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I created a new OpenVPN install this morning. My test users work, all is good. Now I want to create extra users, but when I run this command:

C:\Documents and Settings\User>"C:\Program Files\OpenVPN\easy-rsa\build-key" newuser

This is what the system gives me back:

C:\Documents and Settings\User
req [options] <infile >outfile
where options  are
 -inform arg    input format - DER or PEM
 -outform arg   output format - DER or PEM
 -in arg        input file
 -out arg       output file
 -text          text form of request
 -pubkey        output public key
 -noout         do not output REQ
 -verify        verify signature on REQ
 -modulus       RSA modulus
 -nodes         don't encrypt the output key
 -engine e      use engine e, possibly a hardware device
 -subject       output the request's subject
 -passin        private key password source
 -key file      use the private key contained in file
 -keyform arg   key file format
 -keyout arg    file to send the key to
 -rand file;file;...
                load the file (or the files in the directory) into
                the random number generator
 -newkey rsa:bits generate a new RSA key of 'bits' in size
 -newkey dsa:file generate a new DSA key, parameters taken from CA in 'file'
 -newkey ec:file generate a new EC key, parameters taken from CA in 'file'
 -[digest]      Digest to sign with (md5, sha1, md2, mdc2, md4)
 -config file   request template file.
 -subj arg      set or modify request subject
 -multivalue-rdn enable support for multivalued RDNs
 -new           new request.
 -batch         do not ask anything during request generation
 -x509          output a x509 structure instead of a cert. req.
 -days          number of days a certificate generated by -x509 is valid for.
 -set_serial    serial number to use for a certificate generated by -x509.
 -newhdr        output "NEW" in the header lines
 -asn1-kludge   Output the 'request' in a format that is wrong but some CA's
                have been reported as requiring
 -extensions .. specify certificate extension section (override value in config
file)
 -reqexts ..    specify request extension section (override value in config file
)
 -utf8          input characters are UTF8 (default ASCII)
 -nameopt arg    - various certificate name options
 -reqopt arg    - various request text options

unknown option -config
usage: ca args

 -verbose        - Talk a lot while doing things
 -config file    - A config file
 -name arg       - The particular CA definition to use
 -gencrl         - Generate a new CRL
 -crldays days   - Days is when the next CRL is due
 -crlhours hours - Hours is when the next CRL is due
 -startdate YYMMDDHHMMSSZ  - certificate validity notBefore
 -enddate YYMMDDHHMMSSZ    - certificate validity notAfter (overrides -days)
 -days arg       - number of days to certify the certificate for
 -md arg         - md to use, one of md2, md5, sha or sha1
 -policy arg     - The CA 'policy' to support
 -keyfile arg    - private key file
 -keyform arg    - private key file format (PEM or ENGINE)
 -key arg        - key to decode the private key if it is encrypted
 -cert file      - The CA certificate
 -selfsign       - sign a certificate with the key associated with it
 -in file        - The input PEM encoded certificate request(s)
 -out file       - Where to put the output file(s)
 -outdir dir     - Where to put output certificates
 -infiles ....   - The last argument, requests to process
 -spkac file     - File contains DN and signed public key and challenge
 -ss_cert file   - File contains a self signed cert to sign
 -preserveDN     - Don't re-order the DN
 -noemailDN      - Don't add the EMAIL field into certificate' subject
 -batch          - Don't ask questions
 -msie_hack      - msie modifications to handle all those universal strings
 -revoke file    - Revoke a certificate (given in file)
 -subj arg       - Use arg instead of request's subject
 -utf8           - input characters are UTF8 (default ASCII)
 -multivalue-rdn - enable support for multivalued RDNs
 -extensions ..  - Extension section (override value in config file)
 -extfile file   - Configuration file with X509v3 extensions to add
 -crlexts ..     - CRL extension section (override value in config file)
 -engine e       - use engine e, possibly a hardware device.
 -status serial  - Shows certificate status given the serial number
 -updatedb       - Updates db for expired certificates
Could Not Find C:\*.old

Is there a fix for this? (Aside from reinstalling the app?)

I have a theory that it's requiring me to run some previous command beforehand, but if so, I'm not sure which one; I don't want to kill my server keys accidentally (though it's possible I'm misunderstanding the use of each command).

2 Answers 2

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The easy-rsa scripts depend on some environment variables which you should have previously configured and sourced in vars.bat. Assuming that it still contains the correct information, then just re-execute vars.bat before you continue.

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  • Sigh. It would be nice if this were actually documented somewhere obvious... Or maybe it is, just not on a page I visited...
    – Margaret
    Jun 22, 2010 at 8:05
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Make sure your previously made ca.crt, ca.key, 01.pem, 02.pem, 03.pem, and dh1024.pem files are located or have copies in your Program Files\OpenVPN\easy-rsa\keys folder.

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