Port 1194 (OpenVPN)

OpenVPN's default port, UDP preferred. Many providers also run OpenVPN on TCP 443 to get through restrictive firewalls.

Registered (user) port, 1024-49151 UDPTCP VPN Meant to face the internet

What port 1194 is used for

OpenVPN's default port, UDP preferred. Many providers also run OpenVPN on TCP 443 to get through restrictive firewalls.

Security: should port 1194 be open?

Meant to face the internet. Built to be exposed. Use tls-crypt or tls-auth so the server ignores unauthenticated packets, use certificate auth, and keep OpenVPN updated.

IANA assignment

Service nameProtoDescriptionAssigneeReference

openvpn TCP OpenVPN James Yonan -

openvpn UDP OpenVPN James Yonan -

Registry dates for this port: registered 2004-11.

Check what is listening on port 1194

Linux: is anything listening on TCP 1194?

sudo ss -tlnp 'sport = :1194'

Linux: UDP 1194

sudo ss -ulnp 'sport = :1194'

Linux / macOS: which process owns the port

sudo lsof -nP -i :1194

Older Linux / BSD (net-tools)

sudo netstat -tlnp | grep ':1194 '

Windows (Command Prompt)

netstat -ano | findstr :1194

Windows (PowerShell)

Get-NetTCPConnection -LocalPort 1194 -State Listen | Select LocalAddress,OwningProcess

Test it from outside

From another machine

nc -vz -w 5 HOST 1194

From Windows

Test-NetConnection HOST -Port 1194

UDP probe (no reply does not prove it is closed)

nc -vzu -w 5 HOST 1194

Open port 1194 in the firewall

ufw

sudo ufw allow 1194/tcp

iptables

sudo iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 1194 -j ACCEPT

nftables

sudo nft add rule inet filter input tcp dport 1194 accept

Windows Firewall

New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName 'Allow TCP 1194' -Direction Inbound -Protocol TCP -LocalPort 1194 -Action Allow

ufw

sudo ufw allow 1194/udp