Is it possible to install the latest openvpn on 17.3 without breaking everything[SOLVED]

[fruitkiller]

My VPS service allows me to connect to it through openvpn, lately they've upgraded their security and now they have 256 bit AES encryption, some might say they were late but connecting to the server in openvpn isn't really a VPS's primary function, that's just a bonus. So I have to connect through terminal because their .ovpn file doesn't work with network-manager, I'll add it, but it will not add anything/configure anything automatically in the box, not even add in the IP address, and it looks like doing it manually doesn't work. After much talking to them on the Support tickets, they asked me to look at what openvpn version I had, and with Mint 17.3, I didn't get updates for it, or if I did it was a while ago, I have version 2.3.6, and they have deployed theirs on 2.4.1 the latest version.

Is it safe to upgrade to 2.4.1 in 17.3 ? Anybody did it successfully here without too much blood and sweat? (hopefully one does not need to compile, I can compile, but it's a drag, especially when it is cmake and make isn't enough. So right now I can't see the satisfying lock over the cord icon of my network-manager at the bottom right of the screen, it's not a big deal, I can do it manually, but if I can be more up to date, I will do so, if it requires updating to 18.1, I'll pass, I was glad we finally had a real LTS Mint with 17.x, so I'm going to use it until it's no longer updated or becomes obsolete really fast (I can't see how that would happen).

[phd21]

Hi "fruitkiller",

I do not know that upgrading the "openVPN" client software to version 2.4.x will resolve your VPN provider's server setup issues, but it is pretty easy to update the "OpenVPN" client using their repository in Linux Mint 17.x or Linux Mint 18.x. I have done this in both versions of Linux Mint. There are instructions in the link below. If the 256 bit AES encryption is the problem, can't you just change that when setting up the VPN server connection through the "Advanced" settings button, Security tab (see screenshot)? Normally users do not need to make changes in the Advanced Security Tab unless their VPN provider tells them to do so, and you must be specific because there are various 256-bit AES Encryption options, HMAC Authentication, maybe even the TLS Tab options might need changing too; sometimes (always?) the ".ovpn" configuration setup file will also have this information.

How to update the "openVPN" software for Linux Mint 18.x or 17.x
https://community.openvpn.net/openvpn/w ... twareRepos

Adding their software repository using the instructions (option 2) below will ensure updates.

Option 1: Linux deb files, newer versions are towards the bottom
Here are links to easy to install Linux deb files for current versions of "openVPN" software just click the corerct link below for your system, then click the 64-bit or 32-bit deb file for your system and double-click that file to installed it.

Linux Mint 17.x (Ubuntu 14.04 Trusty)
http://build.openvpn.net/debian/openvpn ... o/openvpn/

Linux Mint 18.x (Ubuntu 16.04 Xenial)
http://build.openvpn.net/debian/openvpn ... o/openvpn/

Option 2: add their software repository
Step1: Bring up a console terminal prompt

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sudo -s

Step2: import their public GPG key that is used to sign the packages

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wget -O - https://swupdate.openvpn.net/repos/repo-public.gpg|apt-key add -

Step3: Add their repository for your version of Linux Mint using one of the options below.

For Linux Mint 17.x, use this line for OpenVPN client version 2.4

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echo "deb http://build.openvpn.net/debian/openvpn/release/2.4 trusty main" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/openvpn-aptrepo.list

For Linux Mint 18.x, use this line for OpenVPN client version 2.4

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echo "deb http://build.openvpn.net/debian/openvpn/release/2.4 xenial main" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/openvpn-aptrepo.list

Step4:

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sudo apt-get update

Step5: This will update or upgrade the "OpenVPN" software client

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sudo apt-get install openvpn

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sudo apt-get install easy-rsa

Step6: Exit as "root" user from the console terminal prompt

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exit

If you want to see which version of the "OpenVPN" software client you are using, use the console terminal command below:

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openvpn --version

Hope this helps ...

OpenVPN_Security2.jpg

[fruitkiller]

It's a VPS, not a VPN, but sure, I'll just show you what they tell me then read your whole post :

And yeah, I know that I run 2.3.6 did the version thing and also it tells me when I connect manually interminal

Now that we know you were trying to use network manager, it's another matter. Download this updated configuration file /misc/ovpn/Galileo and then also download this tls-auth file /misc/ovpn/Galileo/tls-auth and add that to the Advanced>TLS Authentication tab in network manager, setting it to a Key File and then setting Key Direction to 1.

Hello xxx,

The latest version of OpenVPN appears to be 2.4.1, which is several releases after your current version. Can you verify on your system if a newer version of OpenVPN is available? I do understand that your other service works on the older version, however for troubleshooting it's important that we're working with the same versions. Furthermore, can you check the version of networkmanager-openvpn (or network-manager-openvpn) on your system

They also said obviously that having the most up to date network-manager/network-manager-openvpn would help, but when I gave to them what version of that I had from Synaptic, they focused on openvpn and told me to verify with the Mint/Openvpn people. They use openvpn 2.4.1...it doesn't change anything about my ability to connect to my server and thus get my server's IP address (which I hide, it's not something I want to be seen everywhere). At this point they asked me to ask you and the openvpn people. Now I'm going to read what you put there, you gave some effort. But to them the fact I didn't have the same openvpn version as them was the first thing that bothered them, it seems the network-manager gui is fine to them. I'll wait for a little more help because if I say one person says it doesn't matter then...

Anyway like I said it's not a huge issue, I don't mind connection through terminal and do screen so i don't have a frozen window.

Yeah the .ovpn file turns out nothing in the network-manager, the other VPN (not VPS) service I use, also has me giving it a key file and a "direction" of 1, whatever that means and works fine. But .ovpn they gave me, when I load it, it's blankety blankety blank everywhere, normally LZO compression is checked in almost every setup I've ever seen, and nothing shows up, not even the ip address so there's a problem with how the network-manager gui reacts to that .ovpn file which functions perfectly when connecting manually.

But if there is a PPA for openvpn, well I don't see why not, it is for Rosa right? There's one program's PPA that I use for rafaela repos and that's Boot-Repair, they didn't make a new one so....for when my win7 partition needs reinstalling and it destroys the MBR, I have to boot up with supergrub disk into linux and then start boot-repair, or else the linux partition would be lost forever, thankfully its pretty small, just 70gb or so, so all the precious data is on 2 Black Caviar 1tb drives, screw even Red Caviars, I've had a brand new one test lower than my old WD 200GB from 2005 which still lives on to this day, one of the first SATA drive..at 1.5/gbs

[phd21]

Hi "fruitkiller",

You can still easily update the "OpenVPN" software just like I described, for you on Step3 use the one for Linux Mint 17.x.

[fruitkiller]

I forgot to say, yep, I could install the latest openvpn without destroying everything and end up with broken packages and a whole mess. Case solved. Thanks!

[Moem]

Case solved. Thanks!

That's great! Please mark it as such in the first post in the thread, by editing the title, so that people can see it before they even open the thread. Thank you!

[phd21]

Hi "fruitkiller",

You are welcome...