VPN connection problem

[Tramlink]

I am using 11.04 and last used my VPN connection yesterday.

Now it will not connect.  my laptop running mint 10 is connecting fine but not my main desk top running Ubuntu 11.04.

I deleted the connection and reinstalled it but it is still not working.

Any clues.........

[Mark Greaves (PCNetSpec)]

I take it you're using NetworkManager to connect ?

NetworkManager uses different plug-ins for different types of VPN connections (such as network-manager-openvpn), what type of connection is it, and have you tried reinstalling the plug-in ?

When you deleted the connection, and recreated it .. did you try giving it a different Connection Name: ?

Have you trawled through your log files for relevant information ?

[Tramlink]

Yes I am using Network Manager to connect.

I can not find any log files to look at where are they.

I am only offered one type of connection and that is the one required by the VPN service  pptp.

I tried looking for VPN plug-ins but there are so many which to chose?

I tried clearing the connections and installing with a new name.  This made no difference I was told the VPN service was not starting.

http://www.purevpn.com/config/linux/index.php  this is the insulation process that I followed it was working for two days and then stopped.

I have had problems with Network Manager in the past not seeing my wired connection is there a different Network Manager.

[Mark Greaves (PCNetSpec)]

You should have a "Log File Viewer" somewhere in your menu's .. Syslog is probably the first one to look at.

The logs are at /var/log/

or you could dump syslog to your home folder with:

Code: [Select]

cat /var/log/syslog >> ~/syslog.txt

Plugins .. when you open NetworkManager and try to create a new VPN connection .. what options are available in the first window that pops up "Choose VPN Connection Type" ? .. and if more than one, which one are you choosing ?

[Tramlink]

I am only offered point to point tunnelling protocol (PPTP) as required by the instructions from the VPN service provider.

I found the Syslog.

[Mark Greaves (PCNetSpec)]

There's a ton of stuff online about problems with NetworkManager and VPN connections.

Some have suggested that taking the tick out of "Available to all users" works for them .. others not.

What's the output from:

Code: [Select]

dpkg -l |  grep network-manager-*

and can you attach the contents of your syslog.

[Tramlink]

userone@office2:~$ dpkg -l |  grep network-manager-*
ii  network-manager                                   0.8.4~git.20110319t175609.d14809b-0ubuntu3 network management framework daemon
ii  network-manager-gnome                             0.8.4~git.20110318t152954.9c4c9a0-0ubuntu1 network management framework (GNOME frontend)
ii  network-manager-pptp                              0.8.1+git.20110207t142407.7e1d989-0ubuntu1 network management framework (PPTP plugin)
ii  network-manager-pptp-gnome                        0.8.1+git.20110207t142407.7e1d989-0ubuntu1 network management framework (PPTP plugin, GNOME UI)
ii  network-manager-vpnc                              0.8.1+git.20110207t151002.6a2b2d6-0ubuntu2 network management framework (VPNC plugin)
ii  network-manager-vpnc-gnome                        0.8.1+git.20110207t151002.6a2b2d6-0ubuntu2 network management framework (VPNC plugin, GNOME UI)
userone@office2:~$

[Tramlink]

I deleted the connection and reinstalled with new name and unticked all users and it has connected OK.


Is this some issue with the network manager program and if so is there another network manager that could be used?

I hope the connecting works when I wont to use it this evening.

Strange that there were no issues with mint 10 or my android phone only with Ubuntu 11.04 wonder if this is addressed in the new LTS version due for release.

[Mark Greaves (PCNetSpec)]

Yes .. it appears to be a bug in the way (some versions of ?) NetworkManager stores/accesses the passwords for VPN connections when "Available to all users" is selected.

Which is why you have a lot of:

NetworkManager[713]: <warn> VPN connection 'XXXXXX' failed to connect: 'No VPN secrets!'.

instances in your syslog.

It's all over the interweb, including:
http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=567458
and
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1475541
and
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1528840

You should be fine with NetworkManager, as long as you leave out the "Available to all users" option

Another method would be to manually configure the connection to the VPN .. it's all in here:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/VPNClient#Manually_configuring_your_connection

[Tramlink]

Thanks for the help.