Ubuntu – How to automatically connect to VPN in Ubuntu 17.10

17.10gnomenetwork-manageropenvpnvpn

I can't seem to get my openvpn connection to automatically connect when I wake up from system suspend or reboot. The openvpn connection works fine through the GUI, except there is no option to auto-connect. I've tried using nm-connection-editor, but after I check the box to auto-connect and save, the connection inexplicably fails. Adding secondaries to my wifi network through nmcli results in the same failure to connect. How can I auto-connect to my VPN through the GUI in Ubuntu 17.10? It seems like this is broken or something.

Update: So after selecting the auto-connect option from nm-connection-editor, then rebooting, I can manually reconnect to both interfaces successfully (the vpn service starts along with the network manager), but the system fails to connect automatically for some cryptic reason.

Best Answer

Wait wait wait. THIS worked. All you have to do is go 

VPN->VPN Settings->connection_name->Identity->Password->"Store for all users"

and bingo problem solved.

If nm-connection-editor says that you can't save the connection (the save box is grayed out), then...just forget the network and set up the connection again (worked for me at least). Once you have checked said auto-connect box with nm-connection-editor and ensured that the VPN password is set to "Store for all users," both the primary connection AND the VPN will start successfully at the same time. Otherwise I keep getting this message in my syslog about

vpn-connection[...]: Failed to request VPN secrets #3: No agents were available for this request.

Literally just toggling that one option fixes the problem entirely. Use sudo service network-manager restart and it connects flawlessly the first time. To avoid the error loop on bootup specifically, just uncheck the box "Make available to other users" on the primary connection.

Also to prevent DNS leaks over your vpn when systemd-resolved is used, type

sudo nmcli connection modify <vpn-connection-name> ipv4.dns-priority -42

See the bug whose fix I personally backported to Ubuntu 17.04 at https://bugs.launchpad.net/network-manager/+bug/1624317

After restarting your network manager, you should check the output of systemd-resolve --status and make sure that ONLY the DNS servers of your VPN are listed. Use the 'Extended' test on the dnsleaktest site to confirm you aren't leaking DNS queries.

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