Controlling openvpn auth-user-pass in ifup scripts?

Question

I have the following configured in /etc/network/interfaces:

 iface companyvpn inet manual
 openvpn company

This allows me to:

 ifup companyvpn

But unfortunately I am unable to provide my credentials as it appears to stop/place the process in the background?

 ifup companyvpn 
 Starting virtual private network daemon: companyEnter Auth Username:
 [1]+  Stopped                 ifup companyvpn

Any ideas how to allow the acceptance of username and password at the prompt?

Answer 1

I resolved this issue by supplying my user credentials directly.

The line in /etc/openvpn/client.conf:

auth-user-pass /etc/openvpn/client.cred

The file takes the format of:

someusername
somepassword

Make sure you watch the file permissions though! 600 should be adequate.

Ran ifup and everything worked:

ifup companyvpn
Starting virtual private network daemon: company.