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    OpenVPN TCP in 2.4.5-p1 not working

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved OpenVPN
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    • G
      gkovachev
      last edited by

      Same here, I have pfSense as OpenVPN server and another pfSense as client. After upgrading the client to 2.4.5-p1 it stopped connecting to 2.4.5 server. If you change connection from TCP to UDP on both sides VPN starts to work again.

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • jimpJ
        jimp Rebel Alliance Developer Netgate
        last edited by

        It was probably the change for this bug: https://redmine.pfsense.org/issues/10368

        You could revert that change using the system patches package to see if that helps.

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        M 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • viktor_gV
          viktor_g Netgate
          last edited by

          Fix: https://redmine.pfsense.org/issues/10650

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 4
          • M
            mzac @jimp
            last edited by

            @jimp Thanks I switched to UDP for now and got it up and running but once the patch is in I'll try and revert back to TCP.

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
            • SipriusPTS
              SipriusPT
              last edited by

              Thanks all for the help sharing this info!

              I have several OpenVPN servers using only TCP, and had this issue, only with the site-to-site VPN from a pfsense 2.4.5-RELEASE-p1 server to a 2.4.5-RELEASE-p1 client, being the pfsense client the last one being updated.

              1xSG-4860-1U
              1xSG-3100
              2xpfSense Virtual Machines

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • G
                Greg_E
                last edited by Greg_E

                So I just updated a client in my home lab, and got locked out of the vpn to work. I'm trying to follow the fix, but obviously I'm not getting something. I'm assuming I need to edit /src/etc/inc/openvpn.inc to add/change the lines in the fix, but I can't find the /src folder when I SSH into my firewall. I have disabled the default admin account, so I'm logged in as a user I created who should have admin permissions.

                Could someone step me through the process from either the HTTP interface or through an SSH connection?

                Or do I need to have a keyboard/monitor attached to the computer this is running on?

                {EDIT} Found my way into /etc/inc and found the openvpn.inc file, just need to figure out where to put the lines from the fix. I'm using vi and not real familiar with it, so no line numbers.

                G 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • G
                  Greg_E @Greg_E
                  last edited by

                  @Greg_E Alright, persistence paid off, got it patched. Thanks for the info on the patch.

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • KOMK
                    KOM
                    last edited by KOM

                    I just ran into this last night while debugging a throughput issue. I had been using UDP all along, but I could only get 10Mbps out of it. Having read that some ISPs throttle UDP, I tried switching to TCP only to find I could no longer connect. Really unfortunate that this major bug gets reported and months later nothing has changed, and the user is expected to hack around trying to fix it.

                    viktor_gV jimpJ 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • RicoR
                      Rico LAYER 8 Rebel Alliance
                      last edited by

                      Well this bug crept into 2.4.5-p1 and we had no update since.

                      -Rico

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • viktor_gV
                        viktor_g Netgate @KOM
                        last edited by

                        @KOM you can also try https://redmine.pfsense.org/issues/10311#note-3 to improve openvpn speed

                        KOMK 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • KOMK
                          KOM @viktor_g
                          last edited by

                          @viktor_g Thanks. I'm running pfSense on both ends, router to router. Would this fix need to be applied to the server end, or both?

                          viktor_gV 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • viktor_gV
                            viktor_g Netgate @KOM
                            last edited by

                            @KOM said in OpenVPN TCP in 2.4.5-p1 not working:

                            @viktor_g Thanks. I'm running pfSense on both ends, router to router. Would this fix need to be applied to the server end, or both?

                            it's better to check both ways

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                            • jimpJ
                              jimp Rebel Alliance Developer Netgate @KOM
                              last edited by

                              @KOM said in OpenVPN TCP in 2.4.5-p1 not working:

                              I just ran into this last night while debugging a throughput issue. I had been using UDP all along, but I could only get 10Mbps out of it. Having read that some ISPs throttle UDP, I tried switching to TCP only to find I could no longer connect. Really unfortunate that this major bug gets reported and months later nothing has changed, and the user is expected to hack around trying to fix it.

                              It was fixed in the repository the same day it was reported. You can apply a single patch with the System Patches package to get the fix. It's not exactly "hacking around". It's not worth making a whole new release for a small bug like this, and almost nobody should be using TCP with OpenVPN anyhow.

                              Remember: Upvote with the 👍 button for any user/post you find to be helpful, informative, or deserving of recognition!

                              Need help fast? Netgate Global Support!

                              Do not Chat/PM for help!

                              C 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • KOMK
                                KOM @viktor_g
                                last edited by

                                @viktor_g Hmmm, I don't seem to have a loader.conf.local, only loader.conf. And the references to hw.em.rxd etc, is the em specific for the EM-1000 series of NICs? Should it be replaced with hw.vmx.rxd if you're using VMX NICs under VMware?

                                @jimp First you would have to stumble upon this forum thread, or an entry in Redmine if you even had an inkling this was a bug as opposed to a user config error. Then you have to install the System Patches package which should be something that nobody already has installed. Then you go to that bug in Redmine and you see that there are two patches listed from the same day with different IDs, and you're not sure which one to use. Not exactly simple or intuitive.

                                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                • G
                                  Greg_E
                                  last edited by

                                  I had help pointing me here.

                                  Going to have to read up on the system patches module, didn't know it existed and didn't figure it out while trying to fix my problem, so thanks for the tip.

                                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                  • C
                                    chipbr @jimp
                                    last edited by

                                    @KOM said in OpenVPN TCP in 2.4.5-p1 not working:

                                    It's not worth making a whole new release for a small bug like this, and almost nobody should be using TCP with OpenVPN anyhow.

                                    Sir, could you please explain why? I have more than 10 openvpn site-to-site using TCP, all with netgate sg1000. What is the reason not to use it?

                                    RicoR 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • johnpozJ
                                      johnpoz LAYER 8 Global Moderator
                                      last edited by

                                      I am running 2.4.5p1, and have openvpn running on tcp..

                                      I just validated, and don't see any issues with it.
                                      tcp.png

                                      I didn't install any patches.. Was this only a problem if you were running tcp on both ipv4 and ipv6? Mine has always been called tcp on ipv4 only.

                                      An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools
                                      If you get confused: Listen to the Music Play
                                      Please don't Chat/PM me for help, unless mod related
                                      SG-4860 24.11 | Lab VMs 2.8, 24.11

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                                      • RicoR
                                        Rico LAYER 8 Rebel Alliance @chipbr
                                        last edited by Rico

                                        @chipbr said in OpenVPN TCP in 2.4.5-p1 not working:

                                        Sir, could you please explain why? I have more than 10 openvpn site-to-site using TCP, all with netgate sg1000. What is the reason not to use it?

                                        • The OpenVPN protocol is designed to run over UDP.
                                        • UDP is faster / less overhead
                                        • It's not a good idea to wrap TCP packets in TCP packets. You can run in situations with compounded loss, which means OpenVPN is retransmitting lost TCP packets at the VPN layer while lost TCP packets inside the tunnel (say your client loading a HTTPS website) is also retransmitting at the same time.

                                        TCP should be your second choice for OpenVPN if you can't do UDP for some reason.

                                        -Rico

                                        C 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                        • johnpozJ
                                          johnpoz LAYER 8 Global Moderator
                                          last edited by johnpoz

                                          I agree, unless there is a specific reason to run tcp for your openvpn, it is better to use udp.

                                          That being said, there are some valid reason(s) why you might need/want to run it on tcp as well. The reason I do, is that not all locations allow for UDP 1194 outbound.. But its pretty much a given that tcp 443 will be allowed out, even if you have to auth to a proxy.. You can still get your vpn connection.

                                          So I run standard 1194 udp, as well as a tcp 443 instance.. If udp 1194 doesn't work, then try the 443 tcp one.

                                          An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools
                                          If you get confused: Listen to the Music Play
                                          Please don't Chat/PM me for help, unless mod related
                                          SG-4860 24.11 | Lab VMs 2.8, 24.11

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                                          • RicoR
                                            Rico LAYER 8 Rebel Alliance
                                            last edited by

                                            I totally see the reason for TCP 443 RAS, like sneaking out the hotels wifi with any but the common ports blocked.
                                            But for site to site VPNs? Bad idea.... maybe if you need to establish a connection between the US and China or something like this. ;-)

                                            -Rico

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