Linux Mint 19 repository OpenVPN does not have a Release file

[Guest]

Hello folks. I installed cryptostorm on my Linux Mint 19 computer using the Terminal method described in this page https://cryptostorm.is/nix

Cryptostorm works great and is able to connect. However, whenever my system does apt-get update, the terminal shows this message:

E: The repository 'http://build.openvpn.net/debian/openvpn/stable tara Release' does not have a Release file.

Is there any way to resolve this error? Or is this something we have to live with since the terminal instructions page states "OpenVPN in the Ubuntu apt repos is outdated, so first we'll need to add OpenVPN's repository."

Thank you for your help!

[parityboy]

@OP

The package for OpenVPN isn't built for Mint 19 Tara but for the Ubuntu version Mint is built upon, namely 18.04 Bionic Beaver, so there will be an entry in either /etc/apt/sources.list or in one of the files in the /etc/apt/sources.list.d directory which reads "deb http://build.openvpn.net/debian/openvpn/stable tara Release".

When you find this entry alter it to read "deb http://build.openvpn.net/debian/openvpn/stable bionic Release", then run "apt update". That should fix the error.

[lawofonedotinfo]

Unfortunately the error persists. I used the following command to edit the file:

sudo xed /etc/apt/sources.list.d/openvpn-aptrepo.list

That opened the text editor with elevated privileges and I changed "deb http://build.openvpn.net/debian/openvpn/stable tara main" to "deb http://build.openvpn.net/debian/openvpn/stable bionic main" (without quotes), saved and closed the file. Then I ran "sudo apt update" and I received the following error "E: The repository 'http://build.openvpn.net/debian/openvpn/stable bionic Release' does not have a Release file."

I also tried changing it to "deb http://build.openvpn.net/debian/openvpn/stable bionic Release", ran "sudo apt update" and received the same error. I checked /etc/apt/sources.list and all that file contains is:

#deb cdrom:[Linux Mint 19 _Tara_ - Release amd64 20180626]/ bionic contrib main non-free

[parityboy]

@OP

Yep, I just tested this myself and it appears that the OpenVPN team don't have a build for Bionic Beaver. Additionally, I noticed that on their repository page, Bionic isn't listed.

[lawofonedotinfo2]

This error resulted in my apt-get update to end with an error and also prevented my Linux Mint Update Manager from doing app and system updates. Removing the "openvpn-aptrepo.list" file from "/etc/apt/sources.list.d" worked for me. Here's how to back it up and remove it:

Open a terminal and run:

Code: Select all

cd /etc/apt/sources.list.d/
cp openvpn-aptrepo.list /home/[USERNAME]/Desktop/
sudo rm openvpn-aptrepo.list

Will this pose any issues with cryptostorm later in the future?

[df]

Keep in mind that both the Network Manager and Terminal instructions on https://cryptostorm.is/nix were intended for Ubuntu.
They'll work on a few other Debian based distros, but not ones that aren't up to date or have their own version/branch names (such as Linux Mint).

Here's a simple(ish) script that'll automate checking if your distro is supported:

Code: Select all

#!/bin/bash
if ! [ -f "/etc/lsb-release" ]; then
 echo "Error: /etc/lsb-release does not exist"
 exit
fi
codename=`grep DISTRIB_CODENAME= /etc/lsb-release|awk -F= '{print $2}'`
if [ "$codename" == "" ]; then
 echo "Error: Could not find DISTRIB_CODENAME in /etc/lsb-release"
 exit
fi
if [ "$(command -v wget)" == "" ]; then
 echo "Error: Could not find the wget command"
 exit
fi
wget -qO- https://build.openvpn.net/debian/openvpn/stable/dists/$codename > /dev/null
if [ $? == 0 ]; then
 echo $codename is supported
else
 echo $codename is NOT supported
fi

save that to somewhere and chmod +x it and run it. It'll grab the distro codename from /etc/lsb-release then check if it's listed on https://build.openvpn.net/debian/openvpn/stable/dists/

They only have a few Ubuntu/Debian ones listed there though. For other distros you'll need to use whatever version your package manager installs, or if you want the latest OpenVPN/OpenSSL you'll have to install from source.

On Linux Mint and Debian and a bunch of others, installing from source would look something like:

Code: Select all

[[ $UID == 0 ]] || exec sudo -p "[?] This program requires root privileges. Please enter the password for %u to continue: " -- "$BASH" -- "$SELF" "${ARGS[@]}"
cd /usr/src/
apt install -y build-essential zlib1g-dev liblz4-dev liblzo2-dev
wget http://www.openssl.org/source/openssl-1.1.1a.tar.gz;tar zxf openssl-1.1.1a.tar.gz;rm -f openssl-1.1.1a.tar.gz;cd openssl-1.1.1a;./config --prefix=/usr -fPIC no-gost shared zlib enable-ec_nistp_64_gcc_128 -Wl,-rpath=/usr/local/ossl111a/lib --prefix=/usr/local/ossl111a;make depend;make;make install
cd /usr/src/
wget http://swupdate.openvpn.org/community/releases/openvpn-2.4.6.tar.gz;tar zxf openvpn-2.4.6.tar.gz;rm -f openvpn-2.4.6.tar.gz;cd openvpn-2.4.6;CFLAGS="-I/usr/local/ossl111a/include -Wl,-rpath=/usr/local/ossl111a/lib -L/usr/local/ossl111a/lib" ./configure --disable-plugin-auth-pam --prefix=/usr;make;make install

That'll install OpenSSL 1.1.1a to /usr/local/ossl111a (so as not to cause conflicts with anything else on the system that might rely on the OpenSSL version you already have installed), then it compiles and installs OpenVPN 2.4.6 against that OpenSSL install.