External connector – Open VPN service keeps stopping – Automatically start

This FAQ demonstrates how to make the Open VPN Service automatically start if it keeps stopping despite the PC being left on or each time it is turned on.

Check the services (WIN + R and type in ‘services.msc’) to ensure that the Open VPN service is set to start automatically by going to ‘Properties‘ as this may show as ‘Manual‘.

Open notepad and type: Net start OpenVPNService (if the name of the service is something different then please change as appropriate)

Go to ‘File‘ and ‘Save as‘ change the file type to ‘All files‘ and save the file name with a .bat extension. The name should not matter but you may want to pick one that is appropriate such as ‘StartOVPNService.bat‘ and save to a location such as C:/Support.

Open ‘Task scheduler‘ and go to ‘Actions’ > ‘Create basic task’.

Pick the name of the task, click ‘Next‘, choose ‘Daily‘ and click ‘Next‘ again, pick the time you wish the service to start and hit ‘Next‘.

Choose ‘Start a program‘ and hit ‘Next‘. Browse to the batch file location i.e. C:\Support\StartOpenVPNService.bat and click ‘Next‘. It should then look like the image below and if correct, click ‘Finish‘ and it should then be set up successfully.