= Introduction =

There are many ways to get help with the using and/or developing OpenVPN. In all channels it's requested that [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RTFM try to solve] your problem ''yourself'' first. Nobody likes people who ask to be [http://www.mp3car.com/the-faq-emporium/53368-faq-what-is-spoon-feeding.html fed with a spoon]. That said, the idea behind the support channels is to help people, so if you've done some research yourself and hit a blockage, please don't hesitate to ask for help. Nobody excepts that you know ''everything'' (including the solution) before asking a question.

Also, please familiarize yourself with [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netiquette Netiquette] and [http://www.livinginternet.com/r/ru_chatq.htm Chatiquette] before asking questions to guarantee best results. A common error people not familiar with IRC make is to leave soon, only minutes after asking their question. So, please keep your IRC client open for hours (or even days) and monitor it, because it's possible that the only person that can help you is on entirely different timezone and/or unavailable at the moment.

= User support channels =

== OpenVPN user IRC channel ==

The user IRC channel (#openvpn on irc.freenode.net) is probably the easiest way to get help with generic OpenVPN-related questions.

== Access Server IRC channel ==

If you're using [wiki:AccessServer Access Server] or some other [http://openvpn.net OpenVPN Technologies, Inc] product,  you should use #openvpn-as channel on irc.freenode.net for real-time support. If you're looking for official support, please type !staff and !hours to the chat window before asking questions. 

== User support forums ==

[https://forums.openvpn.net User support forums]