The VPN Client Daemon
In Ubuntu Linux, openvpn is the most widely used daemon for establishing virtual private network connections. When installed and configured as a system service (often located in /etc/openvpn/), the [email protected] can automatically connect to a remote VPN server on boot, routing all or specific parts of your network traffic through an encrypted tunnel.
While this is essential if your server is acting as a permanent VPN gateway, a site-to-site bridge, or needs to securely connect to a corporate network 24/7, running the OpenVPN daemon is entirely unnecessary if you only use VPNs sporadically. If you prefer to connect to VPNs manually (via the command line or NetworkManager GUI) only when needed, having the systemd service attempting to launch configurations in the background wastes memory and can lead to unexpected routing conflicts if a connection fails. To manage your tunnels manually, you should disable the auto-start daemon.
How to Disable the Openvpn Service
You can permanently stop the OpenVPN system daemon using systemctl.
Warning: Only perform this if you intend to launch OpenVPN manually or via a graphical client. Disabling this will drop any active automated tunnels immediately.
- Open your Ubuntu Terminal or connect via SSH.
- Stop the overarching OpenVPN service, and any specific tunnel instances that might be running (e.g., if you have a config named
server.conf):
sudo systemctl stop openvpn.service
sudo systemctl stop [email protected]- Disable the service to prevent it from automatically launching tunnels on the next boot:
sudo systemctl disable openvpn.service- To ensure no other network scripts accidentally wake the daemon, mask it completely:
sudo systemctl mask openvpn.serviceYour Ubuntu server will immediately stop managing persistent OpenVPN connections, leaving you free to initiate VPN sessions manually when required.