I am running openvpn-2.5.3-1.2.x86_64 on OpenSUSE Tumbleweed (20211111).
I am currently unable to log into my openvpn server. The initialization and authorization seem to succeed but then I get the following message repeated indefinitely:
2021-11-15 17:23:46 SENT CONTROL [server]: 'PUSH_REQUEST' (status=1)
2021-11-15 17:23:51 SENT CONTROL [server]: 'PUSH_REQUEST' (status=1)
In the server log I see basically the same thing except for one PAM related error message (“BACKGROUND: write error on control file”):
Nov 15 17:23:54 server openvpn@server[2982]: 66.666.666.666:52957 PLUGIN_CALL: POST /usr/lib64/openvpn/plugins/openvpn-plugin-auth-pam.so/PLUGIN_AUTH_USER_PASS_VERIFY status=2
Nov 15 17:23:54 server openvpn@server[2982]: 66.666.666.666:52957 TLS: Username/Password authentication deferred for username '<user>' [CN SET]
Nov 15 17:23:54 server openvpn[2985]: PLUGIN AUTH-PAM: BACKGROUND: received command code: 2
Nov 15 17:23:54 server openvpn@server[2982]: 66.666.666.666:52957 Control Channel: TLSv1.3, cipher TLSv1.3 TLS_AES_256_GCM_SHA384
Nov 15 17:23:54 server openvpn@server[2982]: 66.666.666.666:52957 <user>] Peer Connection Initiated with [AF_INET]79.233.165.32:52957
Nov 15 17:23:54 server openvpn[2985]: PLUGIN AUTH-PAM: BACKGROUND: my_conv[0] query='Password: ' style=1
Nov 15 17:23:54 server openvpn[2985]: pam_unix(openvpn:auth): authentication failure; logname= uid=0 euid=0 tty= ruser= rhost= user=<user>
Nov 15 17:23:54 server openvpn[2985]: pam_winbind(openvpn:auth): getting password (0x00000010)
Nov 15 17:23:54 server openvpn[2985]: pam_winbind(openvpn:auth): pam_get_item returned a password
Nov 15 17:23:55 server openvpn[2985]: pam_winbind(openvpn:auth): user '<user>' granted access
Nov 15 17:23:55 server openvpn[2985]: pam_winbind(openvpn:account): user '<user>' granted access
Nov 15 17:23:55 server openvpn[2985]: AUTH-PAM: BACKGROUND: write error on control file
Nov 15 17:23:56 server openvpn@server[2982]: 66.666.666.666:52957 PUSH: Received control message: 'PUSH_REQUEST'
Nov 15 17:23:56 server openvpn@server[2982]: 66.666.666.666:52957 PUSH: Received control message: 'PUSH_REQUEST'
Nov 15 17:23:56 server openvpn@server[2982]: 66.666.666.666:52957 PUSH: Received control message: 'PUSH_REQUEST'
The critical error message seems to be AUTH-PAM: BACKGROUND: write error on control file. When I change the OpenVPN configuration on the server and remove the following lines connecting to the VPN works fine:
user nobody
group nobody
I have another server on an older version of Tumbleweed which works fine with these settings. What has changed in the newer version of Tumbleweed? What do I need to change to get OpenVPN to run with the recommended settings?