Amnezia. Managing the module

This article continues Amnezia quick start. If you have not yet installed the module and created the first user, start there. Here we cover operations on the module itself: starting and stopping the service, changing the UDP port, updating, reinstalling, and uninstalling. VPN user management lives in a separate article — Amnezia. Managing users.

Page header and actions menu

The page header exposes the core module actions — start, stop, and restart the service. The service state is shown by a status indicator and a chip with the AmneziaWG version. The three-dot menu next to it holds the rest: open logs, go to module settings, check and run an update, reinstall, or uninstall the module.

Managing the service

• Start — brings the AmneziaWG service up from a stopped state.
• Stop — shuts the service down. All active VPN connections drop, and new ones cannot be established.
• Restart — stops and immediately starts the service again. Open connections are reset.

Changes to the user list are applied by the server on the fly, without a service restart: add, disable, or remove a user — the new configuration is picked up right away. If, however, the client DNS or persistent keepalive in a user's card changes, the .conf file on the device has to be re-imported — details in Amnezia. Managing users.

⚠️ Stopping the service drops all VPN connections

While the service is off, no user can connect. Plan stops and restarts for a maintenance window or warn users in advance.

While the module is being updated, reinstalled, or deleted, the service controls and the actions menu are temporarily unavailable.

Module logs

In the actions menu pick Logs — the journal of module lifecycle operations opens: install, update, reinstall, delete, port change. Each record shows a status and the full execution output. Useful when an action ends with an error and you need to figure out why.

Module settings

The server side of the module is configured on a separate page. Open it via the actions menu → Module settings. For now a single tab is available — General — with one section, Connection, containing a single parameter: the UDP port AmneziaWG listens on for incoming connections. Default — 51720.

Changing the UDP port

1. In the actions menu pick Module settings and go to the General tab.
2. In the Port field of the Connection section enter a new number. For extra masking, 80, 443, or 8443 are common picks, but they may conflict with other BeAdmin modules — the panel will warn you under the field.
3. Click Save. The panel asks you to confirm the change in the Confirm module settings change dialog; after confirmation the new port is stored and the service restarts automatically.

⚠️ Changing the port breaks active connections

After a new port is applied, existing client configurations stop working — the .conf file has the old server's address and port baked in. The configurations need to be regenerated and re-imported to the devices. If you switch back to the previous port, the old configurations work again without re-issuing keys.

Updating the module

In the actions menu pick Update Amnezia. The panel checks whether a newer AmneziaWG version exists in the repository, installs it on top of the current one, and restarts the service. The user list and their keys are preserved — there is no need to re-import the .conf files on devices.

The update has no confirmation step — the action starts immediately. While it runs, the service controls and the menu entries are unavailable; the current module version is visible on the AmneziaWG chip in the header. If the latest version is already installed, the update is not started — the panel will tell you so.

Reinstalling the module

In the actions menu pick Reinstall Amnezia. The panel asks you to confirm the reinstall — click Confirm. The same AmneziaWG version is deployed on top of the current one and the service is restarted. The user list, their keys, and active connections are preserved — there is no need to re-import the .conf files on devices.

Reinstall the module if it behaves unstably and you want to run installation again without losing users. Unlike uninstall, reinstall does not wipe users and their keys — the already issued .conf configurations keep working without reconnection and without re-import.

The port is not changed by reinstall — the module comes back up on the same UDP port. To change the port and reinstall at the same time, do both steps separately in any order: change the port in Module settings and reinstall the module.

If clients stop connecting after a reinstall, re-download the .conf file or regenerate the QR code in the expanded user row. If the errors persist, the last resort is to fully uninstall the module and install it again.

Uninstalling the module

In the actions menu pick Delete Amnezia. The panel asks you to confirm the deletion in the Confirm Amnezia module deletion dialog: along with the module, all user connection settings are deleted; after a fresh install the server starts from scratch.

‼️ Deleting the module wipes all VPN users

Deletion is irreversible: along with the module, all Amnezia users, their keys, and the generated .conf configuration files disappear. Already imported client configurations will not be able to connect after the deletion. After a fresh install you will have to recreate the module and the users; new keys will be issued, and clients will need to re-import the configuration. Amnezia licence slots are freed up — you can reuse them or forget about the module until the next install.

After confirmation the panel starts the deletion. When it finishes, the module page returns to its initial state with the Install button.

What's next

• Amnezia quick start — installing the module and the first connection.
• Amnezia. Managing users — creating, editing, deleting users, and purchasing additional slots.
• How to set up an SMTP relay for sending email — so you can email users their .conf file.