vpnc disconnects after a few seconds

[DevenPhillips]

In Hardy Herron Beta1 - vpnc disconnects after a short period due to dead peer detection and the option to disable dead peer detection has been removed since Gutsy. This was discusses and repaired in Feisty with Bug #93413. Same indications and same log entries.

Mar 25 12:37:41 toshiba vpnc[18024]: connection terminated by dead peer detection
Mar 25 12:43:59 toshiba vpnc[18676]: connection terminated by dead peer detection
Mar 25 13:02:18 toshiba vpnc[20157]: connection terminated by dead peer detection
Mar 25 13:08:12 toshiba vpnc[20803]: connection terminated by dead peer detection
Mar 25 13:23:17 toshiba vpnc[21859]: connection terminated by dead peer detection
Mar 25 12:43:59 toshiba vpnc[18676]: connection terminated by dead peer detection
Mar 25 13:02:18 toshiba vpnc[20157]: connection terminated by dead peer detection
Mar 25 13:08:12 toshiba vpnc[20803]: connection terminated by dead peer detection
Mar 25 13:23:17 toshiba vpnc[21859]: connection terminated by dead peer detection

There MUST be an option to disable dead peer detection.

[DevenPhillips (deven-phillips)]

Additionally, I tried to the option from Feisty to disable dead peer detection and it is not an accepted option in the Hardy version of vpnc.

[amiga1200 (westers)]

I'm getting the same error with AMD64. VPNC worked greate under Gusty. My connections drop after 5 minutes.

Mar 30 19:39:39 bender123 vpnc[7902]: connection terminated by dead peer detection

[Chris Brotherton (protonchris)]

The previous vpnc version (vpnc_0.4.0-3ubuntu2) included a patch (06_stolen_from_head.dpatch) that set the dead peer detection idle time (dpd-idle) to 0 instead of the shipped default of 300.

[Chris Brotherton (protonchris)]

I have a new vpnc package available on my ppa:

http://launchpadlibrarian.net/13410511/vpnc_0.5.1r275-1ubuntu1%7Eppa1_i386.deb
http://launchpadlibrarian.net/13410502/vpnc_0.5.1r275-1ubuntu1%7Eppa1_amd64.deb

The new package has the default dead peer detection idle time set to zero (the current default setting in gusty). Please install and test.

[elventear (elventear)]

I have the same problem. My connection dies ever 10 minutes, sharp. I bring it back with a supervising daemon but every 10 minutes it'd die.

I installed the deb provided and it seems that my connection has been up for 20 minutes non-stop. So far the problem seems to have been fixed.

[Matt Pitts (matt-gopitts)]

This has definitely resurfaced as an issue in Hardy (official release).

I to have installed the packages posted by Chris and my VPN has been running rock-solid as it did in Gusty after the same fix was released.

Thanks Chris!

[Fernando Ipar (fipar)]

I had the same issue in Hardy w/amd64.

I installed the packages posted by Chris and everything's working great now.

Thanks a lot!!

[Thorne Huw Lawler (thorin)]

Same problem emerged when I upgraded Gusty->Hardy and it appears to be fixed now that I have applied Chris's deb. MAAAaarvellous!

[nightelf (night-elf-18)]

Nothing changed i still have the same problem

[levmatta (levmatta)]

I have this problem also, please help.

[Marc Luethi (netztier)]

Installing Chris' .debs (https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/vpnc/+bug/206673/comments/4 , see above) did help with Hardy on my HP Compaq 6910p.

I am now running network-manager-vpnc with his version of vpnc underneath, and the VPN connection to my PIX501 (which does not support DPD) stays up perfectly.

thanks a lot!

[Mariusz Stankiewicz (discobean)]

Chris' deb package worked for me

[PoojaC20 (pooja)]

The new package worked for me on Lenovo 3000 G510.

[mjk (mjk-emmjaykay)]

I used Chris's deb package and it is much better now. Ubuntu 8.04 on VMware Fusion. It drops out after an hour which is certainly than a minute. :)

From /var/log/syslog
Jul 13 22:22:44 work vpnc[23446]: connection terminated by peer
Jul 13 22:22:45 work dhclient: DHCPREQUEST of <null address> on eth0 to 192.168.23.254 port 67
Jul 13 22:22:45 work dhclient: DHCPACK of 192.168.23.129 from 192.168.23.254
Jul 13 22:22:45 work NetworkManager: <info> DHCP daemon state is now 3 (renew) for interface eth0
Jul 13 22:22:45 work dhclient: bound to 192.168.23.129 -- renewal in 862 seconds.
Jul 13 22:23:52 work kernel: [51580.301176] tun0: Disabled Privacy Extensions
Jul 13 22:24:13 work vpnc[24927]: packet too short from 216.31.250.90
Jul 13 22:24:53 work last message repeated 2 times
Jul 13 22:25:53 work last message repeated 3 times
Jul 13 22:26:53 work last message repeated 3 times
Jul 13 22:27:53 work last message repeated 3 times
Jul 13 22:28:53 work last message repeated 3 times
Jul 13 22:29:53 work last message repeated 3 times
Jul 13 22:30:53 work last message repeated 3 times
Jul 13 22:31:53 work last message repeated 3 times
Jul 13 22:32:53 work last message repeated 3 times
Jul 13 22:33:53 work last message repeated 3 times
Jul 13 22:34:53 work last message repeated 3 times
Jul 13 22:35:53 work last message repeated 3 times
Jul 13 22:36:53 work last message repeated 3 times
Jul 13 22:37:07 work dhclient: DHCPREQUEST of <null address> on eth0 to 192.168.23.254 port 67
Jul 13 22:37:07 work dhclient: DHCPACK of 192.168.23.129 from 192.168.23.254
Jul 13 22:37:07 work NetworkManager: <info> DHCP daemon state is now 3 (renew) for interface eth0
Jul 13 22:37:07 work dhclient: bound to 192.168.23.129 -- renewal in 779 seconds.
Jul 13 22:37:13 work vpnc[24927]: packet too short from 216.31.250.90
Jul 13 22:37:53 work last message repeated 2 times
Jul 13 22:38:53 work last message repeated 3 times
Jul 13 22:39:53 work last message repeated 3 times
Jul 13 22:40:53 work last message repeated 3 times
Jul 13 22:41:53 work last message repeated 3 times
Jul 13 22:42:53 work last message repeated 3 times
Jul 13 22:43:53 work last message repeated 3 times
Jul 13 22:44:53 work last message repeated 3 times
Jul 13 22:45:53 work last message repeated 3 times
Jul 13 22:46:53 work last message repeated 3 times
Jul 13 22:47:53 work last message repeated 3 times
Jul 13 22:48:53 work last message repeated 3 times
Jul 13 22:49:53 work last message repeated 3 times
Jul 13 22:50:05 work dhclient: DHCPREQUEST of <null address> on eth0 to 192.168.23.254 port 67
Jul 13 22:50:06 work dhclient: DHCPACK of 192.168.23.129 from 192.168.23.254
Jul 13 22:50:06 work NetworkManager: <info> DHCP daemon state is now 3 (renew) for interface eth0
Jul 13 22:50:06 work dhclient: bound to 192.168.23.129 -- renewal in 880 seconds.
Jul 13 22:50:13 work vpnc[24927]: packet too short from 216.31.250.90
Jul 13 22:50:53 work last message repeated 2 times
Jul 13 22:51:53 work last message repeated 3 times
Jul 13 22:52:53 work last message repeated 3 times
Jul 13 22:53:53 work last message repeated 3 times
Jul 13 22:54:53 work last message repeated 3 times
Jul 13 22:55:53 work last message r...

[Steve Thomas (steve-thomas-internode)]

I am getting this problem with 8.10RC (on Dell XPS M1330).

Was working fine on 8.04 (after I ticked the Disable dead peer detection). Now that option appears to make no difference. Here's the log:

Oct 25 12:19:07 balzac NetworkManager: <info> Starting VPN service 'org.freedesktop.NetworkManager.vpnc'...
Oct 25 12:19:07 balzac NetworkManager: <info> VPN service 'org.freedesktop.NetworkManager.vpnc' started (org.freedesktop.NetworkManager.vpnc), PID 12590
Oct 25 12:19:07 balzac NetworkManager: <info> VPN service 'org.freedesktop.NetworkManager.vpnc' just appeared, activating connections
Oct 25 12:19:07 balzac NetworkManager: <info> VPN plugin state changed: 1
Oct 25 12:19:07 balzac NetworkManager: <info> VPN plugin state changed: 3
Oct 25 12:19:07 balzac NetworkManager: <info> VPN connection 'UofA' (Connect) reply received.
Oct 25 12:19:07 balzac kernel: [ 5866.067738] tun0: Disabled Privacy Extensions
Oct 25 12:19:12 balzac NetworkManager: <info> VPN connection 'UofA' (IP Config Get) reply received.
Oct 25 12:19:12 balzac NetworkManager: <info> VPN Gateway: 129.127.45.40
Oct 25 12:19:12 balzac NetworkManager: <info> Tunnel Device: tun0
Oct 25 12:19:12 balzac NetworkManager: <info> Internal IP4 Address: 129.127.136.6
Oct 25 12:19:12 balzac NetworkManager: <info> Internal IP4 Prefix: 24
Oct 25 12:19:12 balzac NetworkManager: <info> Internal IP4 Point-to-Point Address: 129.127.136.6
Oct 25 12:19:12 balzac NetworkManager: <info> Maximum Segment Size (MSS): 0
Oct 25 12:19:12 balzac NetworkManager: <info> Static Route: 129.127.0.0/16 Next Hop: 129.127.0.0
Oct 25 12:19:12 balzac NetworkManager: <info> Static Route: 192.43.227.0/24 Next Hop: 192.43.227.0
Oct 25 12:19:12 balzac NetworkManager: <info> Static Route: 192.43.228.0/24 Next Hop: 192.43.228.0
Oct 25 12:19:12 balzac NetworkManager: <info> Static Route: 192.43.229.0/24 Next Hop: 192.43.229.0
Oct 25 12:19:12 balzac NetworkManager: <info> Static Route: 10.0.0.0/8 Next Hop: 10.0.0.0
Oct 25 12:19:12 balzac NetworkManager: <info> Internal IP4 DNS: 129.127.41.3
Oct 25 12:19:12 balzac NetworkManager: <info> Internal IP4 DNS: 129.127.43.4
Oct 25 12:19:12 balzac NetworkManager: <info> DNS Domain: 'adelaide.edu.au'
Oct 25 12:19:12 balzac NetworkManager: <info> Login Banner:
Oct 25 12:19:12 balzac NetworkManager: <info> -----------------------------------------
Oct 25 12:19:12 balzac NetworkManager: <info> Staff Virtual Private Network^M The University of Adelaide
Oct 25 12:19:12 balzac NetworkManager: <info> -----------------------------------------
Oct 25 12:19:12 balzac vpnc[12596]: can't open pidfile /var/run/vpnc/pid for writing
Oct 25 12:19:13 balzac NetworkManager: <info> VPN connection 'UofA' (IP Config Get) complete.
Oct 25 12:19:13 balzac NetworkManager: <info> Policy set 'Auto Badgers' (wlan0) as default for routing and DNS.
Oct 25 12:19:13 balzac NetworkManager: <info> VPN plugin state changed: 4
Oct 25 12:19:13 balzac nm-dispatcher.action: Script '/etc/NetworkManager/dispatcher.d/01ifupdown' exited with error status 1.

The last line would be interesting if I knew what it meant. :(

[Steve Thomas (steve-thomas-internode)]

... also tried uninstalling latest vpnc and installed Chris' version instead. Made no difference.

[Buddhist Monk (sambitbasu)]

I had to go back to 7.10 just for this problem. Chris's patch made things better but didn't eliminate the problem. Can somebody confirm that the issue has/has not been resolved in 8.10 final release. The I won't bother upgrading.

[Michael Plump (plumpy)]

It has not been resolved in 8.10 final.

[UnSandpiper (aybora)]

Confirm, this is not solved in 8.10.

Using vpnc from command line, not with network-manager.

I had this problem already in 8.04 and found a workaround back then, stupid me doesn't remember what I did to fix that, though. Probably something mentioned in here previously.

However, since 8.10 I start to have this problem again.

Nov 4 12:03:05 xxxx vpnc[19269]: connection terminated by dead peer detection

[UnSandpiper (aybora)]

And Chris' deb fixes it for me.
Sorry for double posting, could have tried that out before my previous posting of course...

[Matthias Metzger (macellarius)]

Hi,

I implemented Chris' patch to the current intrepid version. You can try it: https://launchpad.net/~macellarius/+archive

[Steve Thomas (steve-thomas-internode)]

I tried Matthias' implementation of the patch. Doesn't work for me. Tried it through nm and also by starting from the command line.

Running Intrepid on a Dell XPS M1330 (and getting desperate for a fix!)

[Marc Luethi (netztier)]

Matthias, thanks for a dpd-less vpnc version.

It might not actually needed anymore - I just upgraded to 8.10 and I am successfully running the vpnc version from the normal repos now. I am making use of the "Disable DPD" checkbox that was implemented according to

http://mail.gnome.org/archives/networkmanager-list/2008-June/msg00156.html
and
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=403661

If I uncheck the "Disable DPD" option, the VPN connection to my PIX is promptly disconnected after 300sec - with DPD disabled, it stays up. So now we can disable DPD on a per connection basis, which is the best way to have it, since now we can connect to VPN concentrators with or without DPD support.

[vpxavier (vpxavier-gmail)]

I also have the problem with ubuntu 9.10 (64 bits) with the command line version of vpnc installed from the package manager.

[vpxavier (vpxavier-gmail)]

Sounds like googling a little bit helps... I've found a workaround:
add this line to your .conf file in /etc/vpnc:

DPD idle timeout (our side) 0

I've just added it a few minutes ago, but my VPN's up since then...
I hope this helps....

[Steve Thomas (steve-thomas-internode)]

I still have this problem in 9.10. Running vpnc version 0.5.3, from the command line. And I have DPD idle set to 0 in the default.config.

I've also dumped nm and use Wicd. Didn't make any difference.

I'm not entirely sure if it's a time-out/disconnection problem, or just incredibly slow. Seems v. slow right from the start -- e.g. 30 seconds to login prompt on the remote host.

I can't find the log file -- where is it? (Not in /var/log/)

This is a nightmare for me, because I work from home a lot -- and right now I'm having to use Vista. Please help!!

[vpxavier (vpxavier-gmail)]

hello, sounds like "DPD idle timeout (our side) 0" is not enough... it keeps being disconnected after a few minutes...
I read there is something wrong when using network-manager...

@Steve Thomas: /var/log/daemon.log

[vpxavier (vpxavier-gmail)]

for more info, just after vpnc disconnected (again...) here's what is writtent in my daemon.log:
Jan 7 10:20:41 mylaptop wpa_supplicant[1337]: CTRL-EVENT-SCAN-RESULTS
Jan 7 10:22:41 mylaptop wpa_supplicant[1337]: CTRL-EVENT-SCAN-RESULTS
Jan 7 10:24:41 mylaptop wpa_supplicant[1337]: CTRL-EVENT-SCAN-RESULTS
Jan 7 10:26:41 mylaptop wpa_supplicant[1337]: CTRL-EVENT-SCAN-RESULTS
Jan 7 10:28:41 mylaptop wpa_supplicant[1337]: CTRL-EVENT-SCAN-RESULTS
Jan 7 10:30:41 mylaptop wpa_supplicant[1337]: CTRL-EVENT-SCAN-RESULTS
Jan 7 10:32:41 mylaptop wpa_supplicant[1337]: CTRL-EVENT-SCAN-RESULTS
Jan 7 10:34:41 mylaptop wpa_supplicant[1337]: CTRL-EVENT-SCAN-RESULTS
Jan 7 10:36:31 mylaptop vpnc[3552]: connection terminated by peer
Jan 7 10:36:31 mylaptop NetworkManager: SCPlugin-Ifupdown: devices removed (path: /sys/devices/virtual/net/tun0, iface: tun0)

[Sabine Grabner (sabine-grabner)]

Were you able to resolve the disconnect problem? I am having the same log entry in Ubuntu 10.4.

"NetworkManager: SCPlugin-Ifupdown: devices removed (path: /sys/devices/virtual/net/tun0, iface: tun0)"

[broe (erich-rupp)]

looks like someone found the bug and there's also a preliminary patch available:

http://lists.unix-ag.uni-kl.de/pipermail/vpnc-devel/2010-December/003492.html

would be great to include this (or the final patch) into debian/ubuntu