iface-state: 'external')
Nov 03 19:44:41 ubuntu-phablet NetworkManager[1855]: <info>  [1762195481.3704] device (ril_0): modem state 'initializing'
Nov 03 19:45:22 ubuntu-phablet NetworkManager[1855]: <info>  [1762195522.7025] device (ril_0): state change: unavailable -> disconnected (reason 'modem-available', sys-iface-state: 'managed')
Nov 03 19:45:22 ubuntu-phablet NetworkManager[1855]: <info>  [1762195522.7151] device (ril_0): Activation: starting connection 'Vodafone HU' (45cef972-7709-52f9-90a2-6b67d193ddf6)
Nov 03 19:45:22 ubuntu-phablet NetworkManager[1855]: <info>  [1762195522.7154] device (ril_0): state change: disconnected -> prepare (reason 'none', sys-iface-state: 'managed')
Nov 03 19:45:23 ubuntu-phablet NetworkManager[1855]: <info>  [1762195523.3959] device (ril_0): state change: prepare -> config (reason 'none', sys-iface-state: 'managed')
Nov 03 19:45:23 ubuntu-phablet NetworkManager[1855]: <info>  [1762195523.4014] device (ril_0): state change: config -> ip-config (reason 'none', sys-iface-state: 'managed')
Nov 03 19:45:23 ubuntu-phablet NetworkManager[1855]: <warn>  [1762195523.4075] device (ril_0): retrieving IP configuration failed: modem IP method unsupported
Nov 03 19:45:23 ubuntu-phablet NetworkManager[1855]: <info>  [1762195523.4530] device (ril_0): state change: ip-config -> ip-check (reason 'none', sys-iface-state: 'managed')
Nov 03 19:45:23 ubuntu-phablet NetworkManager[1855]: <info>  [1762195523.5092] device (ril_0): state change: ip-check -> secondaries (reason 'none', sys-iface-state: 'managed')
Nov 03 19:45:23 ubuntu-phablet NetworkManager[1855]: <info>  [1762195523.5101] device (ril_0): state change: secondaries -> activated (reason 'none', sys-iface-state: 'managed')
Nov 03 19:45:23 ubuntu-phablet NetworkManager[1855]: <info>  [1762195523.5122] device (ril_0): Activation: successful, device activated.
Nov 03 19:46:05 ubuntu-phablet NetworkManager[1855]: <info>  [1762195565.5396] vpn[0x55b0078e60,52d84ad9-6e22-45a6-b0cc-77e6639f57dc,"main-vpn"]: starting openvpn

Not much, lets see what journalctl -e had to offer:

Nov 03 19:54:14 ubuntu-phablet NetworkManager[1855]: <info>  [1762196054.8404] agent-manager: agent[75085e56325963a9,:1.110/nmcli-connect/0]: agent registered
Nov 03 19:54:14 ubuntu-phablet NetworkManager[1855]: <info>  [1762196054.8451] vpn[0x55b0071c60,52d84ad9-6e22-45a6-b0cc-77e6639f57dc,"main-vpn"]: starting openvpn
Nov 03 19:54:14 ubuntu-phablet NetworkManager[1855]: <info>  [1762196054.8475] audit: op="connection-activate" uuid="52d84ad9-6e22-45a6-b0cc-77e6639f57dc" name="main-vpn" pid=5266 uid=0 result="success"
Nov 03 19:54:19 ubuntu-phablet NetworkManager[5278]: 2025-11-03 19:54:19 Note: option tun-ipv6 is ignored because modern operating systems do not need special IPv6 tun handling anymore.
Nov 03 19:54:19 ubuntu-phablet nm-openvpn[5278]: Note: --cipher is not set. OpenVPN versions before 2.5 defaulted to BF-CBC as fallback when cipher negotiation failed in this case. If you need this fallback ple>
Nov 03 19:54:19 ubuntu-phablet nm-openvpn[5278]: WARNING: file '/home/phablet/Documents/vpn/phone.key' is group or others accessible
Nov 03 19:54:19 ubuntu-phablet nm-openvpn[5278]: OpenVPN 2.6.14 aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu [SSL (OpenSSL)] [LZO] [LZ4] [EPOLL] [PKCS11] [MH/PKTINFO] [AEAD] [DCO]
Nov 03 19:54:19 ubuntu-phablet nm-openvpn[5278]: library versions: OpenSSL 3.0.13 30 Jan 2024, LZO 2.10
Nov 03 19:54:19 ubuntu-phablet nm-openvpn[5278]: DCO version: N/A
Nov 03 19:54:19 ubuntu-phablet nm-openvpn[5278]: WARNING: No server certificate verification method has been enabled.  See http://openvpn.net/howto.html#mitm for more info.
Nov 03 19:54:19 ubuntu-phablet nm-openvpn[5278]: NOTE: the current --script-security setting may allow this configuration to call user-defined scripts
Nov 03 19:54:19 ubuntu-phablet nm-openvpn[5278]: Insufficient key material or header text not found in file '[[INLINE]]' (0/128/256 bytes found/min/max)
Nov 03 19:54:19 ubuntu-phablet nm-openvpn[5278]: Exiting due to fatal error
Nov 03 19:54:19 ubuntu-phablet NetworkManager[1855]: <warn>  [1762196059.3200] vpn[0x55b0071c60,52d84ad9-6e22-45a6-b0cc-77e6639f57dc,"main-vpn"]: dbus: failure: connect-failed (1)
Nov 03 19:54:19 ubuntu-phablet NetworkManager[1855]: <warn>  [1762196059.3222] vpn[0x55b0071c60,52d84ad9-6e22-45a6-b0cc-77e6639f57dc,"main-vpn"]: dbus: failure: connect-failed (1)
Nov 03 19:54:19 ubuntu-phablet lomiri-indicator-network-service[4655]: Debug: VPN Connection Failed "The VPN connection 'main-vpn' failed." ((null):0, (null))
Nov 03 19:54:19 ubuntu-phablet lomiri-indicator-network-service[4655]: Debug: VPN Connection Failed "The VPN connection 'main-vpn' failed because the VPN service stopped unexpectedly." ((null):0, (null))

Im out of ideas at this point.....

jagdtigger

Finally found the issue, for some reason the tls key was wrong (dont even ask, have no idea how that happened)........

@Luksus
Didnt rebbot after turning volte off but doesnt seem to effect the vpn.

/edit
Well ping doesnt go through the tunnel but normal web traffic does, openvpn could really have a bit more clearer error messages. Like "Invalid tls key" or something instead of and obtuse " Insufficient key material or header text not found in file '[[INLINE]]' ".....