Can't connect to the internet right after boot up

Question

Hey guys, I have an interesting problem in which if I try to use internet right after boot up (via scripts) I can't resolve host names. However, if I try to use the internet right after boot up manually I can resolve host names. I had this problem with a script but I've since rewrote it to work around the problem; however I now seem to have this problem with openVPN and I need this to work. I'll use openVPN as my primary example but the situation was the same for my script.
Basically, openVPN starts up via systemd and it can't resolve my server's host name. Even 18 hours later. I have 'resolv-retry infinite' in my conf file which as I understand says 'if you can't resolve the host name keep trying to resolve it indefinitely'. I left my computer on overnight and openVPN still could not connect to my server, despite me being able to ping it, have MySQL get data dumps and replicate from it and other software being able to resolve the server's host name. If I restart openVPN, then it works! I rebooted the computer and let it try for a few minutes to connect and it couldn't. I restarted openVPN manually and it resolved the server's host name, 5 minutes after the computer booted up even though it couldn't connect on it's own the previous night.
Here's openVPN's status as of this post:
[email protected] - OpenVPN connection to client
Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/[email protected]; enabled)
Active: active (running) since Thu 2013-05-02 14:10:02 MDT; 58min ago
Process: 248 ExecStart=/usr/sbin/openvpn --cd /etc/openvpn --config /etc/openvpn/%i.conf --daemon openvpn@%i (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
Main PID: 254 (openvpn)
CGroup: name=systemd:/system/[email protected]/client
ââ254 /usr/sbin/openvpn --cd /etc/openvpn --config /etc/openvpn/client.conf --daemon openvpn@client
May 02 15:07:52 CCH001 openvpn@client[254]: RESOLVE: Cannot resolve host address: my.server.com: Name or service not known
May 02 15:07:57 CCH001 openvpn@client[254]: RESOLVE: Cannot resolve host address: my.server.com: Name or service not known
May 02 15:08:02 CCH001 openvpn@client[254]: RESOLVE: Cannot resolve host address: my.server.com: Name or service not known
May 02 15:08:07 CCH001 openvpn@client[254]: RESOLVE: Cannot resolve host address: my.server.com: Name or service not known
May 02 15:08:12 CCH001 openvpn@client[254]: RESOLVE: Cannot resolve host address: my.server.com: Name or service not known
May 02 15:08:17 CCH001 openvpn@client[254]: RESOLVE: Cannot resolve host address: my.server.com: Name or service not known
May 02 15:08:22 CCH001 openvpn@client[254]: RESOLVE: Cannot resolve host address: my.server.com: Name or service not known
May 02 15:08:27 CCH001 openvpn@client[254]: RESOLVE: Cannot resolve host address: my.server.com: Name or service not known
May 02 15:08:32 CCH001 openvpn@client[254]: RESOLVE: Cannot resolve host address: my.server.com: Name or service not known
May 02 15:08:37 CCH001 openvpn@client[254]: RESOLVE: Cannot resolve host address: my.server.com: Name or service not known
Here is my conf file:
# Sample client-side OpenVPN 2.0 config file #
# for connecting to multi-client server. #
# This configuration can be used by multiple #
# clients, however each client should have #
# its own cert and key files. #
# On Windows, you might want to rename this #
# file so it has a .ovpn extension #
# Specify that we are a client and that we
# will be pulling certain config file directives
# from the server.
client
# Use the same setting as you are using on
# the server.
# On most systems, the VPN will not function
# unless you partially or fully disable
# the firewall for the TUN/TAP interface.
;dev tap
dev tun
# Windows needs the TAP-Win32 adapter name
# from the Network Connections panel
# if you have more than one. On XP SP2,
# you may need to disable the firewall
# for the TAP adapter.
;dev-node MyTap
# Are we connecting to a TCP or
# UDP server? Use the same setting as
# on the server.
;proto tcp
proto udp
# The hostname/IP and port of the server.
# You can have multiple remote entries
# to load balance between the servers.
remote my.server.com 1194
;remote my-server-2 1194
# Choose a random host from the remote
# list for load-balancing. Otherwise
# try hosts in the order specified.
;remote-random
# Keep trying indefinitely to resolve the
# host name of the OpenVPN server. Very useful
# on machines which are not permanently connected
# to the internet such as laptops.
resolv-retry infinite
# Most clients don't need to bind to
# a specific local port number.
nobind
# Downgrade privileges after initialization (non-Windows only)
user nobody
group nobody
# Try to preserve some state across restarts.
persist-key
persist-tun
# If you are connecting through an
# HTTP proxy to reach the actual OpenVPN
# server, put the proxy server/IP and
# port number here. See the man page
# if your proxy server requires
# authentication.
;http-proxy-retry # retry on connection failures
;http-proxy [proxy server] [proxy port #]
# Wireless networks often produce a lot
# of duplicate packets. Set this flag
# to silence duplicate packet warnings.
;mute-replay-warnings
# SSL/TLS parms.
# See the server config file for more
# description. It's best to use
# a separate .crt/.key file pair
# for each client. A single ca
# file can be used for all clients.
ca ca.crt
cert host.crt
key host.key
# Verify server certificate by checking
# that the certicate has the nsCertType
# field set to "server". This is an
# important precaution to protect against
# a potential attack discussed here:
# http://openvpn.net/howto.html#mitm
# To use this feature, you will need to generate
# your server certificates with the nsCertType
# field set to "server". The build-key-server
# script in the easy-rsa folder will do this.
ns-cert-type server
# If a tls-auth key is used on the server
# then every client must also have the key.
tls-auth ta.key 1
# Select a cryptographic cipher.
# If the cipher option is used on the server
# then you must also specify it here.
;cipher x
# Enable compression on the VPN link.
# Don't enable this unless it is also
# enabled in the server config file.
comp-lzo
# Set log file verbosity.
verb 3
# Silence repeating messages
;mute 20
Anyone have any idea what could be going on? It seems to me that when a program starts up it takes a snap shot of the current network status and it then uses it, even if it's 10 minutes later and the network has been fully loaded/configured, the program uses that snap shot and can't connect to the DNS.
Last edited by anEveryDayGuy (2013-05-02 21:20:47)

Answer 1

'Requires=network.target' wasn't in it so I added it but nothing's changed. I've left it in because openVPN does require network.
As I said, I had this problem with a script so I don't think it's anything specific to openVPN. I had a weird occurrence this morning however. When I started the computer up this morning  openVPN worked just fine. However when the computer rebooted openVPN couldn't resolve the host address again.