Tech Support Tuesday: How to fix OpenVPN not connecting on Windows 10 with "ovpnagent: requesterror"

So I spent an entire week, on and off, trying to fix an odd issue with OpenVPN. It was working just fine, allowing me access to the animlic license server so I could use Houdini FX (which itself is having issues working with Renderman), until one lovely Sunday morning when it asked me to do an update. I did, and it immediately started giving me this error:  


Rude. 

Additionally, Device Manager wasn't happy: 

And the icing on the cake? I seem to have lost the screenshot, but the TAP adapter (basically the driver that runs OpenVPN) wasn't showing up on my Network Connections menu. I could only see a) my Ethernet connection, and b) my WiFi adapter. 

SIDE NOTE (you can skip this paragraph): Incidentally, I couldn't see any of my VMWare virtual network adapters, either, and I suspected it was related to a bug on my machine in which I couldn't create any bridged connections in VMWare. This meant that my basic nmap scans in my Kali VM weren't showing jack and therefore I couldn't find any network devices other than my host machine and VMs when doing my scan (such as my Nintendo Switch, my iPhone, or my Macbook laptop). I somehow got full credit on the lab despite this issue, but it was annoying and my professor couldn't figure out what was wrong, either. 

I will admit, I really struggled emotionally this week and in part it was because I am trying to really clear some personal bars I've set before the end of this semester. And this issue was not helping. On Sunday night I tried to reset my network based on some random forum post, which was a terrible idea and caused me to be completely without internet for a number of hours two Sunday nights ago. It was only when some kind stranger on r/techsupport suggested a system restore from Saturday night that I was able to fix that. So if you are having issues with your TAP driver for OpenVPN, do NOT run a network reset unless you wish for that sweet, sweet release of death. And if you do end up doing a network reset, and it ends up breaking your computer even more than the people you love end up breaking your heart, please do a system restore to the recommended checkpoint. FYI, Windows doesn't keep too many checkpoints around, so you may not be able to go very far back. 

I should mention that I spent an obscene amount of time trying to fix this over the past 8 days or so, which severely ate into my actual study time. However, I was tired of the animation lab machines always being full with every single computer having a RENDERING placard on it, plus it is very hard to convince myself to drive 20-25 minutes to campus in the cold unless I have class or work, and I wanted my VPN working again. 

And I contacted OpenVPN's tech support and worked with them extensively. Yeah, they couldn't figure it out. 

Anyway, the conclusion to this is going to be anticlimactic. I found the bottom post on this SpiceWorks thread which suggested installing CCleaner for Windows. At this point, I was willing to try anything that wasn't a network reset. And I had a really good feeling about it, so I went ahead with it. 

Here are the steps, copy-pasted from the original commenter with my own notes added: 

1. Uninstall OpenVPN using "Add or Remove Programs". 

2. Install and run CCleaner for Windows. Free version is fine. I did not need to run it as an administrator. 

3. At the bottom, click Analyze. It may ask to kill any open browsers; go ahead and accept that. 

4. Once that is done, click Run Cleaner. For me, the button said something else, I can't remember what. But it was essentially the same thing. 

5. On the left-hand menu, click on Registry.

6. Click Scan for Issues, then click Fix selected issues and let it back up anything beforehand. Note: It's just backing up a registry. You don't need to back up your entire computer or anything. 

7. Reinstall OpenVPN. I installed mine from the CS department's website, openvpn.cs.byu.edu. If you already have your client certificate installed, you don't need to delete or reinstall it. You will need to re-import it into the client, though. 

Then...


HOLY CRAP IT IS WORKING AGAIN!!!! We once more can access Houdini FX, and are once more immediately blocked from using FurAffinity, Hack Forums, and Encyclopedia Dramatica! :D 

But wait! There's more! 


Did you see that? The device is working PROPERLY, dang it. 

But wait, let's check Network Connections too -- 

All of them have returned! ALL OF THEM! This is such a beautiful sight. I could almost cry. 

Ok, now what if we try to created a bridged connection in VMWare? Just giving it a little shot? Yeah, that still doesn't work. It may work if I uninstall/reinstall, since CCleaner is love and CCleaner is life, but right now I don't really have the time or energy to mess with it further. And as Ron Weasley once said, you can't have everything in life. Rest assured, I will fix this, but not yet. I need to work on my next round of labs. 

I was so frustrated with this issue that I legitimately locked myself in a bathroom stall while I was at work and prayed to find an answer to both this and the CI/CD bug I was stuck on for days at work...And guess what, LE SOLUTION HAS ARRIVED. For both of them. I may write about the CI/CD bug on my Thursday shift, but ehh, we'll see if I still have motivation by then. 

Anyway, I was so happy that I made an account on SpiceWorks solely to mark the 2-year-old comment as useful and award the user some spice. Whatever that is. 

And I'm not going to touch updating the dang thing until, I don't know, I've graduated or something. 

Aaaand now I have to fix my other issue, which is Renderman having a bunch of script errors whenever I try to open up Houdini. But I should probably just suck it up, use the lab machines to iterate more on my flame and shatter effects, and THEN try to fix it. Maybe I'll go hang out in one of the overflow labs tomorrow, and blast some excellent music. 

Word. 

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