Debugging Errors

named cookie not present

Debugging this issue is a bit hard. At least here is a step-by-step guide to debug the cookie handling in the browser.

I assume you are using a Chrome-based Browser.

Requirements

• Before connecting to OpenVPN server, open a browser locally. On the new tab page, right-click and select Inspect. Open the Network tab and enable Preserve log before continuing.

• Ideally, you aren't logged on Azure with your main browser, otherwise you are not intercept the flow.

• Ensure that you have access to OpenVPN server logs in real time. If you use journalctl, add --no-pager so long links are not truncated.

Debugging Steps

1. Initiate connection to OpenVPN server, close the browser opened by OpenVPN client.
2. Goto OpenVPN server logs, grab the line with INFO_PRE,WEB_AUTH and copy the link with the full state.
3. Paste the link on the tab where the browser console is opened.
4. Continue the auth flow.
5. On the access-denied screen, check the Browser Console for any errors.
6. Then get the Network tab again. There is a request with /oauth2/start or just start. Click on Cookies and check if the response cookie is present. Example Screenshot:
7. Then get the Network tab again. There is a request with /oauth2/callback or just callback. Click on Cookies and check if the request cookie is present. Example Screenshot:

Error Message Received control message: 'PUSH_REQUEST' in OpenVPN Client v3

Sometimes the client stuck at this stage Received control message: 'PUSH_REQUEST' and can't connect, and at the end it will time out like this message Connection Timeout, and you can see in the logs like this:

[Feb 14, 2024, 22:28:57] Session is ACTIVE
[Feb 14, 2024, 22:28:57] EVENT: GET_CONFIG
[Feb 14, 2024, 22:28:57] Sending PUSH_REQUEST to server...
[Feb 14, 2024, 22:28:58] Sending PUSH_REQUEST to server...
[Feb 14, 2024, 22:29:00] Sending PUSH_REQUEST to server...
[Feb 14, 2024, 22:29:03] Sending PUSH_REQUEST to server...
[Feb 14, 2024, 22:29:06] Sending PUSH_REQUEST to server...
[Feb 14, 2024, 22:29:09] Sending PUSH_REQUEST to server...
[Feb 14, 2024, 22:29:12] Sending PUSH_REQUEST to server...
[Feb 14, 2024, 22:29:15] Sending PUSH_REQUEST to server...
[Feb 14, 2024, 22:29:18] Sending PUSH_REQUEST to server...
[Feb 14, 2024, 22:29:21] Sending PUSH_REQUEST to server...
[Feb 14, 2024, 22:29:24] Sending PUSH_REQUEST to server...
[Feb 14, 2024, 22:29:27] Sending PUSH_REQUEST to server...
[Feb 14, 2024, 22:29:29] Raw stats on disconnect:
 BYTES_IN : 3483
 BYTES_OUT : 4088
 PACKETS_IN : 18
 PACKETS_OUT : 20

If you see this message on the client-side (version3), you may want to make sure you add these lines to your oauth configuration file

env/sysconfig configuration
OPENVPN_AUTH_OAUTH2_OAUTH2_REFRESH_ENABLED=true OPENVPN_AUTH_OAUTH2_OAUTH2_REFRESH_EXPIRES=24h OPENVPN_AUTH_OAUTH2_OAUTH2_REFRESH_SECRET=... # 16 or 24 characters
yaml configuration
oauth2: refresh: enabled: true expires: 24h secret: "..." # 16 or 24 characters

For reference, you can read more about these properties in the wiki at this link

Mobile clients: OpenVPN connect won't be reconnecting after unless App is opened

If you are using the OpenVPN Connect app on your mobile device, you may have noticed that the app won't reconnect after a connection loss unless you open the app. This is a known issue and is caused by the app being put to sleep by the operating system. To fix this, configure

OpenVPN Server Configuration

auth-token-gen [lifetime] external-auth

openvpn-auth-oauth2 Configuration

env/sysconfig configuration
OPENVPN_AUTH_OAUTH2_OAUTH2_REFRESH_ENABLED=true OPENVPN_AUTH_OAUTH2_OAUTH2_REFRESH_EXPIRES=8h OPENVPN_AUTH_OAUTH2_OAUTH2_REFRESH_SECRET=... # a static secret to encrypt token. Must be 16, 24 or 32 OPENVPN_AUTH_OAUTH2_OAUTH2_REFRESH_USE_SESSION_ID=true
yaml configuration
oauth2: refresh: enabled: true expires: 8h secret: "..." # 16 or 24 characters use-session-id: true

For reference, you can read more about these properties in the wiki at this link