New for 2.2: the 'x509_user_name' parameter

OpenVPN 2.2 is primarily a bug fix release, but there are a few new features added to version 2.2. In this recipe, we will focus on one of these features. The purpose of the x509_user_name parameter is to allow the usage of X509 certificates where the certificate name is not specified by the /CN= element. This can be especially useful when using certificates from a third-party source or when integrating certificates into other authorization systems.

Getting ready

We use the following network layout:

Set up the client and server certificates using the first recipe from Chapter 2, Client-server IP-only Networks. In this recipe, the server computer was running CentOS 5 Linux and OpenVPN 2.2-beta3. The client was running Windows XP SP3 and OpenVPN 2.1.3. Keep the configuration file basic-udp-server.conf from the Chapter 2 recipe Server-side routing at hand, as well as the client configuration file, basic-udp-client.ovpn, from the Chapter 2 recipe Using...