[Openvpn-devel] doc: document optional message parameter for management command client-kill

Message ID 20260921134208.54064-1-frank@lichtenheld.com
State New
Headers
Series [Openvpn-devel] doc: document optional message parameter for management command client-kill |

Commit Message

Frank Lichtenheld Sept. 21, 2026, 1:42 p.m. UTC
  From: Sarvagya Chaturvedi <sarvagya0624@gmail.com>

The client-kill command in the management interface accepts an optional
message parameter (M), which is sent to the client as a control channel
command before terminating the session on the server.

Document the syntax of client-kill, the message format (RESTART or HALT
with optional flags [P] and [N] and human-readable message), and the
resulting notifications emitted on the client management interface.

Github: OpenVPN/openvpn#1096
Acked-by: Frank Lichtenheld <frank@lichtenheld.com>
Change-Id: Ied848552f6e9618ca6541d74e20aa1d340027999
Signed-off-by: Sarvagya Chaturvedi <sarvagya0624@gmail.com>
---
 doc/management-notes.txt | 27 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++-
 1 file changed, 26 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)
  

Patch

diff --git a/doc/management-notes.txt b/doc/management-notes.txt
index 11264684..412b79bc 100644
--- a/doc/management-notes.txt
+++ b/doc/management-notes.txt
@@ -828,11 +828,36 @@  COMMAND -- client-kill  (OpenVPN 2.1 or higher)
 
 Immediately kill a client instance by CID.
 
-  client-kill {CID}
+  client-kill {CID} [M]
 
 CID -- client ID.  See documentation for ">CLIENT:" notification for more
 info.
 
+M -- optional message to send to the client before termination
+(defaults to "RESTART"). The format of M is:
+
+  RESTART|HALT[,[flags][human-readable-message]]
+
+RESTART instructs the client to perform a restart (SIGUSR1).
+HALT instructs the client to exit (SIGTERM).
+
+Optional flags in brackets:
+- [P] -- preserve cached passwords and credentials on client (avoids purging auth).
+- [N] -- advance to the next remote server entry in client configuration.
+
+If a human-readable message string is included after the comma, it is
+logged by the client and forwarded to the client's management interface
+via a ">NOTIFY:" event:
+
+  >NOTIFY:info,server-pushed-connection-reset,<msg>  (for RESTART)
+  >NOTIFY:info,server-pushed-halt,<msg>              (for HALT)
+
+If the message parameter contains spaces, it should be enclosed in double
+quotes, for example:
+
+  client-kill 1 "HALT,Server shutting down for maintenance"
+  client-kill 1 "RESTART,[P]Reconnecting to update configuration"
+
 COMMAND -- remote-entry-count (OpenVPN 2.6+ management version > 3)
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