Trying to set up PIA with OVPN client (docker) - docker

Question

I have been trying to get a OpenVPN client running with docker. But I got this error while setting up. My VPN provider is Private Internet Access. This is the Docker Image I used.
docker-compose up -d && docker logs -f openvpn
openvpn
openvpn
Creating openvpn
Wed Dec 18 02:17:32 2019 OpenVPN 2.4.7 armv6-alpine-linux-musleabihf [SSL (OpenSSL)] [LZO] [LZ4] [EPOLL] [MH/PKTINFO] [AEAD] built on May 6 2019
Wed Dec 18 02:17:32 2019 library versions: OpenSSL 1.1.1d 10 Sep 2019, LZO 2.10
Wed Dec 18 02:17:32 2019 TCP/UDP: Preserving recently used remote address: [AF_INET][IP]:1197
Wed Dec 18 02:17:32 2019 UDP link local: (not bound)
Wed Dec 18 02:17:32 2019 UDP link remote: [AF_INET][IP]:1197
Wed Dec 18 02:17:32 2019 WARNING: this configuration may cache passwords in memory -- use the auth-nocache option to prevent this
Wed Dec 18 02:17:33 2019 [[LONG_RANDOM_STRING]] Peer Connection Initiated with [AF_INET][IP]:1197
Wed Dec 18 02:17:39 2019 WARNING: INSECURE cipher with block size less than 128 bit (64 bit). This allows attacks like SWEET32. Mitigate by using a --cipher with a larger block size (e.g. AES-256-CBC).
Wed Dec 18 02:17:39 2019 WARNING: INSECURE cipher with block size less than 128 bit (64 bit). This allows attacks like SWEET32. Mitigate by using a --cipher with a larger block size (e.g. AES-256-CBC).
Wed Dec 18 02:17:39 2019 WARNING: cipher with small block size in use, reducing reneg-bytes to 64MB to mitigate SWEET32 attacks.
Wed Dec 18 02:17:39 2019 TUN/TAP device tun0 opened
Wed Dec 18 02:17:39 2019 /sbin/ip link set dev tun0 up mtu 1500
Wed Dec 18 02:17:39 2019 /sbin/ip addr add dev tun0 local [SHORTER_IP] peer [SHORTER_IP]
Wed Dec 18 02:17:39 2019 Initialization Sequence Completed
Wed Dec 18 02:17:49 2019 Authenticate/Decrypt packet error: packet HMAC authentication failed
Wed Dec 18 02:17:59 2019 Authenticate/Decrypt packet error: packet HMAC authentication failed
Wed Dec 18 02:18:05 2019 Authenticate/Decrypt packet error: packet HMAC authentication failed
Wed Dec 18 02:18:05 2019 Authenticate/Decrypt packet error: packet HMAC authentication failed
Wed Dec 18 02:18:15 2019 Authenticate/Decrypt packet error: packet HMAC authentication failed
Wed Dec 18 02:18:25 2019 Authenticate/Decrypt packet error: packet HMAC authentication failed
Wed Dec 18 02:18:35 2019 Authenticate/Decrypt packet error: packet HMAC authentication failed
Wed Dec 18 02:18:39 2019 [[LON_RANDOM_STRING]] Inactivity timeout (--ping-restart), restarting
Wed Dec 18 02:18:39 2019 SIGUSR1[soft,ping-restart] received, process restarting
Wed Dec 18 02:18:44 2019 TCP/UDP: Preserving recently used remote address: [AF_INET][IP]:1197
Wed Dec 18 02:18:44 2019 UDP link local: (not bound)
Wed Dec 18 02:18:44 2019 UDP link remote: [AF_INET][IP]:1197
Wed Dec 18 02:18:45 2019 [[LONG_RANDOM_STRING]] Peer Connection Initiated with [AF_INET][IP]:1197
Wed Dec 18 02:18:46 2019 AUTH: Received control message: AUTH_FAILED
Wed Dec 18 02:18:46 2019 SIGUSR1[soft,auth-failure (auth-token)] received, process restarting
These are the files I use:
[pia.ovpn]
client
dev tun
proto udp
remote [server].privateinternetaccess.com 1197
resolv-retry infinite
keepalive 10 60
nobind
persist-key
persist-tun
tls-client
remote-cert-tls server
auth-user-pass /vpn/vpn.auth
comp-lzo
verb 1
reneg-sec 0
redirect-gateway def1
disable-occ
fast-io
ca /vpn/ca.rsa.2048.crt
crl-verify /vpn/crl.rsa.2048.pem
vpn.auth contains my username and password. ca.rsa.2048.crt and crl.rsa.2048.pem I both got from this PIA support page.
Not sure if it is relevant, but this is the dockerfile I used.
version: '2'
services:
openvpn:
image: dperson/openvpn-client:armhf
container_name: openvpn
cap_add:
- net_admin
environment:
- TZ=[timezone]
networks:
- vpn
read_only: true
tmpfs:
- /run
- /tmp
restart: always
security_opt:
- label:disable
stdin_open: true
tty: true
volumes:
- /dev/net:/dev/net:z
- [PATH_TO]/vpn:/vpn
networks:
vpn:
I hope that someone sees what goes wrong here!

Answer 1

As I can see in your logs you've received Inactivity timeout (--ping-restart), restarting message after successfull connection in short period of time.
I had the same issue.
My client successfully connected and in few seconds (20-40) has been restarted.
In my case I've actually run two clients with the same client name (CN) on different hosts.
To fix it I've generated different clients for each host.

Answer 2

For me, the problem was using default PIA config. Once I switched to OPENVPN CONFIGURATION FILES (STRONG), the problem was gone.
You can find the configs at https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/helpdesk/kb/articles/where-can-i-find-your-ovpn-files-2, and if the link goes down, try googling "pia config".