MacOS – OS X Server 10.7.4: VPN Authentication Failed for new users

You can configure the VPN setting on your ipad, iphone or ipod touch to save the User Name and Password for VPN. I don't know of a way to have it constantly connect the VPN whenever the is a connection. Given the time it takes to establish a VPN handshake, it would be kind of frustrating to wake the device then not be able to connect to any internet/network related Apps for 15+ seconds while it connects to the VPN.

Choose Settings > General > Network > VPN > then choose the VPN Configuration. Fill in in the username a password section and then you can just turn the VPN on when you need it and not have to fill out the User Name and Password.

more info: http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1424

Alternative you could look at something like Apple's Mobile Access server, to give you that secured VPN like connection all the time without the hassle of starting a VPN connection:

http://www.apple.com/server/macosx/features/mobile-access.html

Yup, we saw the same exact symptoms, only on 10.7.4 machines, and after some digging, it appears to be a preference file causing this behavior.

Backup then delete the following:

 ~/Library/Preferences/.GlobalPreferences.plist

and

 ~/Library/Preferences/.GlobalPreferences.plist.lockfile

then reboot.

See the following link for more info:

http://derflounder.wordpress.com/2012/08/03/odd-afp-and-smb-connection-problem-caused-by-idisk-going-away/

If you delete the files above you'll have to redo your Mouse preferences, and perhaps something else, from scratch, but it was no biggie as far as I could tell.