Installing and running OpenVPN @ boot - PrivateInternetAcces

Thanks to arpanj2 for starting the thread. I've found there are better and easier ways to do a few things which may have saved people some frustration. I hope this helps! If anyone wants to merge my suggestions with the original to create a definitive post, they're most welcome. Here are my changes:

Step 5: It's probably a good idea to retrieve new lists of packages so that you fetch the latest version of openvpn: 

# apt-get update
...
# apt-get install openvpn

If you want an easier to use text editor, now is a good time to install nano:

# apt-get install nano

Step 8: If you installed nano, you probably want to use it:

# nano userpass.file
...

Step 9 is where I depart a bit; I prefer to keep the unzipped PIA .ovpn files unmodified. Instead, I create a copy of my preferred PIA site then edit it as directed:

# cp France.ovpn My.ovpn
...

Or, if you like one-liners:

# sed s/"auth-user-pass"/"auth-user-pass userpass.file"/ France.ovpn > My.ovpn

Steps 10 through 13a: There is no need to create a script or a cron job!!!

New Step 10: Let's now test our config file by running OpenVPN in the background:

# openvpn My.ovpn &

You'll see console output which looks something like this:

[1] 6938
root@hostname:/etc/openvpn# Sun Nov 1 01:26:49 2015 OpenVPN 2.2.1 arm-linux-gnueabi [SSL] [LZO2] [EPOLL] [PKCS11] [eurephia] [MH] [PF_INET6] [IPv6 payload 20110424-2 (2.2RC2)] built on Dec 1 2014
Sun Nov 1 01:26:49 2015 WARNING: file 'userpass.file' is group or others accessible
Sun Nov 1 01:26:49 2015 NOTE: OpenVPN 2.1 requires '--script-security 2' or higher to call user-defined scripts or executables
Sun Nov 1 01:26:49 2015 LZO compression initialized
Sun Nov 1 01:26:49 2015 RESOLVE: NOTE: france.privateinternetaccess.com resolves to 13 addresses
Sun Nov 1 01:26:49 2015 UDPv4 link local: [undef]
Sun Nov 1 01:26:49 2015 UDPv4 link remote: [AF_INET]108.61.122.156:1194
Sun Nov 1 01:26:49 2015 WARNING: this configuration may cache passwords in memory -- use the auth-nocache option to prevent this
Sun Nov 1 01:26:51 2015 [Private_Internet_Access] Peer Connection Initiated with [AF_INET]108.61.122.156:1194
Sun Nov 1 01:26:53 2015 TUN/TAP device tun0 opened
Sun Nov 1 01:26:53 2015 do_ifconfig, tt->ipv6=0, tt->did_ifconfig_ipv6_setup=0
...
Sun Nov 1 01:26:53 2015 Initialization Sequence Completed

It might look as though you don't have a prompt, but you do. Just hit enter a to get a fresh one.

New Step 11: Check the vpn is running with ifconfig:

# ifconfig

...and do whatever testing you need with your applications.

New Step 12: Find the job you created earlier and send it a TERM signal with the kill command:

root@hostname:/etc/openvpn# jobs
[1]+  Running                 openvpn My.ovpn &
root@hostname:/etc/openvpn# kill -term %1
Sun Nov  1 02:23:54 2015 event_wait : Interrupted system call (code=4)
root@hostname:/etc/openvpn# Sun Nov  1 02:23:54 2015 /sbin/ifconfig tun0 0.0.0.0
Sun Nov  1 02:23:54 2015 SIGTERM[hard,] received, process exiting

[1]+  Done                    openvpn My.ovpn
root@hostname:/etc/openvpn#

New Step 13: Once you're happy with your configuration file, rename it to something ending in '.conf':

# mv My.ovpn client.conf

New Step 14: Start the OpenVPN init script:

# /etc/init.d/openvpn start
[ ok ] Starting openvpn (via systemctl): openvpn.service.

That's it, you're done! As installed by default on my RN104, the OpenVPN init script looks for .conf files in the default /etc/openvpn directory where we unzipped the PIA files and did everything else. The OpenVPN init script is also set by default to start with the other services at runlevels 2-5. This means the init script will start a connection using your .conf file when the system reboots.

If you're like me, and prefer to access your ReadyNAS from the outside world using port forwarding configured on a router, you'll notice that turning on OpenVPN breaks remote access. I'll write another reply soon with directions on how to configure IP rules and routes on your ReadyNAS so that your port forwarding setup will function properly.

Until then, TTFN!