Step by step to install OpenVPN inside a Jail in FreeNAS 11.1-U1

[itskando]

Running any of the following commands:

• iocage restart openVPN (following Running prestop OK)
• iocage restart openVPN (following Starting services OK)
• root@openVPN: openvpn --config /usr/local/etc/openvpn/openvpn.conf

sometimes causes the entire freeNAS server to abruptly crash and restart.

Is this a common behavior?

 

[itskando]

I am not getting the email after trying to send it to myself in the last step.

It seems like the email is being sent, but it is not received on the specified address. It does not end up in the Spam folder either. I have set up the System -> Email from the WebGUI and this works just fine.

Did you ever figure this out?
It's the same for me.

Whenever I log into the jail, it points out that I have new mail.

The mail is /var/mail/root,
where root is a text file.
The file has grown HUGE over just a month and a half.
Lots of warnings about failures to connect/send.

I renamed a copy and deleted the original.
When I enter the jail,
I no longer receive the "You have new mail." message.

But it leaves me wondering if this issue could be a clue to
why I still can't get openVPN to output correctly.

.

Code:

root@openVPN:/usr/local/etc/openvpn # ping smtp.google.com
ping: cannot resolve smtp.google.com: Unknown host

Note: smtp.gmail.com works fine.

 

[itskando]

output of command "sockstat -4 -l"
Code:
# sockstat -4 -l
USER COMMAND PID FD PROTO LOCAL ADDRESS FOREIGN ADDRESS
root syslogd 25305 7 udp4 *:514 *:*

It's funny; I've never gotten root.
I only ever get nobody.
We're two opposite sides of the coin.

first [...] check if openvpn is running.

How do I know it's running?

With sockstat?
It has to have nobody AND root listed, right?.

check your port forwarding in your router. (if you used the same port numbers as the OP (443 external port, to 1194 internal port) then you need [...] to forward external port 443 to internal port 1194 to the IP of your openvpn jail - not the IP of your freenas box.)

Is this absolutely necessary?
Why isn't manual port forwarding mentioned in the guide?

Also - my router only allows me to choose active IPs for port forwarding.
It sees my plugin jail IPs and it sees my freeNAS OS IP,
but it doesn't see the openVPN jail.

I have DCHP disabled and VNET enabled with a static IP of 192.168.86.8.
Could someone post me their openVPN jail parameters - especially if they're DCHP disabled?

also, if your VPN server is not on an internet connection that gives you a static IP for your location, you'll need to sign up for a dynamic DNS from somewhere like No-IP (noip.com). normal residential connections IP address changes randomly. and it would be a pain to try to change the IP in the client config file every time it changes.

How do I know if my public IP is static?
It doesn't seem to have changed in 1.5 months time.
Is that a good sign?

I also grabbed Google Domains space for this, (since I thought I would need it ..) but
if I create a Dynamic DNS, it creates an "A"-type address which I link to my current public IPv4 address,
it comes with user and password credentials.

Is this expected? Where would I enter those.

Is no-ip better than purchasing a domain?

 

[Silver_Sen]

Need help on this, can't start the openvpn service

Code:

Tue Feb 19 01:00:58 2019 OpenVPN 2.4.6 amd64-portbld-freebsd11.2 [SSL (OpenSSL)] [LZO] [LZ4] [MH/RECVDA] [AEAD] built on Feb  7 2019
Tue Feb 19 01:00:58 2019 library versions: OpenSSL 1.0.2o-freebsd  27 Mar 2018, LZO 2.10
Tue Feb 19 01:00:58 2019 NOTE: your local LAN uses the extremely common subnet address 192.168.0.x or 192.168.1.x.  Be aware that this might create routing conflicts if you connect to the VPN server from public locations such as internet cafes that use the same subnet.
Tue Feb 19 01:00:58 2019 Diffie-Hellman initialized with 2048 bit key
Tue Feb 19 01:00:58 2019 Outgoing Control Channel Authentication: Using 160 bit message hash 'SHA1' for HMAC authentication
Tue Feb 19 01:00:58 2019 Incoming Control Channel Authentication: Using 160 bit message hash 'SHA1' for HMAC authentication
Tue Feb 19 01:00:58 2019 ROUTE_GATEWAY 192.168.1.1/255.255.255.0 IFACE=epair0b HWADDR=02:ff:60:9b:c8:80
Tue Feb 19 01:00:58 2019 Cannot allocate TUN/TAP dev dynamically
Tue Feb 19 01:00:58 2019 Exiting due to fatal error

 

[itskando]

Regarding:

Using command openvpn --config /usr/local/etc/openvpn/openvpn.conf:

Show

Code:

root@openVPN:~ # ipfw list
00100 nat 1 ip from 10.8.0.0/24 to any out via epair0b
00200 nat 1 ip from any to any in via epair0b
65535 allow ip from any to any

root@openVPN:~ # sockstat -4 -l
USER     COMMAND    PID   FD PROTO  LOCAL ADDRESS         FOREIGN ADDRESS    
nobody   openvpn    4456  7  udp4   192.168.86.8:1194     *:*

root@openVPN:~ # openvpn --config /usr/local/etc/openvpn/openvpn.conf
Mon Feb 18 12:10:14 2019 OpenVPN 2.4.6 amd64-portbld-freebsd11.2 [SSL (OpenSSL)] [LZO] [LZ4] [MH/RECVDA] [AEAD] built on Nov 29 2018
Mon Feb 18 12:10:14 2019 library versions: OpenSSL 1.0.2o-freebsd  27 Mar 2018, LZO 2.10
Mon Feb 18 12:10:14 2019 Diffie-Hellman initialized with 2048 bit key
Mon Feb 18 12:10:14 2019 Outgoing Control Channel Authentication: Using 160 bit message hash 'SHA1' for HMAC authentication
Mon Feb 18 12:10:14 2019 Incoming Control Channel Authentication: Using 160 bit message hash 'SHA1' for HMAC authentication
Mon Feb 18 12:10:14 2019 ROUTE_GATEWAY 192.168.86.1/255.255.255.0 IFACE=epair0b HWADDR=02:ff:60:c1:31:6f
Mon Feb 18 12:10:14 2019 TUN/TAP device /dev/tun1 opened
Mon Feb 18 12:10:14 2019 do_ifconfig, tt->did_ifconfig_ipv6_setup=0
Mon Feb 18 12:10:14 2019 /sbin/ifconfig tun1 10.8.0.1 10.8.0.2 mtu 1500 netmask 255.255.255.255 up

Mon Feb 18 12:10:14 2019 /sbin/route add -net 10.8.0.0 10.8.0.2 255.255.255.0
add net 10.8.0.0: gateway 10.8.0.2 fib 0: route already in table
Mon Feb 18 12:10:14 2019 ERROR: FreeBSD route add command failed: external program exited with error status: 1

Mon Feb 18 12:10:14 2019 Could not determine IPv4/IPv6 protocol. Using AF_INET
Mon Feb 18 12:10:14 2019 Socket Buffers: R=[42080->42080] S=[9216->9216]
Mon Feb 18 12:10:14 2019 TCP/UDP: Socket bind failed on local address [AF_INET]192.168.86.8:1194: Address already in use (errno=48)
Mon Feb 18 12:10:14 2019 Exiting due to fatal error
Mon Feb 18 12:10:14 2019 Closing TUN/TAP interface
Mon Feb 18 12:10:14 2019 /sbin/ifconfig tun1 destroy
root@openVPN:~ #

.

If I use service openvpn stop,
I don't get the add error.
I think the add error derives from
running openVPN while it is already running.

Can anyone confirm?

 

[itskando]

I have seen that kind of behaviour.
I'm my FreeNAS with OpenVPN jail if I restart that jail for configuration change it fails to start correctly and even crashed NAS 2 times.
Only way to recover back OpenVPN jail settings and NAT configuration is fully restart FreeNAS box.
I have seen this in some forums and raised bug on tracker.

Where, I'd like to +1 that bug : j

 

[itskando]

Tue Feb 19 01:00:58 2019 Cannot allocate TUN/TAP dev dynamically[/CODE]

Thanks so much for this tutorial! After many hours of playing with this under Freenas 11.2, I got it working!

Here are my tips (YMMV):

For the commands executed within the jail under iocage to get in it's:

Code:

iocage console <jail name>

To get OpenVPN to run under iocage with default settings ("cannot create TAP dynamically" exit error) I had to run from the NAS host (not within the jail):

Code:

iocage stop <jail-name>
iocage set allow_tun=1 <jail-name>
iocage start <jail-name>

Connecting to the VPN required two things:

Code:

#Server Config File at the very top
local <IP address of the jail>

And:

Code:

#In the client config file set the port number = the server port number

remote <your internet domain or public (static) IP> 1194 #instead of 443

(not sure if this was completely necessary)

In order to test the connection I found I could not connect from within the network on my PC for some reason. Instead, I used the OpenVPN connect app under iOS. To load the files, connect the phone to iTunes, go to File Sharing then click on the OpenVPN app and upload the files there. Profile pops up in the app and all is good.

Obviously I had to forward the appropriate ports in my router/firewall as well. Hopefully this helps someone; overall the process is straightforward enough hopefully someone can come up with a working plugin instead.

Oh and the email thing didn't work for me either for some reason. Rather than tracking down the issue I just (in the Freenas GUI) stopped the jail, added a NAS mount point on a shared directory, and copied the files from there.

 

[itskando]

I just wanted to say wow and thanks for this step-by-step guide Bibi40k. It worked perfectly. Especially these last instructions on how to combine the client files into a single .ovpn file. That "key-direction 1" was very important and I missed it the first time :). I was able to build/configure an OpenVPN jail, open the .ovpn file on my iPad using the OpenVPN app and connected into my network via my external IP, awesome work Bibi40k.

Did the long cert chaaracter chains need to be on one line, or could they be continued across several lines, so long as they were followed by ---end cert--- like in the pic?

 

[yozart]

Hello,
I tried to follow this tutorial but I'm facing an issue at the step :
ipfw list

I got the following error
ipfw: retrieving config failed: Operation not permitted

The openvpn.log contains the following :

Code:

Apr  4 20:59:20 OpenVPN openvpn[62999]: OpenVPN 2.4.6 amd64-portbld-freebsd11.2 [SSL (OpenSSL)] [LZO] [LZ4] [MH/RECVDA] [AEAD] built on $
Apr  4 20:59:20 OpenVPN openvpn[62999]: library versions: OpenSSL 1.0.2o-freebsd  27 Mar 2018, LZO 2.10
Apr  4 20:59:20 OpenVPN openvpn[63000]: GDG: problem writing to routing socket
Apr  4 20:59:20 OpenVPN openvpn[63000]: Diffie-Hellman initialized with 2048 bit key
Apr  4 20:59:20 OpenVPN openvpn[63000]: Outgoing Control Channel Authentication: Using 160 bit message hash 'SHA1' for HMAC authenticati$
Apr  4 20:59:20 OpenVPN openvpn[63000]: Incoming Control Channel Authentication: Using 160 bit message hash 'SHA1' for HMAC authenticati$
Apr  4 20:59:20 OpenVPN openvpn[63000]: GDG: problem writing to routing socket
Apr  4 20:59:20 OpenVPN openvpn[63000]: ROUTE: default_gateway=UNDEF
Apr  4 20:59:20 OpenVPN openvpn[63000]: Cannot allocate TUN/TAP dev dynamically
Apr  4 20:59:20 OpenVPN openvpn[63000]: Exiting due to fatal error

and here my openvpn.conf

Code:

# listen on? (optional)
;local a.b.c.d

# Which TCP/UDP port should OpenVPN listen on?
# If you want to run multiple OpenVPN instances
# on the same machine, use a different port
# number for each one.  You will need to
# open up this port on your firewall.
port 1194

# TCP or UDP server?
;proto tcp
proto udp

# "dev tun" will create a routed IP tunnel,
# "dev tap" will create an ethernet tunnel.
# Use "dev tap0" if you are ethernet bridging
# and have precreated a tap0 virtual interface
# and bridged it with your ethernet interface.
# If you want to control access policies
# over the VPN, you must create firewall
# rules for the the TUN/TAP interface.
# On non-Windows systems, you can give
# an explicit unit number, such as tun0.
# On Windows, use "dev-node" for this.
# On most systems, the VPN will not function
# unless you partially or fully disable
# the firewall for the TUN/TAP interface.
;dev tap
dev tun

# Windows needs the TAP-Win32 adapter name
# from the Network Connections panel if you
# have more than one.  On XP SP2 or higher,
# you may need to selectively disable the
# Windows firewall for the TAP adapter.
# Non-Windows systems usually don't need this.
;dev-node MyTap

# SSL/TLS root certificate (ca), certificate
# (cert), and private key (key).  Each client
# and the server must have their own cert and
# key file.  The server and all clients will
# use the same ca file.
#
# of scripts for generating RSA certificates
# and private keys.  Remember to use
# a unique Common Name for the server
# and each of the client certificates.
#
# Any X509 key management system can be used.
# OpenVPN can also use a PKCS #12 formatted key file
# (see "pkcs12" directive in man page).
ca /usr/local/etc/openvpn/keys/ca.crt
cert /usr/local/etc/openvpn/keys/openvpn-server.crt
key /usr/local/etc/openvpn/keys/openvpn-server.key # This file should be kept secret

# Diffie hellman parameters.
# Generate your own with:
#   openssl dhparam -out dh2048.pem 2048
dh /usr/local/etc/openvpn/keys/dh.pem

# Network topology
# Should be subnet (addressing via IP)
# unless Windows clients v2.0.9 and lower have to
# be supported (then net30, i.e. a /30 per client)
# Defaults to net30 (not recommended)
;topology subnet

# Configure server mode and supply a VPN subnet
# for OpenVPN to draw client addresses from.
# The server will take 10.8.0.1 for itself,
# the rest will be made available to clients.
# Each client will be able to reach the server
# on 10.8.0.1. Comment this line out if you are
# ethernet bridging. See the man page for more info.
server 10.8.0.0 255.255.255.0

# Maintain a record of client <-> virtual IP address
# associations in this file.  If OpenVPN goes down or
# is restarted, reconnecting clients can be assigned
# the same virtual IP address from the pool that was
# previously assigned.
ifconfig-pool-persist ipp.txt

# Configure server mode for ethernet bridging.
# You must first use your OS's bridging capability
# to bridge the TAP interface with the ethernet
# NIC interface.  Then you must manually set the
# IP/netmask on the bridge interface, here we
# must set aside an IP range in this subnet
# (start=10.8.0.50 end=10.8.0.100) to allocate
# to connecting clients.  Leave this line commented
# out unless you are ethernet bridging.
;server-bridge 10.8.0.4 255.255.255.0 10.8.0.50 10.8.0.100

# Configure server mode for ethernet bridging
# using a DHCP-proxy, where clients talk
# to the OpenVPN server-side DHCP server
# to receive their IP address allocation
# and DNS server addresses.  You must first use
# your OS's bridging capability to bridge the TAP
# interface with the ethernet NIC interface.
# Note: this mode only works on clients (such as
# Windows), where the client-side TAP adapter is
# bound to a DHCP client.
;server-bridge

# Push routes to the client to allow it
# to reach other private subnets behind
# the server.  Remember that these
# private subnets will also need
# to know to route the OpenVPN client
# address pool (10.8.0.0/255.255.255.0)
# back to the OpenVPN server.
;push "route 192.168.10.0 255.255.255.0"
push "route 192.168.1.0 255.255.255.0"

# To assign specific IP addresses to specific
# clients or if a connecting client has a private
# subnet behind it that should also have VPN access,
# use the subdirectory "ccd" for client-specific
# configuration files (see man page for more info).

# EXAMPLE: Suppose the client
# having the certificate common name "Thelonious"
# also has a small subnet behind his connecting
# machine, such as 192.168.40.128/255.255.255.248.
# First, uncomment out these lines:
;client-config-dir ccd
;route 192.168.40.128 255.255.255.248
# Then create a file ccd/Thelonious with this line:
#   iroute 192.168.40.128 255.255.255.248
# This will allow Thelonious' private subnet to
# access the VPN.  This example will only work
# using "dev tun" and "server" directives.

# EXAMPLE: Suppose you want to give
# Thelonious a fixed VPN IP address of 10.9.0.1.
# First uncomment out these lines:
;client-config-dir ccd
;route 10.9.0.0 255.255.255.252
# Then add this line to ccd/Thelonious:
#   ifconfig-push 10.9.0.1 10.9.0.2

# Suppose that you want to enable different
# firewall access policies for different groups
# of clients.  There are two methods:
# (1) Run multiple OpenVPN daemons, one for each
#     group, and firewall the TUN/TAP interface
#     for each group/daemon appropriately.
# (2) (Advanced) Create a script to dynamically
#     modify the firewall in response to access
#     from different clients.  See man
#     page for more info on learn-address script.
;learn-address ./script

# If enabled, this directive will configure
# all clients to redirect their default
# network gateway through the VPN, causing
# all IP traffic such as web browsing and
# and DNS lookups to go through the VPN
# (The OpenVPN server machine may need to NAT
# or bridge the TUN/TAP interface to the internet
# in order for this to work properly).
;push "redirect-gateway def1 bypass-dhcp"

# Certain Windows-specific network settings
# can be pushed to clients, such as DNS
# or WINS server addresses.  CAVEAT:
# http://openvpn.net/faq.html#dhcpcaveats
# The addresses below refer to the public
# DNS servers provided by opendns.com.
;push "dhcp-option DNS 208.67.222.222"
;push "dhcp-option DNS 208.67.220.220"

# Uncomment this directive to allow different
# clients to be able to "see" each other.
# By default, clients will only see the server.
# To force clients to only see the server, you
# server's TUN/TAP interface.
;client-to-client

# Uncomment this directive if multiple clients
# might connect with the same certificate/key
# files or common names.  This is recommended
# only for testing purposes.  For production use,
# each client should have its own certificate/key
# pair.
#
# IF YOU HAVE NOT GENERATED INDIVIDUAL
# CERTIFICATE/KEY PAIRS FOR EACH CLIENT,
# EACH HAVING ITS OWN UNIQUE "COMMON NAME",
# UNCOMMENT THIS LINE OUT.
;duplicate-cn

# The keepalive directive causes ping-like
# messages to be sent back and forth over
# the link so that each side knows when
# the other side has gone down.
# Ping every 10 seconds, assume that remote
# peer is down if no ping received during
# a 120 second time period.
keepalive 10 120

# For extra security beyond that provided
# by SSL/TLS, create an "HMAC firewall"
# to help block DoS attacks and UDP port flooding.
#
# Generate with:
#   openvpn --genkey --secret ta.key
#
# The server and each client must have
# a copy of this key.
# The second parameter should be '0'
# on the server and '1' on the clients.
tls-auth /usr/local/etc/openvpn/keys/ta.key 0 # This file is secret
remote-cert-tls client

# Select a cryptographic cipher.
# This config item must be copied to
# the client config file as well.
# Note that v2.4 client/server will automatically
# negotiate AES-256-GCM in TLS mode.
# See also the ncp-cipher option in the manpage
cipher AES-256-CBC
# Enable compression on the VPN link and push the
# option to the client (v2.4+ only, for earlier
# versions see below)
;compress lz4-v2
;push "compress lz4-v2"

# For compression compatible with older clients use comp-lzo
# If you enable it here, you must also
# enable it in the client config file.
;comp-lzo

# The maximum number of concurrently connected
# clients we want to allow.
;max-clients 100

# It's a good idea to reduce the OpenVPN
# daemon's privileges after initialization.
#
# You can uncomment this out on
# non-Windows systems.
user nobody
group nobody

# The persist options will try to avoid
# accessing certain resources on restart
# that may no longer be accessible because
# of the privilege downgrade.
persist-key
persist-tun

# Output a short status file showing
# current connections, truncated
# and rewritten every minute.
status openvpn-status.log

# By default, log messages will go to the syslog (or
# on Windows, if running as a service, they will go to
# the "\Program Files\OpenVPN\log" directory).
# Use log or log-append to override this default.
# "log" will truncate the log file on OpenVPN startup,
# while "log-append" will append to it.  Use one
# or the other (but not both).
;log         openvpn.log
;log-append  openvpn.log
# Set the appropriate level of log
# file verbosity.
#
# 0 is silent, except for fatal errors
# 4 is reasonable for general usage
# 5 and 6 can help to debug connection problems
# 9 is extremely verbose
verb 3

# Silence repeating messages.  At most 20
# sequential messages of the same message
# category will be output to the log.
;mute 20

# Notify the client that when the server restarts so it
# can automatically reconnect.
explicit-exit-notify 1

I can't undesrtand what'isn't working!

 

[itskando]

Hello,
I tried to follow this tutorial but I'm facing an issue at the step :
ipfw list

I got the following error
ipfw: retrieving config failed: Operation not permitted

The openvpn.log contains the following :

[...]

and here my openvpn.conf

[...]

What about the ipfw file?
It's an ipfw problem, so it probably has to do with that file, no?

 

[yozart]

I started everything again from scratch and it finally works.
Only difference is that I didn't used the GUI to create the jail but below command:

Code:

 iocage create -n "OpenVPN" -r "11.2-RELEASE" vnet="on" bpf="yes" dhcp="on" allow_raw_sockets="1" boot="on" allow_tun="1"

I'm now stucked on the sendmail but will check this tomorrow. I saw that few people got same issue so I hope to find some answer there! (I will come back otherwise ;) )

 

[itskando]

Can anyone confirm if any of bpf="yes" dhcp="on" allow_raw_sockets="1" are necessary?

 

[itskando]

I just needed to connect to the primary router, rather than the wifi bridge. :/

 

[itskando]

In freeNAS OS, should Services --> ssh be left as port 22 when using openVPN?

 

[arden]

about halfway through the setup getting this loos like something is broken :(

root@vpn_server:/usr/local/etc/openvpn/easy-rsa # openvpn --genkey --secret ta.key
Shared object "libdl.so.1" not found, required by "openvpn"
root@vpn_server:/usr/local/etc/openvpn/easy-rsa #

root@vpn_server:/usr/local/etc/openvpn/easy-rsa # uname -a
FreeBSD vpn_server 11.1-STABLE FreeBSD 11.1-STABLE #0 r321665+79f05c3dd3d(HEAD): Wed Jan 23 12:02:34 EST 2019 root@nemesis.tn.ixsystems.com:/freenas-releng/freenas/_BE/objs/freenas-releng/freenas/_BE/os/sys/FreeNAS.amd64 amd64
root@vpn_server:/usr/local/etc/openvpn/easy-rsa #

 

[colmconn]

If I recall correctly, you can link libc to libdl.so.1 to get around this library not found error.

 

[benjaminjsanders]

Confused about the easy-rsa, and don't see any explanations in the comments. Apologies, but I don't know enough to know what terms to google. The guide shows a configuration like this:

Code:

set_var EASYRSA_REQ_COUNTRY    "US"
set_var EASYRSA_REQ_PROVINCE "California"
set_var EASYRSA_REQ_CITY    "San Francisco"
set_var EASYRSA_REQ_ORG    "Copyleft Certificate Co"
set_var EASYRSA_REQ_EMAIL    "me@mydomain.com"
set_var EASYRSA_REQ_OU    "My Organizational Unit"
set_var EASYRSA_KEY_SIZE    2048
# The default crypto mode is rsa; ec can enable elliptic curve support.
# Note that not all software supports ECC, so use care when enabling it.
# Choices for crypto alg are: (each in lower-case)
# * rsa
# * ec
#set_var EASYRSA_ALGO    rsa
# Define the named curve, used in ec mode only:
#set_var EASYRSA_CURVE    secp384r1
# In how many days should the root CA key expire?
set_var EASYRSA_CA_EXPIRE 3650
# In how many days should certificates expire?
set_var EASYRSA_CERT_EXPIRE 3650

What are all these variables and how do I know what to set them to? Why would I put my real email and location in a VPN configuration? I don't even know how to ask about EASYRSA_CURVE or some of these other options. Could someone help?

 

[Bigsby]

Confused about the easy-rsa, and don't see any explanations in the comments. Apologies, but I don't know enough to know what terms to google. The guide shows a configuration like this...

These varaibles are required to set up a certificate and CA you can fill them out correctly or with bogus info, they will not be verified or checked.
If you want you could probably just leave them as they are however this would nt be advised.

 

[JaZ416]

Hi ! I've been following your method too and ... ( hear me out, i'm light medium novice XD ) openvpn service does not start XD !!! yeayy

So I deleted my jail twice now, started over and the same problem persist... the service does not start.

as in
root@OpenVPN:/ # service openvpn start
Starting openvpn.
root@OpenVPN:/ # service openvpn status
openvpn is not running.


P.S. It's been years since I didn't post on a forum so ... My post might not be as congruent as possible ... just tell me and I'll do my best to correct

 

[onekanoobie]

Hi ! I've been following your method too and ... ( hear me out, i'm light medium novice XD ) openvpn service does not start XD !!! yeayy

So I deleted my jail twice now, started over and the same problem persist... the service does not start.

as in
root@OpenVPN:/ # service openvpn start
Starting openvpn.
root@OpenVPN:/ # service openvpn status
openvpn is not running.


P.S. It's been years since I didn't post on a forum so ... My post might not be as congruent as possible ... just tell me and I'll do my best to correct

I have been setting this up today and and having routing issues, but was having your same issue at first. Your issue is probably due to the TUN setting in the jails setup. under the custom properties when you edit the jail you should be able to select "allow_tun". try selecting that.