Cannot connect to configured VPN

[Reuben Firmin]

This may be specific to the KDE network manager. When I click on the VPN that I've configured in network-manager, usually nothing happens (except for the first time, when it requests access to KDE wallet). This was working in gnome's network-manager 2 weeks ago.

In syslog, I get output like this:

May 21 07:06:48 fridge NetworkManager[1141]: <info> Policy set 'Wired connection 1' (eth0) as default for IPv4 routing and DNS.
May 21 07:06:49 fridge NetworkManager[1141]: <error> [1337598409.522494] [nm-vpn-connection.c:934] get_secrets_cb(): Failed to request VPN secrets #2: (6) No agents were available for this request.
May 21 07:06:49 fridge NetworkManager[1141]: <info> Policy set 'Wired connection 1' (eth0) as default for IPv4 routing and DNS.
May 21 07:06:49 fridge NetworkManager[1141]: <error> [1337598409.770634] [nm-vpn-connection.c:934] get_secrets_cb(): Failed to request VPN secrets #2: (6) No agents were available for this request.
May 21 07:06:49 fridge NetworkManager[1141]: <info> Policy set 'Wired connection 1' (eth0) as default for IPv4 routing and DNS.
May 21 07:06:50 fridge NetworkManager[1141]: <error> [1337598410.10854] [nm-vpn-connection.c:934] get_secrets_cb(): Failed to request VPN secrets #2: (6) No agents were available for this request.
May 21 07:06:50 fridge NetworkManager[1141]: <info> Policy set 'Wired connection 1' (eth0) as default for IPv4 routing and DNS.
May 21 07:06:50 fridge NetworkManager[1141]: <error> [1337598410.291164] [nm-vpn-connection.c:934] get_secrets_cb(): Failed to request VPN secrets #2: (6) No agents were available for this request.
May 21 07:06:50 fridge NetworkManager[1141]: <info> Policy set 'Wired connection 1' (eth0) as default for IPv4 routing and DNS.
May 21 07:06:55 fridge NetworkManager[1141]: <info> VPN service 'vpnc' disappeared
May 21 07:10:22 fridge NetworkManager[1141]: <info> Starting VPN service 'vpnc'...
May 21 07:10:22 fridge NetworkManager[1141]: <info> VPN service 'vpnc' started (org.freedesktop.NetworkManager.vpnc), PID 16121
May 21 07:10:22 fridge NetworkManager[1141]: <info> VPN service 'vpnc' appeared; activating connections
May 21 07:10:58 fridge NetworkManager[1141]: <info> VPN plugin state changed: starting (3)
May 21 07:10:58 fridge NetworkManager[1141]: <info> VPN connection 'xxx' (Connect) reply received.
May 21 07:10:59 fridge NetworkManager[1141]: <warn> VPN plugin failed: 1
May 21 07:10:59 fridge NetworkManager[1141]: <info> VPN plugin state changed: stopped (6)
May 21 07:10:59 fridge NetworkManager[1141]: <info> VPN plugin state change reason: 0
May 21 07:10:59 fridge NetworkManager[1141]: <warn> error disconnecting VPN: Could not process the request because no VPN connection was active.
May 21 07:10:59 fridge NetworkManager[1141]: <info> Policy set 'Wired connection 1' (eth0) as default for IPv4 routing and DNS.
May 21 07:11:04 fridge NetworkManager[1141]: <info> VPN service 'vpnc' disappeared
May 21 07:11:17 fridge NetworkManager[1141]: <info> Starting VPN service 'vpnc'...
May 21 07:11:17 fridge NetworkManager[1141]: <info> VPN service 'vpnc' started (org.freedesktop.NetworkManager.vpnc), PID 16127
May 21 07:11:17 fridge NetworkManager[1141]: <info> VPN service 'vpnc' appeared; activating connections
May 21 07:11:17 fridge NetworkManager[1141]: <info> VPN plugin state changed: starting (3)
May 21 07:11:17 fridge NetworkManager[1141]: <info> VPN connection 'xxx' (Connect) reply received.
May 21 07:11:17 fridge NetworkManager[1141]: <warn> VPN plugin failed: 1
May 21 07:11:17 fridge NetworkManager[1141]: <info> VPN plugin state changed: stopped (6)
May 21 07:11:17 fridge NetworkManager[1141]: <info> VPN plugin state change reason: 0
May 21 07:11:17 fridge NetworkManager[1141]: <warn> error disconnecting VPN: Could not process the request because no VPN connection was active.
May 21 07:11:17 fridge NetworkManager[1141]: <info> Policy set 'Wired connection 1' (eth0) as default for IPv4 routing and DNS.
May 21 07:11:22 fridge NetworkManager[1141]: <info> VPN service 'vpnc' disappeared
May 21 07:11:25 fridge NetworkManager[1141]: <info> Starting VPN service 'vpnc'...
May 21 07:11:25 fridge NetworkManager[1141]: <info> VPN service 'vpnc' started (org.freedesktop.NetworkManager.vpnc), PID 16134
May 21 07:11:25 fridge NetworkManager[1141]: <info> VPN service 'vpnc' appeared; activating connections
May 21 07:11:25 fridge NetworkManager[1141]: <info> VPN plugin state changed: starting (3)
May 21 07:11:25 fridge NetworkManager[1141]: <info> VPN connection 'xxx' (Connect) reply received.
May 21 07:11:25 fridge NetworkManager[1141]: <warn> VPN plugin failed: 1
May 21 07:11:25 fridge NetworkManager[1141]: <info> VPN plugin state changed: stopped (6)
May 21 07:11:25 fridge NetworkManager[1141]: <info> VPN plugin state change reason: 0
May 21 07:11:25 fridge NetworkManager[1141]: <warn> error disconnecting VPN: Could not process the request because no VPN connection was active.
May 21 07:11:25 fridge NetworkManager[1141]: <info> Policy set 'Wired connection 1' (eth0) as default for IPv4 routing and DNS.
May 21 07:11:30 fridge NetworkManager[1141]: <info> VPN service 'vpnc' disappeared

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 12.04
Package: network-manager 0.9.4.0-0ubuntu4
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.2.0-24.37-generic 3.2.14
Uname: Linux 3.2.0-24-generic x86_64
NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia
ApportVersion: 2.0.1-0ubuntu7
Architecture: amd64
CRDA: Error: command ['iw', 'reg', 'get'] failed with exit code 1: nl80211 not found.
Date: Mon May 21 07:12:52 2012
EcryptfsInUse: Yes
IfupdownConfig:
 auto lo
 iface lo inet loopback
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 11.10 "Oneiric Ocelot" - Release amd64 (20111012)
IpRoute:
 default via 192.168.1.1 dev eth0 proto static
 169.254.0.0/16 dev eth0 scope link metric 1000
 192.168.1.0/24 dev eth0 proto kernel scope link src 192.168.1.2 metric 1
IwConfig:
 lo no wireless extensions.

 eth0 no wireless extensions.

 tun0 no wireless extensions.
NetworkManager.state:
 [main]
 NetworkingEnabled=true
 WirelessEnabled=true
 WWANEnabled=true
 WimaxEnabled=true
PciNetwork:

ProcEnviron:
 LANGUAGE=
 TERM=xterm
 PATH=(custom, no user)
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
RfKill:

SourcePackage: network-manager
UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to precise on 2012-04-27 (23 days ago)
nmcli-con:
 NAME UUID TYPE TIMESTAMP TIMESTAMP-REAL AUTOCONNECT READONLY DBUS-PATH
 Wired connection 1 1ddafd96-fca4-4664-9c8d-6bf5625492ea 802-3-ethernet 1337598781 Mon 21 May 2012 07:13:01 AM EDT yes no /org/freedesktop/NetworkManager/Settings/1
 xxx f52d1aac-d717-4a3a-847f-28af7b753feb vpn 1336392292 Mon 07 May 2012 08:04:52 AM EDT yes no /org/freedesktop/NetworkManager/Settings/0
nmcli-dev:
 DEVICE TYPE STATE DBUS-PATH
 eth0 802-3-ethernet connected /org/freedesktop/NetworkManager/Devices/0
nmcli-nm:
 RUNNING VERSION STATE NET-ENABLED WIFI-HARDWARE WIFI WWAN-HARDWARE WWAN
 running 0.9.4.0 connected enabled enabled enabled enabled disabled

[Reuben Firmin (reubenf)]

Confirmed, this is specific to KDE network manager. It works fine in gnome.

[Reuben Firmin (reubenf)]

More details:

All of the above was with a VPN connection configured within network-manager-gnome. So, there is incompatibility in the profile that it saves. If you don't want to deal with the incompatibility, don't display it.

I added a new VPNC configuration using KDE's interface to do so. With this one, I consistently get the dialog prompting me to enter the password when I click on it (or at least I did until I clicked on the old 'xxx' one, after which neither works again.) However, in syslog there are yet more errors:

May 21 07:36:40 fridge vpnagent[1443]: Function: tableCallbackHandler File: RouteMgr.cpp Line: 1694 Invoked Function: recv Return Code: 11 (0x0000000B) Description: unknown
May 21 07:36:52 fridge sudo: pam_ecryptfs: pam_sm_authenticate: /home/rfirmin is already mounted
May 21 07:37:49 fridge vpnagent[1443]: Function: tableCallbackHandler File: RouteMgr.cpp Line: 1694 Invoked Function: recv Return Code: 11 (0x0000000B) Description: unknown
May 21 07:37:52 fridge NetworkManager[1250]: <info> Starting VPN service 'vpnc'...
May 21 07:37:52 fridge NetworkManager[1250]: <info> VPN service 'vpnc' started (org.freedesktop.NetworkManager.vpnc), PID 3395
May 21 07:37:52 fridge NetworkManager[1250]: <info> VPN service 'vpnc' appeared; activating connections
May 21 07:38:10 fridge NetworkManager[1250]: <info> VPN plugin state changed: starting (3)
May 21 07:38:10 fridge NetworkManager[1250]: <info> VPN connection 'xxx2' (Connect) reply received.
May 21 07:38:10 fridge NetworkManager[1250]: SCPlugin-Ifupdown: devices added (path: /sys/devices/virtual/net/tun0, iface: tun0)
May 21 07:38:10 fridge NetworkManager[1250]: SCPlugin-Ifupdown: device added (path: /sys/devices/virtual/net/tun0, iface: tun0): no ifupdown configuration found.
May 21 07:38:10 fridge avahi-daemon[1272]: Withdrawing workstation service for tun0.
May 21 07:38:10 fridge NetworkManager[1250]: SCPlugin-Ifupdown: devices removed (path: /sys/devices/virtual/net/tun0, iface: tun0)
May 21 07:38:10 fridge NetworkManager[1250]: <warn> VPN plugin failed: 0
May 21 07:38:10 fridge NetworkManager[1250]: <info> VPN plugin state changed: stopped (6)
May 21 07:38:10 fridge NetworkManager[1250]: <info> VPN plugin state change reason: 10
May 21 07:38:10 fridge NetworkManager[1250]: <warn> error disconnecting VPN: Could not process the request because no VPN connection was active.
May 21 07:38:10 fridge NetworkManager[1250]: <info> Policy set 'Wired connection 1' (eth0) as default for IPv4 routing and DNS.
May 21 07:38:15 fridge NetworkManager[1250]: <info> VPN service 'vpnc' disappeared
May 21 07:38:19 fridge vpnagent[1443]: Function: tableCallbackHandler File: RouteMgr.cpp Line: 1694 Invoked Function: recv Return Code: 11 (0x0000000B) Description: unknown

[Reuben Firmin (reubenf)]

Further, while network-manager-vpnc was able to import the conf file, network-manager-kde is not. It gives me the error message "xxx is not a valid OpenVPN's [sic] client configuration file".

How did this version make it past your QA process?

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

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

[aka (vangop)]

I have a vpn profile that was working up until yesterday, now I get
<info> (wlan0): supplicant interface state: 4-way handshake -> completed
<info> Starting VPN service 'vpnc'...
<info> VPN service 'vpnc' started (org.freedesktop.NetworkManager.vpnc), PID 9456
<info> VPN service 'vpnc' appeared; activating connections
<info> VPN plugin state changed: init (1)
<info> VPN plugin state changed: starting (3)
<info> VPN connection 'Main RAS' (Connect) reply received.
<warn> VPN plugin failed: 1
<info> VPN plugin state changed: stopped (6)
<info> VPN plugin state change reason: 0
<warn> error disconnecting VPN: Could not process the request because no VPN connection was active.

[skiglades (micvavrik)]

Also affects Kubuntu 12.04

Jun 12 15:16:17 sysname NetworkManager[1421]: <info> Starting VPN service 'vpnc'...
Jun 12 15:16:17 sysname NetworkManager[1421]: <info> VPN service 'vpnc' started (org.freedesktop.NetworkManager.vpnc), PID 5342
Jun 12 15:16:17 sysname NetworkManager[1421]: <info> VPN service 'vpnc' appeared; activating connections
Jun 12 15:16:17 sysname NetworkManager[1421]: <info> VPN plugin state changed: 1
Jun 12 15:16:29 sysname NetworkManager[1421]: <info> VPN plugin state changed: 3
Jun 12 15:16:29 sysname NetworkManager[1421]: <info> VPN connection 'VPNNAME' (Connect) reply received.
Jun 12 15:16:29 sysname NetworkManager[1421]: SCPlugin-Ifupdown: devices added (path: /sys/devices/virtual/net/tun0, iface: tun0)
Jun 12 15:16:29 sysname NetworkManager[1421]: SCPlugin-Ifupdown: device added (path: /sys/devices/virtual/net/tun0, iface: tun0): no ifupdown configuration found.
Jun 12 15:16:44 sysname NetworkManager[1421]: SCPlugin-Ifupdown: devices removed (path: /sys/devices/virtual/net/tun0, iface: tun0)
Jun 12 15:16:44 sysname NetworkManager[1421]: <warn> VPN plugin failed: 1
Jun 12 15:16:44 sysname NetworkManager[1421]: <info> VPN plugin state changed: 6
Jun 12 15:16:44 sysname NetworkManager[1421]: <info> VPN plugin state change reason: 0
Jun 12 15:16:44 sysname NetworkManager[1421]: <warn> error disconnecting VPN: Could not process the request because no VPN connection was active.
Jun 12 15:16:44 sysname NetworkManager[1421]: <info> Policy set 'WAP-NAME' (wlan0) as default for IPv4 routing and DNS.
Jun 12 15:16:49 sysname NetworkManager[1421]: <info> VPN service 'vpnc' disappeared

[mrDoctorWho (mrdoctorwho)]

Also affects Xubuntu 13.04

[W. Scott Lockwood III (wsl3)]

Problem still exists in 13.10.

slockwood@tincek:/var/log$ sudo lshw -C network; lsb_release -a; uname -a; sudo rfkill list
  *-network
       description: Ethernet interface
       product: 82578DM Gigabit Network Connection
       vendor: Intel Corporation
       physical id: 19
       bus info: pci@0000:00:19.0
       logical name: eth0
       version: 05
       serial: b8:ac:6f:ab:92:a7
       size: 1Gbit/s
       capacity: 1Gbit/s
       width: 32 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: pm msi bus_master cap_list ethernet physical tp 10bt 10bt-fd 100bt 100bt-fd 1000bt-fd autonegotiation
       configuration: autonegotiation=on broadcast=yes driver=e1000e driverversion=2.3.2-k duplex=full firmware=0.12-2 ip=10.20.4.245 latency=0 link=yes multicast=yes port=twisted pair speed=1Gbit/s
       resources: irq:42 memory:f7fe0000-f7ffffff memory:f7fdc000-f7fdcfff ioport:ecc0(size=32)
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description: Ubuntu 13.10
Release: 13.10
Codename: saucy
Linux tincek 3.11.0-11-lowlatency #4-Ubuntu SMP PREEMPT Wed Oct 2 22:48:21 UTC 2013 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux