Looking to buy the BQ Aquaris E5 Ubuntu Edition but before I do so I need to ask a question (I'm not a develloper , I'm new at the game.)
I'd like to use a VPN on my phone to chat and phonecall with no log and anonimity. I've a nordvpn souscription Is there a VPN software for the phone or an easy way to configure things?
Update, as of OTA-10 that the BQ Aquaris E5 Ubuntu Edition now has, OpenVPN is natively part of the settings and the text below is obsolete
Well, as of Ubuntu version OTA-9, that the BQ Aquaris E5 Ubuntu Edition now has, there is finally VPN. It should work with nordvpn as they have OpenVPN. It is not super-easy to configure though... ...here is what you will need to do:
VPN is now supported on Ubuntu Touch via NetworkManager but there is no official GUI yet to configure it. Fortunatly Pete Woods has created a GUI we can use, download it from here: via the phone's browser app to the phone.
Install the GUI with this command from the phones terminal app:
pkcon install-local --allow-untrusted ~/Downloads/com.ubuntu.developer.pete-woods.vpn-editor_0.2.0_all.click
The new GUI app will now show up in the Apps Scope (refresh the app list by dragging the list down from the top)
You can now configure nordvpn by following the guide for Linux and NetworkManager, the GUI is not the same but resembles that of the linux desktop. Furthermore, there is no import ability of a configuration file. You may want to do the import of a configuration file on a linux desktop and then copy the settings to the phone.
There is one final step left. Most VPN services rely on a username and a password and at the moment there is no support to store the password for the VPN service on the phone automatically (even if the GUI app actually has a password field).
To my knowledge there is no other way to solve this than to edit the NetworkManager connection-configuration file for the new VPN connection manually and insert the password in plain text. It will be protected by root so it’s not as unsafe as one might think. To do this, get back to the terminal app. Go to the directory where the connection-configuration files are with the command:
cd /etc/NetworkManager/system-connections
Then locate you connection, It’s probably called “VPN connection 1”. If there are many files you may need to inspect them to find your connection. Edit the file via e.g.
sudo nano “VPN connection 1”
Insert the following line last in the [vpn] section
password-flags=0
Then, after this line, add a new section called [vpn-secrets] and a new line with the password line like this:
[vpn-secrets]
password=your_vpn_password
Save the file and you are ready.
open the VPN GUI app again and toggle the vpn connection to on and the VPN service should start.
Note! once you inserted the credentials to the connection-configuration file you can not edit the connection in the GUI app anymore, if you do the password will be overwritten.
