How to disable OpenVPN from autostarting at boot-up or reboot?

Question

I am using Ubuntu 12.04.2 LTS, 64-bit, OpenVPN client 2.3.1

How do I prevent OpenVPN from autostarting at boot-up or reboot?

Solution

You have two options:

• Run:

  sudo update-rc.d openvpn disable
  

  Then you'll have to run sudo service openvpn start to manually start the VPN.

• Or edit the file /etc/default/openvpn

  sudo gedit /etc/default/openvpn
  

  And uncomment the line:

  #AUTOSTART="none"
  

  So it looks like:

  AUTOSTART="none"
  

  Then you'll have to run sudo service openvpn start <vpn-name> to manually start the VPN. <vpn-name> is the config file name without .conf.

Comments

[n00b]

According to OpenVPN's website (openvpn.net/index.php/download/community-downloads.html), it is recommended to use the current stable release. Specifically the download link for 2.3.1 is repos.openvpn.net/repos/apt/precise-stable/… What I did was to right-click the URL and was given the option to save it locally or opened with "Ubuntu Software Center". I chose the latter and installed it with the help of "Ubuntu Software Center".

[n00b]

Thanks Eric for your help. Can I put more than 10 config files in /etc/openvpn/ ?

[Eric Carvalho]

As many as you want. I don't know about its limits, but I think you could have a reasonably high number of config files.

[n00b]

Eric: If I choose Option 1, ie. to run sudo update-rc.d openvpn disable, if I wish to re-enable autostart, do I use the command: sudo update-rc.d openvpn enable ?

[Eric Carvalho]

Yes, sudo update-rc.d openvpn enable.

[n00b]

Thanks Eric for your help. Would you mind looking at the question indicated by the following link: askubuntu.com/questions/303203/…

[Anto]

Hello @EricCarvalho: thanks for the answer. Is it some sort of standard ? Can I add the AUTOSTART="none" to another service file (I'd like to prevent supervisor from auto-starting) ? Or is it just for OpenVPN ?

[Kaos]

+1 for sudo service openvpn start <vpn-name>

[Nek]

update-rc.d is init.d related, the new way to process is using systemd. systemctl is-enabled openvpn@vpn-name to learn if it's enabled, systemctl disable openvpn@vpn-name to disable on startup.

[Displayname71]

None of this works for me. I always have an /usr/sbin/openvpn running after bootup that I have to manually kill, but it comes back on reboot