qubes-doc/user/troubleshooting/vpn-troubleshooting.md

---
lang: en
layout: doc
permalink: /doc/vpn-troubleshooting/
ref: 240
title: VPN troubleshooting
---

## Tips

* If using qubes-vpn, check the VPN service's log in the VPN VM by running:

    ~~~
    sudo journalctl -u qubes-vpn-handler
    ~~~

* Always test your basic VPN connection before adding scripts.

* Test DNS: Ping a familiar domain name from an appVM. It should print the IP address for the domain.

* Use `iptables -L -v` and `iptables -L -v -t nat` to check firewall rules. The latter shows the critical PR-QBS chain that enables DNS forwarding.

## VPN does not reconnect after suspend

This applies when using OpenVPN.

After suspend/resume, OpenVPN may not automatically reconnect. In order to get it to work, you must kill the OpenVPN process and restart it.

## VPN stuck at "Ready to start link"

After setting up OpenVPN and restarting the VM, you may be repeatedly getting the popup "Ready to start link", but the VPN isn't connected.

To figure out the root of the problem, check the VPN logs in `/var/logs/syslog`. The log may reveal issues like missing OpenVPN libraries, which you can then install.
Add VPN Troubleshooting 2020-10-30 10:07:40 -04:00			`---`
Add lang + ref tags to frontmatter Those are fields used by the language switcher to correlate pages across different languages, even if they have different names/paths/titles. They are generated with the prepare_for_translation.py script. 2021-03-13 13:06:18 -05:00			`lang: en`
Add VPN Troubleshooting 2020-10-30 10:07:40 -04:00			`layout: doc`
Revert "Remove all instances of `permalink:` in YAML frontmatter" This reverts commit c815e4c54c315dfca30c66f6a33e07b1ff90b786. https://github.com/QubesOS/qubes-issues/issues/6701#issuecomment-862822827 2021-06-16 22:56:25 -04:00			`permalink: /doc/vpn-troubleshooting/`
Add lang + ref tags to frontmatter Those are fields used by the language switcher to correlate pages across different languages, even if they have different names/paths/titles. They are generated with the prepare_for_translation.py script. 2021-03-13 13:06:18 -05:00			`ref: 240`
Fix capitalization; update terms (QubesOS/qubes-issues#6769) Thank you to @unman for the initial sentence case pass. 2021-07-09 08:10:44 -04:00			`title: VPN troubleshooting`
Add VPN Troubleshooting 2020-10-30 10:07:40 -04:00			`---`

Markdown formatting fixes - mark all code blocks with ``` - unify empty lines between sections - adjust list syntax (no space before dash) - adjust headers to use Atx-style syntax - remove trailing spaces 2021-03-13 12:03:23 -05:00			`## Tips`
Add VPN Troubleshooting 2020-10-30 10:07:40 -04:00
Update vpn-troubleshooting.md 2020-11-01 08:50:05 -05:00			`* If using qubes-vpn, check the VPN service's log in the VPN VM by running:`
Markdown formatting fixes - mark all code blocks with ``` - unify empty lines between sections - adjust list syntax (no space before dash) - adjust headers to use Atx-style syntax - remove trailing spaces 2021-03-13 12:03:23 -05:00
Add VPN Troubleshooting 2020-10-30 10:07:40 -04:00			`~~~`
			`sudo journalctl -u qubes-vpn-handler`
			`~~~`
Markdown formatting fixes - mark all code blocks with ``` - unify empty lines between sections - adjust list syntax (no space before dash) - adjust headers to use Atx-style syntax - remove trailing spaces 2021-03-13 12:03:23 -05:00
			`* Always test your basic VPN connection before adding scripts.`
Add VPN Troubleshooting 2020-10-30 10:07:40 -04:00
			`* Test DNS: Ping a familiar domain name from an appVM. It should print the IP address for the domain.`

			* Use `iptables -L -v` and `iptables -L -v -t nat` to check firewall rules. The latter shows the critical PR-QBS chain that enables DNS forwarding.

Markdown formatting fixes - mark all code blocks with ``` - unify empty lines between sections - adjust list syntax (no space before dash) - adjust headers to use Atx-style syntax - remove trailing spaces 2021-03-13 12:03:23 -05:00			`## VPN does not reconnect after suspend`
Update vpn-troubleshooting.md 2020-11-01 08:50:05 -05:00
Markdown formatting fixes - mark all code blocks with ``` - unify empty lines between sections - adjust list syntax (no space before dash) - adjust headers to use Atx-style syntax - remove trailing spaces 2021-03-13 12:03:23 -05:00			`This applies when using OpenVPN.`
Update vpn-troubleshooting.md 2020-11-01 08:50:05 -05:00
Markdown formatting fixes - mark all code blocks with ``` - unify empty lines between sections - adjust list syntax (no space before dash) - adjust headers to use Atx-style syntax - remove trailing spaces 2021-03-13 12:03:23 -05:00			`After suspend/resume, OpenVPN may not automatically reconnect. In order to get it to work, you must kill the OpenVPN process and restart it.`
Add VPN Troubleshooting 2020-10-30 10:07:40 -04:00
Markdown formatting fixes - mark all code blocks with ``` - unify empty lines between sections - adjust list syntax (no space before dash) - adjust headers to use Atx-style syntax - remove trailing spaces 2021-03-13 12:03:23 -05:00			`## VPN stuck at "Ready to start link"`
Add VPN Troubleshooting 2020-10-30 10:07:40 -04:00
Markdown formatting fixes - mark all code blocks with ``` - unify empty lines between sections - adjust list syntax (no space before dash) - adjust headers to use Atx-style syntax - remove trailing spaces 2021-03-13 12:03:23 -05:00			`After setting up OpenVPN and restarting the VM, you may be repeatedly getting the popup "Ready to start link", but the VPN isn't connected.`
Add VPN Troubleshooting 2020-10-30 10:07:40 -04:00
Markdown formatting fixes - mark all code blocks with ``` - unify empty lines between sections - adjust list syntax (no space before dash) - adjust headers to use Atx-style syntax - remove trailing spaces 2021-03-13 12:03:23 -05:00			To figure out the root of the problem, check the VPN logs in `/var/logs/syslog`. The log may reveal issues like missing OpenVPN libraries, which you can then install.