Can't VPNC Until Logging Out and Back In

[Lonnie Lee Best]

In Ubuntu 15.04, after the first login, I cannot connect via vpnc using network manager (nor can I connect with nmcli). When I try to, the networking applet doesn't even appear to be trying to connect; its state doesn't change at all.

However, if I logout (and then log back in) both network manager and nmcli are then able to successfully connect via vpnc, until my next reboot. This issue recurs after each reboot.

This bug seems to be vpnc specific; I am not experiencing this issue for openvpn connections.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

[Benjamin Xiao (ben-r-xiao)]

I see this too on Ubuntu 15.04. Oddly enough, when it was first released it worked perfectly. A recent update must have caused this.

[Lonnie Lee Best (launchpad-startport)]

I agree; it worked perfectly until the last work or so. A recent update must have caused this.

[Benjamin Xiao (ben-r-xiao)]

When its not working, I see this in syslog:

Jun 1 00:12:20 benxiao-ubuntu01 NetworkManager[885]: <info> Starting VPN service 'vpnc'...
Jun 1 00:12:20 benxiao-ubuntu01 NetworkManager[885]: <info> VPN service 'vpnc' started (org.freedesktop.NetworkManager.vpnc), PID 11316
Jun 1 00:12:20 benxiao-ubuntu01 NetworkManager[885]: <info> VPN service 'vpnc' appeared; activating connections
Jun 1 00:12:20 benxiao-ubuntu01 NetworkManager[885]: <error> [1433142740.359807] [vpn-manager/nm-vpn-connection.c:1778] get_secrets_cb(): Failed to request VPN secrets #2: (6) No agents were available for this request.

[Benjamin Xiao (ben-r-xiao)]

Seems like something to do with Gnome keyring perhaps? I've noticed that SSH'ing in nautilus using the "Open in Remote Terminal" menu option also does not work until I login and log back out.

[Lonnie Lee Best (launchpad-startport)]

After looking at Benjamin Xiao's log, I wonder if our bug here is related to this bug:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/network-manager-vpnc/+bug/1297849

I wonder if reinstalling Ubuntu 15.04 from scratch will fix this.

[Lonnie Lee Best (launchpad-startport)]

Ok, I just tried doing a fresh install of Ubuntu 15.04 (64 bit) into a virtual box virtual machine.

After install I did this:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade
sudo apt-get install network-manager-vpnc

Then I rebooted.

After this I set up a vpnc connection via Network Manager. It connected fine without having to logout and log back in.

Then, I rebooted the virtual machine. After logging in again, I did not experience the bug we are reporting here. I did not have to logout and then log back in to accomplish a vpnc connection.

Before completely reinstalling everything, though, I'm going to try deleting some config folders and stuff like that to see if that fixes this problem without needing to do a complete re-install.

[Lonnie Lee Best (launchpad-startport)]

I tried deleting all the files in this folder:
/home/user/.local/share/keyrings

After doing this, I had to re-enter credentials the next time I tried to vpnc.

However, this did not resolve the issue; After a reboot (and first login), I still had to logout and then log back in before I could establish a vpnc connection via the Connection Manger.

[Lonnie Lee Best (launchpad-startport)]

See comment #60 here:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/network-manager-vpnc/+bug/1297849

[Lonnie Lee Best (launchpad-startport)]

Also see this:
https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=707953

[Lonnie Lee Best (launchpad-startport)]

Patch:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/network-manager-vpnc/+bug/1297849/comments/107