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.
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/564821/88802xubuntu-desktop
. The VPN is fully configured and worked with the Unity network manager.