1

I'm trying to configure the VPN for my workplace and am somewhat stuck as I do not know what I can do.

I can confirm that the VPN works with my account/password if I use Windows or Android. After I enter my password, I get a push notification on my phone, which I can approve and get connected.

It isn't working for Ubuntu 22.04 (it has worked with earlier versions of Ubuntu with the same workplace). I don't get the push notification at all. I'm not sure at which step before is it falling. I asked the technical support of my workplace and they told me that they officially support Windows and Mac, but not Ubuntu -- so they won't troubleshoot it with me. As a Linux user, I'm also in the minority so I don't expect them to help me.

The only log file I know to look at is /var/log/syslog (mentioned here). The relevant entries in my log file are:

Oct  6 16:30:07 xps NetworkManager[1190]: <info>  [1665070207.0517] vpn[0x55e0c1f72760,...,"XXX"]: starting vpnc
Oct  6 16:30:07 xps NetworkManager[1190]: <info>  [1665070207.0521] audit: op="connection-activate" uuid="..." name="XXX" pid=4022 uid=1000 result="success"
Oct  6 16:30:07 xps NetworkManager[1190]: <info>  [1665070207.3049] manager: (tun0): new Tun device (/org/freedesktop/NetworkManager/Devices/18)
Oct  6 16:30:07 xps systemd-udevd[65810]: Using default interface naming scheme 'v249'.
Oct  6 16:30:18 xps rtkit-daemon[1999]: Supervising 8 threads of 6 processes of 1 users.
Oct  6 16:30:18 xps rtkit-daemon[1999]: Supervising 8 threads of 6 processes of 1 users.
Oct  6 16:30:22 xps NetworkManager[65800]: /usr/sbin/vpnc: no response from target
Oct  6 16:30:22 xps gnome-shell[4022]: Removing a network device that was not added
Oct  6 16:30:22 xps NetworkManager[1190]: <warn>  [1665070222.3745] vpn[0x55e0c1f72760,...,"XXX"]: dbus: failure: connect-failed (1)
Oct  6 16:30:22 xps NetworkManager[1190]: <warn>  [1665070222.3746] vpn[0x55e0c1f72760,...,"XXX"]: dbus: failure: connect-failed (1)
Oct  6 16:30:32 xps systemd[1]: Started Run anacron jobs.
Oct  6 16:30:32 xps anacron[65849]: Anacron 2.3 started on 2022-10-06
Oct  6 16:30:32 xps anacron[65849]: Normal exit (0 jobs run)
Oct  6 16:30:32 xps systemd[1]: anacron.service: Deactivated successfully.

My workplace did inform me that I should use the Cisco Compatible VPN (vpnc) and there is a bug in the setup for Ubuntu 22.04, which I did get around by following this.

Unfortunately, that's all the help I'll get from them since their last suggestion was to use a Mac/Windows. And they also said that Ubuntu 22.04 was "buggy" in this area. Maybe there's an issue that they know of that they aren't willing to look at or fix. (And no, they won't tell me more than this.)

In the log file, no response from target makes me wonder if it is their fault -- that the VPN server is ignoring me because of some incompatibility with Ubuntu. I've even tried a virtual machine within VirtualBox using Ubuntu 20.04, but I'm getting the same problem (even though it definitely worked 2 years ago and even as recently as 21.10).

As a final note, I've tried this on more than one Ubuntu 22.04 system. It doesn't work on them, even though it did on earlier versions of Ubuntu as well.

Any suggestions on what I can do next? Thank you in advance!

Ray
  • 2,071
  • did you try in a 21.10 VM (or better a 21.10 machine), to confirm that nothing changed on their side since it was working and the problem is with 22.04 ? – alci Oct 06 '22 at 15:57
  • 1
    also, you should try to connect using sudo vpnc in command line, to diagnose if the problem is with NetworkManager... – alci Oct 06 '22 at 15:59
  • 1
    @alci Thanks for the suggestions! So, I just tried a 21.10 VM (unfortunately, no 21.10 machine is available) and I get the same error. Similarly, I tried vpnc on the command line and I got the same error message no response from target. (I don't see a more verbose option to vpnc.) Is it possible that they did some kind of change / upgrade on their side which might have been justified for Win/Mac, but has some how excluded Linux users? If they did that...well, not much I can do other than confirm that I can give up trying... – Ray Oct 06 '22 at 22:16

1 Answers1

0

"I've tried this on more than one Ubuntu 22.04 system."

As far as I can see it just plain doesn't work in 22.04 or 22.10. But it does work in 20.04 so the only solution seems to be to go back to 20.04

John Small
  • 141
  • Thanks for this! As suggested by my employer, and much to my dismay, I've decided to connect to work using a Windows machine... I suppose they have no responsibility to enable and test for all OS'. Mac/Win accounts for most people at my workplace. I'll give 20.04 a try soon. Thank you!! – Ray Feb 11 '23 at 14:34