openVPN disconnect via command line in linux

Solution 1:

pkill -SIGTERM -f 'openvpn --daemon --conf $OPENVPNCONFFILE'

the pkill command allows you to signal a process based on name or other attributes

This will send SIGTERM to the openvpn causing it to gracefully quit and close the tun interface. You may/will need to modify the section after -f to match the way you started the openvpn connection.

I found this in the Signals section of the openvpn man page.

   SIGINT, SIGTERM
      Causes OpenVPN to exit gracefully.

Solution 2:

Determine the virtual interface with ifconfig:

tap0      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 32:28:a4:04:34:cc  
          inet addr:172.22.18.14  Bcast:172.22.18.255  Mask:255.255.255.0
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:100 
          RX bytes:0 (0.0 B)  TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)

and shutdown it with:

sudo ifconfig tap0 down

Here're the init script that I've wrote for RedHat based:

#! /bin/bash
#
# openvpn-client    Start/Stop the openvpn client
#
# chkconfig: 2345 90 60
# description: start openvpn client at boot
# processname: openvpn

# Source function library.
. /etc/init.d/functions

daemon="openvpn"
prog="openvpn-client"
conf_file="/vagrant/vpn/client-dept18-payment.ovpn"

start() {
    echo -n $"Starting $prog: " 
        if [ -e /var/lock/subsys/openvpn-client ] && [ $(pgrep -fl "openvpn --config /vagrant/vpn/client-dept18-payment.ovpn" | wc -l) -gt 0 ]; then
        echo_failure
        echo
        exit 1
    fi
    runuser -l root -c "$daemon --config $conf_file >/dev/null 2>&1 &" && echo_success || echo_failure
    RETVAL=$?
    echo
    [ $RETVAL -eq 0 ] && touch /var/lock/subsys/openvpn-client;
    return $RETVAL
}

stop() {
    echo -n $"Stopping $prog: "
    pid=$(ps -ef | grep "[o]penvpn --config $conf_file" | awk '{ print $2 }')
    kill $pid > /dev/null 2>&1 && echo_success || echo_failure
    RETVAL=$?
    echo
    [ $RETVAL -eq 0 ] && rm -f /var/lock/subsys/openvpn-client;
    return $RETVAL
}   

status() {
    pgrep -fl "openvpn --config /vagrant/vpn/client-dept18-payment.ovpn" >/dev/null 2>&1
    RETVAL=$?
    if [ $RETVAL -eq 0 ]; then
        pid=$(ps -ef | grep "[o]penvpn --config $conf_file" | awk '{ print $2 }')
        echo $"$prog (pid $pid) is running..."
    else
        echo $"$prog is stopped"
    fi
}   

restart() {
    stop
    start
}   

case "$1" in
    start)
        start
        ;;
    stop)
        stop
        ;;
    restart)
        restart
        ;;
    status)
        status
        ;;
    condrestart)
        [ -f /var/lock/subsys/openvpn-client ] && restart || :
        ;;
    *)
        echo $"Usage: $0 {start|stop|status|restart|condrestart}"
        exit 1
esac

then you can use it as usual:

# /etc/init.d/openvpn-client start
Starting openvpn-client:                                   [  OK  ]
# /etc/init.d/openvpn-client start
Starting openvpn-client:                                   [FAILED]
# /etc/init.d/openvpn-client status
openvpn-client (pid 5369) is running...

# /etc/init.d/openvpn-client stop
Stopping openvpn-client:                                   [  OK  ]
# /etc/init.d/openvpn-client stop
Stopping openvpn-client:                                   [FAILED]
# /etc/init.d/openvpn-client status
openvpn-client is stopped

# /etc/init.d/openvpn-client restart
Stopping openvpn-client:                                   [  OK  ]
Starting openvpn-client:                                   [  OK  ]
# /etc/init.d/openvpn-client status
openvpn-client (pid 5549) is running...

Solution 3:

Simply running sudo pkill openvpn worked just fine for me. (Linux Mint 19.1)

Solution 4:

sudo openvpn3 session-manage --disconnect --config $'client'.ovpn

Replace client with the corresponding name. This will shutdown the session.