Help Transferring the .ovpn File to iOS⁠

If you're having trouble importing a profile on iOS, try these steps:

1. Save the .ovpn file to your macOS desktop.

2. Connect to your iPhone or iPad using a USB or USB-C cable or Wi-Fi.

3. In Finder (on your Mac), select iPhone.

4. Select Files.

5. Locate the OpenVPN directory.

6. Drag the .ovpn file from your desktop to the OpenVPN location.

7. Launch OpenVPN Connect on your mobile device.

8. Tap Add, then File.

   • “1 new OpenVPN profiles are available for import” displays.

9. Tap Add.

Also, consider using the unified format for OpenVPN profiles which embeds all certs and keys into the .ovpn file. This eases the management of the OpenVPN configuration as it integrates all configuration elements into a single file.

For example, a traditional OpenVPN profile might specify certs and keys as follows:

ca ca.crt
cert client.crt
key client.key
tls-auth ta.key 1

You can convert this usage to unified form by pasting the content of the certificate and key files directly into the OpenVPN profile as follows using an XML-like syntax:

<ca>
-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
MIIBszCCARygAwIBAgIE...
. . .
/NygscQs1bxBSZ0X3KRk...
Lq9iNBNgWg==
-----END CERTIFICATE-----
</ca>

<cert>
-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
. . .
</cert>

<key>
-----BEGIN RSA PRIVATE KEY-----
. . .
</key>

key-direction 1
<tls-auth>
-----BEGIN OpenVPN Static key V1-----
. . .
</tls-auth>

Another approach to eliminate certificates and keys from the OpenVPN profile is using the iOS Keychain.