OpenVPN has just released Access Server 3.0, and it’s one of the biggest updates they have released to the platform in years. This release isn’t just a small patch. It’s a full uplift of how the product looks and works. It also integrates into existing environments. I wanted to share what’s new and a few thoughts from the admin side on what this means for both enterprise environment and home lab setups.
The most obvious change you’ll notice is the new web admin interface. The old one always felt a bit dated and slow, but now it’s built on a modern React frontend and feels much smoother and more responsive. Navigation finally works as you would expect, and most of the CLI-only options we used to have to dig around for are now exposed directly in the UI. It’s one of those quality-of-life improvements that will save a lot of time managing the solution and cut down on mistakes.
The other big news is the expanded REST API. You can now automate far more of the VPN actions without having to script against the old sacli command. For those of us who want to automate our environments, this is a huge improvement. It makes it easier to integrate OpenVPN into automation pipelines. This could be with Ansible, Terraform, or your own in-house tools. OpenVPN even built in a way to test and document the API from the interface, which is a nice touch.
Security and identity management also got new improvements. The admin interface now supports SAML login and full SSO integration. This means you can tie admin access directly into providers like Azure AD or Okta. For the enterprise where centralized identity is a requirement, that’s a big improvement. Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is also easier to manage now. You can reset or enroll MFA for users directly from the UI instead of running obscure commands.
Another important update is the backend’s shift toward supporting nftables alongside iptables. It’s still listed as experimental, but this shows OpenVPN is preparing for the shift as more Linux distros move to nftables by default. There are also new optimizations under the hood that improve performance, compress assets, and make the whole system a bit leaner. They seem to be improving the backend as much as the frontend.
There’s a new “support report” feature built into the UI that lets you generate logs and diagnostic data to send to OpenVPN support. When you are troubleshooting production VPN issues, not having to manually collect a dozen files from different directories can save a ton of time.
Now, for the pros of the solution for IT admins.
- From an admin’s perspective, this update brings Access Server in line with modern expectations. Juggling web UI and CLI for basic configuration are mostly gone. The REST API support means it plays well with automation tools and can fit into infrastructure-as-code environments. And the move toward identity-based access for admins should make security teams breathe a little easier.
For home labbers, it is easier to get up and running.
- You can spin it up in a VM, Docker container, or cloud VM. And now you can manage almost everything without touching the terminal. The better UI and MFA integration make it more practical for personal or home lab setups. If you’ve avoided it before because it felt a little too “enterprisey,” 3.0 is I think the release that helps to fix that.
There are, of course, a few things to watch out for. This is a major overhaul, and like any "X.0" release, it’s bound to have some quirks. The patch to 3.0.1 already fixed a few early issues with SAML logins and API tokens, so I’d recommend testing it quite a bit in your lab environment before dropping it into production. I’d also be cautious with the nftables support until it’s out of experimental mode. The last thing you want is a firewall bug taking down your VPN.
Upgrading from an older version might not be totally seamless, especially if you’ve got custom firewall rules, clustering, or specific NATs. Make sure to back up everything and have a rollback plan in place before running the upgrade (snapshot your VM, etc). Also, the new interface may not expose every advanced option yet, so you might still need the CLI for a few things still yet.
In larger environments, I see the biggest win being around automation and identity. Since we are now able to tie VPN admin access into SSO and enforce MFA policies it will make compliance a lot easier. You can even start building self-service workflows where VPN accounts are provisioned and revoked automatically based on user status. For smaller environments or home labs, the benefit is really about simplicity. It will mean fewer steps, a cleaner UI, and less command-line pain.
The main trade-off with any major update with more APIs exposed is that you’re increasing the surface area. More APIs mean more things to secure. If you’re running Access Server exposed to the internet, it’s worth locking down those endpoints. I would carefully watch for updates as OpenVPN hardens the new version.
Overall, I think this is a great move for OpenVPN. It was starting to feel dated compared to some of the newer VPN and zero-trust solutions out there. I think this release has the promise to make it feel like a platform that can keep up at least for now.
If anyone here has already upgraded to 3.0, I’d love to hear what your experience has been. Did the upgrade go smoothly, and how’s the new UI holding up under real-world use? I’m planning to test it next week in a small Docker deployment and see how it performs.
Read the full release notes from OpenVPN here: Access Server 3.0 Release Notes and Version Updates