Ubuntu Server 16.04 - OpenVPN seems not to start, no logs get written

The problem is that service config /lib/systemd/system/openvpn.service just calls /bin/true (I have no idea on why it wasn't just removed). Usable configuration might be found in /lib/systemd/system/[email protected], but it still needs to be somewhat hacked.

Solution that worked for me:

1. Create dependency on networking service

To protect it from overwriting, create it in a separate file in subdirectory:

 mkdir -p /lib/systemd/system/openvpn\@.service.d

Create a file in this directory. Its name must end with .conf, for example:

 vi /lib/systemd/system/openvpn\@.service.d/local-after-ifup.conf

Put following content in this file:

[Unit]
Requires=networking.service
After=networking.service

2. Try to start the server

systemctl start openvpn@<CONF_NAME>.service

Where CONF_NAME is the name of your .conf file in /etc/openvpn directory. In your case:

systemctl start [email protected]

3. Enable service autostart if everything works

systemctl enable [email protected]

After searching all over I found this link:

https://a20.net/bert/2016/09/27/openvpn-client-connection-not-started-on-ubuntu-16-04/

edit /etc/default/openvpn, uncomment AUTOSTART=”all”
sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo service openvpn restart

I boiled it down a bit more into :

echo 'echo "AUTOSTART="\"all"\"" >> /etc/default/openvpn' | sudo -s
sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo service openvpn restart

Server conf file is myserver.conf

systemctl enable openvpn@myserver
service openvpn@myserver start

Server conf file is yourserver.conf

systemctl enable openvpn@yourserver
service openvpn@yourserver start