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authorBernhard Schmidt <berni@debian.org>2021-02-24 19:54:19 +0100
committerBernhard Schmidt <berni@debian.org>2021-02-24 19:54:19 +0100
commitd717dbfa8d0807202f5ad05f7db53925cf63a446 (patch)
treeff434c729e3d55979ee85983296c424e637a1124 /doc/gui-notes.txt
parent76fee93e6fe89e5575bae2840b585d2f025b9050 (diff)
parent4ee98f284a93c3b855092d35ac21371d9dcad65b (diff)
Update upstream source from tag 'upstream/2.5.1'
Update to upstream version '2.5.1' with Debian dir 7ffab8b9a1f4bee8b10a736ef58cdbac4bfd4b14
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+Management Interface "echo" protocol
+
+================================================================================
+THIS IS A PRELIMINARY VERSION OF THIS DOCUMENT. ALL INFORMATION IN IT
+IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE.
+================================================================================
+
+
+ CONTENTS
+ THE OPENVPN --ECHO OPTION
+ ENVIRONMENT COMMAND
+ MESSSAGE COMMANDS
+ PASSWORD COMMANDS
+ QUOTING
+ COMMMAND DETAILS
+
+
+=========================
+THE OPENVPN --ECHO OPTION
+=========================
+
+The OpenVPN --echo option causes commands to be sent out through the
+management interface, typically to a Graphic User Interface (GUI) such
+as "OpenVPN for Android", "Tunnelblick" (for macOS), or "Windows
+OpenVPN GUI". It can be included in a configuration file or on a
+command line, or can be pushed from the server.
+
+This document describes the commands that can be sent and how they are
+interpreted by various GUIs.
+
+ * OpenVPN does not process the commands in an --echo option; it only
+sends them out through the management interface.
+
+ * "echo" commands are processed by the GUI if, as, when, and in the
+order they are received. If no GUI is present the processing of
+commands may be delayed, the commands may never be processed, or only
+some commands may be processed. (That can happen if OpenVPN discards
+commands because its buffer for the commands fills up.)
+
+ * There is no mechanism for the GUI to acknowledge the receipt,
+success, or failure of a command.
+
+ * "echo" commands are stored by OpenVPN (within limits, see the next
+point) and sent only when the GUI requests them through the management
+interface. "echo" commands in the configuration file or the command
+line are typically requested and processed at the start of a
+connection attempt. "echo" commands that are pushed by the server are
+also typically asked for at the start of a connection attempt but can
+be sent at any time. They are processed in the middle of a connection
+attempt or after a connection is established, as the "push" options
+are received by the client from the server.
+
+ * OpenVPN's storage for echo commands is limited in size, so a large
+number of commands or commands with long messages may require that
+some commands be removed from the storage. If that happens, some of
+the commands may not be sent through the management interface when a
+GUI does connect to it or asks for the "echo" commands.
+
+ * On SIGUSR1 and SIGHUP connection restarts, "echo" commands that
+were sent through the management interface and have been saved by
+OpenVPN are sent again and will be re-processed by the GUI. (The
+message commands include a mechanism for muting (skipping) duplicate
+messages, see MESSAGE COMMANDS, below.)
+
+ * OpenVPN limits the number of separate arguments in each line of a
+configuration file. Arguments may be quoted to work around this
+limitation, see QUOTING, below.
+
+ * OpenVPN limits the size of each "echo" command sent over the
+management interface to 255 bytes, including overhead characters. To
+allow messages of arbitrary length, several message commands can be
+concatenated together before being displayed to the user, see MESSAGE
+COMMANDS, below.
+
+ * There no indication to the GUI of the source of the command
+(configuration file, command line option, or pushed from a server). It
+might be possible for the GUI to deduce that a command was pushed from
+a server because of timing or other management interface interactions.
+
+
+===================
+ENVIRONMENT COMMAND
+===================
+
+Typically, a GUI allows users to specify shell commands (typically
+scripts) to run at certain points in the connection/disconnection
+process, in addition to those provided by OpenVPN options such as
+"--up" and "--down".
+
+The "setenv" command can be used to set environment variables that are
+available to the scripts run by the GUI. Each "setenv" command
+specifies a value for one environment variable that is available to
+the scripts that the GUI runs.
+
+This is similar to Openvpn's "--setenv" option, which specifies an
+additional environment variable that is included in the environment
+variables that are available to the scripts that OpenVPN runs.
+
+
+=================
+MESSSAGE COMMANDS
+=================
+
+Four commands can be used to display a message to the user from the
+OpenVPN configuration or server:
+
+ msg
+ msg-n
+ msg-window
+ msg-notify
+
+"msg" and "msg-n" commands are concatenated to construct a message.
+When a "msg-window"or "msg-notify" command is received the message is
+displayed to the user.
+
+Identical messages (same title, text, and destination) received during
+one connection may be ignored or muted. Some GUIs may only show the
+first message for a connection, or the first message shown in a window
+and the first message shown as a notification.
+
+
+=================
+PASSWORD COMMANDS
+=================
+
+Three commands can be used to control the GUI's storage of usernames,
+passwords, and private keys:
+
+ disable-save-passwords
+ forget-passwords
+ save-passwords
+
+
+=======
+QUOTING
+=======
+
+ * In a configuration file, the rest of the line is parsed into
+separate arguments and then 'echo' and the arguments are passed, each
+separated by a single space, through the management interface. For
+example:
+
+ echo argument1 argument2
+ echo " argument1 argument2"
+
+will be sent through the management interface as
+
+ >ECHO:timestamp,argument1 argument2
+ >ECHO:timestamp, argument1 argument2
+
+ * In a command line option, the single argument following "--echo" is
+parsed similarly, so
+
+ --echo argument1 argument2
+ --echo " argument1 argument2"
+
+will be sent through the management interface as
+
+ >ECHO:timestamp,argument1 argument2
+ >ECHO:timestamp, argument1 argument2
+
+ * In a "push" option in a server configuration file, the single
+option following "push" is parsed similarly, so
+
+ push "echo argument1 argument2 argument3 argument4"
+ push "echo ' argument1 argument2 argument3 argument4'"
+
+will be sent through the management interface as
+
+ >ECHO:timestamp,argument1 argument2 argument3 argument4
+ >ECHO:timestamp, argument1 argument2 argument3 argument4
+
+
+================
+COMMMAND DETAILS
+================
+
+
+COMMAND -- disable-save-passwords
+---------------------------------
+
+Syntax: disable-save-passwords
+
+The GUI is instructed to not allow the user to save passwords or
+private keys for the configuration. The user is still allowed to save
+usernames. Any passwords or private keys that have been saved will be
+forgotten.
+
+This command will be effective at startup only if present in the
+configuration file or as a command line option. If pushed from the
+server, saving passwords will be disabled in password prompts only
+after the initial prompt has been shown to the user.
+
+ Android: ??????
+
+ Tunnelblick: Planned. This command will disable saving of
+passwords or private keys and forget any saved usernames, passwords,
+or private keys regardless of the normal (non-forced) global or
+per-configuration settings. A computer administrator can "force" this
+setting, overriding this command.
+
+ Windows OpenVPN GUI: Planned. This command will disable saving of
+passwords or private keys and forget any saved usernames, passwords,
+or private keys regardless of any global settings.
+
+
+COMMAND -- forget-passwords
+---------------------------
+
+Syntax: forget-passwords
+
+The GUI is instructed to forget any usernames, passwords, and private
+keys it has saved for the configuration. Useful when pushed from the
+server so that it is processed after authentication.
+
+ Android: ??????
+
+ Tunnelblick: Planned.
+
+ Windows OpenVPN GUI: supported since release 2.4.1 (GUI version 11.5.0)
+
+
+COMMAND -- msg
+--------------
+
+Syntax: msg text
+
+The text is appended to any previous text from "msg" or "msg-n"
+commands, and a newline is appended after that.
+
+A trailing newline will be removed from the completed message before
+it is displayed to the user.
+
+The text may include any UTF-8 character except a comma (","), CR
+(0x0D), LF (0x0A), or NUL (0x00).
+
+The text may not contain percent ("%") except in "percent encoding"
+sequences. To display a percent sign, use %25.
+
+The text may not contain commas (",") because of constraints imposed
+by OpenVPN. Commas should be encoded using "percent encoding" (URL
+encoding): a '%' character followed by two hexadecimal digits, the
+high- and then low-nibble of the ASCII code for the character to be
+shown. Examples: a comma is encoded as %2C or %2c; a percent sign is
+encoded as %25.
+
+Text containing comment characters # and ; must be enclosed in quotes to
+survive after option parsing by openvpn.
+
+The insertion of line endings (CR, LF) in the text is discouraged
+because it is OS dependent. Instead, use the "msg" command, which
+appends a line ending appropriate for the OS on which the GUI is
+running.
+
+ Android: Planned.
+
+ Tunnelblick: Planned.
+
+ Windows OpenVPN GUI: supported since release v2.4.11 / v2.5.1
+ (GUI version v11.22.0)
+
+COMMAND -- msg-n
+----------------
+
+Syntax: msg-n text
+
+The text is appended to any previous text from "msg"" or "msg-n""
+commands. (Like "msg" except that no newline is appended.)
+
+See "COMMAND -- msg" for details about "text".
+
+ Android: Planned.
+
+ Tunnelblick: Planned.
+
+ Windows OpenVPN GUI: supported since release v2.4.11 / v2.5.1
+ (GUI version v11.22.0)
+
+COMMAND -- msg-notify
+---------------------
+
+Syntax: msg-notify title
+
+The text from previous "msg" and/or "msg-n" commands is displayed to
+the user as a notification with title "title" and the previous text is
+forgotten.
+
+ Android: Planned.
+
+ Tunnelblick: Planned.
+
+ Windows OpenVPN GUI: supported since release v2.4.11 / v2.5.1
+ (GUI version v11.22.0)
+
+Note: The max length that will correctly display as a notification
+message is OS dependent.
+
+
+COMMAND -- msg-window title
+---------------------------
+
+Syntax: msg-window title
+
+The text from previous "msg" and/or "msg-n" commands is displayed to
+the user in a non-modal popup window with title "title" and the
+previous text is forgotten. How the title is displayed exactly is left
+to the implementation. Could be set as the window title or as a
+differently formatted text as the heading of the message, for example.
+
+ Android: Planned.
+
+ Tunnelblick: Planned.
+
+ Windows OpenVPN GUI: supported since release v2.4.11 / v2.5.1
+ (GUI version v11.22.0)
+
+
+COMMAND -- save-passwords
+-------------------------
+
+Syntax: save-passwords
+
+The GUI is instructed to allow the user to save usernames, passwords
+and private keys for the configuration.
+
+This command will be effective at startup only if present in the
+configuration file or as a command line option. If pushed from the
+server, saving passwords will be allowed in password prompts only
+after the initial prompt has been shown to the user.
+
+This command typically has the effect of presenting the password
+dialogs to the user with a "save password" checkbox checked. The user
+may still uncheck it during the dialog.
+
+ Android: ??????
+
+ Tunnelblick: Planned. Tunnelblick ignores this command. Usernames,
+passwords, and private keys may be saved by default, and this command
+will not override the separate Tunnelblick global or per-configuration
+settings used to disable saving them.
+
+ Windows OpenVPN GUI: Supported since release 2.4.1 (GUI version 11.5.0)
+
+
+COMMAND -- setenv
+-----------------
+
+Syntax: setenv name value
+
+Sets an environment variable that will be available to the scripts run
+by the GUI.
+
+This will set environment variable "OPENVPN_name" to value "value" for
+the scripts run by the GUI. "name" is changed to "OPENVPN_name" to
+prevent overwriting sensitive variables such as PATH. Variables are
+set in the order received, with later values replacing earlier ones
+for the same "name".
+
+Names may include only alphanumeric characters and underscores. A
+"setenv" command with an invalid name will be ignored.
+
+ Android: ??????
+
+ Tunnelblick: Planned.
+
+ Windows OpenVPN GUI: supported since release v2.4.7 (GUI version v11.12.0)
+The variables set by "setenv" are merged with those for the process
+environment. In case of duplicate names the one in the setenv list is
+chosen.