OpenVPN Server on a VPS: Users, Profiles and Connections

When your server is ready, we email you its IP address and the root password. The same details are in your client area, under the server’s information. In the commands below, replace SERVER_IP with your server’s IP address.

Log in over SSH, check that the OpenVPN service is running and look at its files. The configuration lives in /etc/openvpn/, and /root/openvpn-conf.sh is the script that manages users.

ssh root@SERVER_IP
systemctl status openvpn@server
ls -la /etc/openvpn/

The server comes with one client profile, a .ovpn file in /root/. List it, then copy it to your computer, replacing PROFILE with the file’s name:

ls /root/*.ovpn
scp root@SERVER_IP:/root/PROFILE.ovpn ~/Downloads/

Run the management script on the server and follow its menu:

1. Choose 1, Add a new user.
2. Enter a client name. Use only letters, numbers, underscores or dashes.
3. Choose 1 for a profile without a password, or 2 to protect the profile’s key with a password, which you then enter twice.
4. The script saves the profile as /root/UserName.ovpn, named after the client.

/root/openvpn-conf.sh

Copy the new profile from the server to your computer:

scp root@SERVER_IP:/root/UserName.ovpn ./

Windows users connect with OpenVPN Community Edition (OpenVPN GUI).

1. Download OpenVPN Community Edition from openvpn.net and install it with the default components, including the TAP driver.
2. Copy the profile to your computer, for example with the commands below in PowerShell. Enter the server’s root password when asked.
3. Right-click the OpenVPN icon in the system tray and choose Import file…, then pick the .ovpn file.
4. Right-click the icon again and choose Connect. Enter the profile’s password if it has one.
5. The icon turns green once you are connected.

mkdir C:\OpenVPN
scp root@SERVER_IP:/root/UserName.ovpn C:\OpenVPN\

Each platform has an official OpenVPN client that imports the same .ovpn file.

1. macOS: install OpenVPN Connect and drag the .ovpn file into it.
2. iPhone and Android: install OpenVPN Connect from the App Store or Google Play, open the .ovpn file with it (or use Import Profile > File) and tap Connect.
3. Linux: install OpenVPN and start the profile with the commands below.

sudo apt install openvpn
sudo openvpn --config UserName.ovpn

To remove someone’s access, run the management script again:

1. Choose 2, Revoke existing user.
2. Pick the user from the list.
3. Confirm with y.

/root/openvpn-conf.sh

If you prefer to work with Easy-RSA directly, list the issued certificates, revoke one, rebuild the revocation list (CRL) and restart OpenVPN:

ls /etc/openvpn/easy-rsa/pki/issued/
cd /etc/openvpn/easy-rsa/
./easyrsa revoke UserName
./easyrsa gen-crl
cp pki/crl.pem /etc/openvpn/crl.pem
chmod 644 /etc/openvpn/crl.pem
systemctl restart openvpn@server