OpenVPN – How to Auto Start OpenVPN with One .ovpn File

OpenVpn by default looks for .conf files not .opvn in /etc/openvpn/. Change the file extension to .conf then running the service should have no issues with finding the file and connecting

If you installed the package from apt-get, it has the ability to start automaticly. Else, depending on the OS you are running there can be some differences is file paths, make a symlink to /etc/init.d/openvpn in the appropriate rc files.

ie. in ubuntu/debian

ln -s /etc/init.d/openvpn /etc/rc4.d/S99Openvpn to start in runlevel 4

ln -s /etc/init.d/openvpn /etc/rc6.d/K99Openvpn to stop on shutdown

That was All I had done to do to get my vpn's to start.

There is a file, /etc/default/openvpn that has some auto start parameters. It need the name of your file to be .conf Then there is a line to add. AUTOSTART='client' where client is the name of the file. ie. /etc/openvpn/client.conf

In short: OpenVPN Access Server is "almost free" and "just OpenVPN" (Community Edition) is totally free
However, they are configured in different ways. Open AS has indeed a web interface that simplifies (a lot) the tasks for setting it up. Open CE on the other hand, has to be configured by editing some configuration files
OpenVPN Access Server:
pros: very simple an intuitive configuration
cons: limited to two concurrent users. Although each additional one costs only nine USD a year, they are purchased in blocks of ten.
Some web features don´t work well (uploading your own CA certificate is one of them, so you still have to edit some files. See https://openvpn.net/index.php/access-server/docs/admin-guides/175-how-to-replace-the-access-server-private-key-and-certificate.html, method two)
OpenVPN Community Edition:
pros: completely free. Can have multiple concurrent users
cons: configuration is not a simple task
Conclussion:
If you can deal with the two users restriction, go for OpenVPN AS. If not, use OpenVPN AS for configuration and once working, switch to OpenVPN CE using such configuration as base. See Easy method of switching from Openvpn-Acess Server to Community Edition?