GENERAL QUICKSTART FOR WINDOWS
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OpenVPN requires a configuration file and key/certificate files. You should
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obtain these and save them to OpenVPN's configuration directory, usually
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C:\Program Files\OpenVPN\config. Starting with OpenVPN 2.4-alpha1 you can also
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put user-specific configurations to %USERPROFILE%\OpenVPN\config when using
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OpenVPN GUI.
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You can run OpenVPN as a Windows system service, by using OpenVPN GUI or from a
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command-prompt. To use the OpenVPN GUI, double click on the desktop icon or
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start menu icon. OpenVPN GUI is a system-tray applet, so an icon for the GUI
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will appear in the lower-right corner of the screen. Right click on the system
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tray icon, and a menu should appear showing the names of your OpenVPN
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configuration files, and giving you the option to connect. Starting in OpenVPN
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2.4-alpha1 admin privileges are no longer required for launching OpenVPN
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connections using configuration files stored in the global config directory
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(usually C:\Program Files\OpenVPN\config). Users who belong to the built-in
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administrator group, or to the local "OpenVPN Administrator" group can also
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store configuration files under %USERPROFILE%\OpenVPN\config. In both of these
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cases OpenVPN Interactive Service needs to be running: if it is not,
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administrator privileges are still required to successfully start OpenVPN
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connections. For further details please refer to OpenVPN GUI documentation:
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https://github.com/OpenVPN/openvpn-gui
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OpenVPN 2.4-alpha1 and later come bundled with three system services:
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OpenVPNService (new, improved background service)
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OpenVPNServiceInteractive (required to run GUI as non-admin)
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OpenVPNServiceLegacy (deprecated background service)
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The installer starts OpenVPNServiceInteractive automatically and configures it
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to start at system startup. This is done to allow unprivileged users to start
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OpenVPN connections using OpenVPN GUI without any extra configuration.
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OpenVPNService is based on openvpnserv2, a complete rewrite of the OpenVPN
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service wrapper. It is intended for launching OpenVPN instances that should be
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up at all times, instead of being manually launched by a user. OpenVPNService is
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able to restart individual OpenVPN processes if they crash, and it also works
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properly on recent Windows versions. OpenVPNServiceLegacy tends to work poorly,
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if at all, on newer Windows versions (8+) and its use is not recommended.
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BUILDING OPENVPN FOR WINDOWS
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Official OpenVPN Windows releases are cross-compiled on Linux using the
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openvpn-build buildsystem:
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https://community.openvpn.net/openvpn/wiki/BuildingUsingGenericBuildsystem
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First setup the build environment as shown in the above article. Then fetch the
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openvpn-build repository:
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git clone https://github.com/OpenVPN/openvpn-build.git
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Review the build configuration:
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openvpn-build/generic/build.vars
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openvpn-build/windows-nsis/build-complete.vars
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Build (unsigned):
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cd openvpn-build/windows-nsis
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./build-complete
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Build (signed):
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cd openvpn-build/windows-nsis
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./build-complete --sign --sign-pkcs12=<pkcs12-file>\
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--sign-pkcs12-pass=<pkcs12-file-password> \
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--sign-timestamp="<timestamp-url>"
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