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I have set up a VPN connection back when I used Unity instead of XFCE as DE for my Ubuntu 14.10. It worked well, but I can't find how I have to connect to it now under XFCE.

Is there e.g. a panel plugin for XFCE like the one in Unity to accomplish this or do I have to use the terminal or other GUI tools?

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  • XFCE should also have a user interface for Network Manager. Isn't it located in your system settings or is it hidden from your panel? See for example: ubuntuhandbook.org/index.php/2014/11/…
    – gertvdijk
    Mar 20, 2015 at 12:26
  • @gertvdijk I had the Unity panel emulator you mentioned installed and active, but the network manager never showed up. Could it be that I have to enable an additional autostart command to have it running?
    – Byte Commander
    Mar 20, 2015 at 12:41
  • Did you reinstall your system with Xubuntu or did you install xubuntu-desktop next to the 'regular' Unity DE? If the first case applies, do you have Network Manager installed or is your system using /etc/network/interfaces? I've seen many nasty bugs in multi-DE in recent Ubuntu versions. For example this unrelated issue, but could have related cause: askubuntu.com/q/564821/88802
    – gertvdijk
    Mar 20, 2015 at 12:44
  • @gertvdijk I installed normal Ubuntu 14.10 with Unity and recently added xubuntu-desktop. The VPN is fully configured and worked with the Unity network manager.
    – Byte Commander
    Mar 20, 2015 at 12:51

2 Answers 2

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I have this problem exactly. In 14.04 there was a flaky indicator I could use. It is not available in 14.10.

In 14.10 with XFCE4, Settings > Network Connections allows me to set up VPN connections but does not give me the option to connect to any of them. I've looked everywhere for an app offering connections like those offered in the Unity dropdown, but I haven't found one.

Eventually I used nmcli c to get the UUID of the desired connection, then I wrote two CLI scripts, vpnup and vpndown, to toggle the VPN:

#!
nmcli con up uuid (UUID)
[etc...]

This is easier than switching back and forth to Unity just to change a VPN connection.

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  • Yes, I recently stumbled over that nmcli command too and planned to answer it myself today, but you were faster than me... :) So that are 25 points for you. I would still appreciate a panel addon like the one in unity which would also show me the connection state. If that would be possible somehow...
    – Byte Commander
    Mar 24, 2015 at 15:26
  • I would settle for an app as well. At one point I noticed an entry in something like "network connections" that had a "connect" option at the bottom of the list. I can't find that in XFCE4. Both nmcli and "network connections" will tell you what is connected.
    – Jim Knock
    Mar 25, 2015 at 17:01
  • I found another method but I don't understand why it works. Make a backup copy of the following file and edit it: /etc/xdg/autostart/nm-applet.desktop Change the Exec=... line to read: Exec=dbus-launch nm-applet Reboot your system. For some reason passwords no longer persist in the VPN configurations. But, the Unity applet is now available.
    – Jim Knock
    Apr 2, 2015 at 5:47
  • The password problem was because the default location of passwords had somehow changed. I had to go through each of my configurations in /etc/NetworkManager/system-connections and change the line password-flags=1 to password-flags=0. Then I had to add the following lines in each file: [vpn-secrets] password=<new password>. There is probably a much easier way. Apparently NetworkManager has a template file somewhere that it uses for default security configurations.
    – Jim Knock
    Apr 2, 2015 at 17:25
  • Would you summarize that as another answer to my question? It sounds good and I bet you would like another vote... ;)
    – Byte Commander
    Apr 2, 2015 at 21:56
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Edit the file: /etc/xdg/autostart/nm-applet.desktop

Change the Exec line to read:

Exec=dbus-launch nm-applet

I don't know why, or if it is related. But my default password mechanism somehow changed. I had to go through all my VPN connection configuration files in:

/etc/NetworkManager/system-connections

changing the line

"password-flags=1"

to

"password-flags=0"

This allows the password to be in the configuration file instead of prompting for the password when the connection is attempted. Then sections and lines had to be added to each configuration file to contain the password:

[vpn-secrets]

password=VPN PASSWORD

Where obviously VPN PASSWORD is the password needed for the VPN connection. Once these changes are made in the configuration file, the normal Network Management GUIs can be used to change the password.

The changes to nm-applet.desktop and the configuration files provided XFCE4 with the network configuration applet functionality that I found in Unity.

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  • Clear text pw, eh? So much for Ubuntu security.
    – user447607
    Sep 2, 2016 at 15:08

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