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I want to run my openvpn as systemd service. This tutorial tells me to use [email protected] template for that:

https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Openvpn#Setting_up_a_Linux_OpenVPN_client

 ln -s /lib/systemd/system/[email protected] /etc/systemd/system/[email protected]

I can do that but before trying I wonder that in the same folder there is also an [email protected] file, which is not even mentioned in the tutorial. I looked into both but my knowledge of systemd is limited. From what I can see, both would work running an openvpn client, just [email protected] would start it with --daemon ovpn-%i. Wouldn't it be better to have it running as a daemon? Is the tutorial just outdated and not covering this .service file?

user6329530
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1 Answers1

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From 2.4.0, configuration moved to subdirectories: /etc/openvpn/{client,server} and the corresponding systemd units were changed from the generic [email protected] to [email protected] and [email protected].

As the changelog describes it:

OpenVPN now ships with more up-to-date systemd unit files which take advantage of the improved service management as well as some hardening steps. The configuration files are picked up from the /etc/openvpn/server/ and /etc/openvpn/client/ directories (depending on unit file). This also avoids these new unit files and how they work to collide with older pre-existing unit files.

So it appears the Fedora wiki is out-of-date.

jasonwryan
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  • Thanks so I was right using the client version. It works well when I copy the conf into /etc/openvpn/clients – user6329530 Jul 17 '18 at 19:50
  • [Debian is behind, too.](https://unix.stackexchange.com/a/409689/5132) – JdeBP Jul 17 '18 at 21:06
  • @JdeBP Colour me shocked... :p – jasonwryan Jul 17 '18 at 21:08
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    And what is the difference between `openvpn@server` and `openvpn-server@server` services? I can see that they both exist when using commands `sudo service openvpn@server status` and `sudo service openvpn-server@server status`. However only `openvpn-server@server` is used. – baptx Mar 22 '20 at 19:13