VPN fails, "/usr/bin/nm-ppp-starter missing"

is that -pptp ?

yes, when connecting to a MS server by VPN. Worked fine before, but
failed after upgrade to Intrepid.

Alexander Sack wrote:
> is that -pptp ?
>
> ** Changed in: network-manager (Ubuntu)
> Status: New => Incomplete
>
>

which vpn package do you have installed?

nm-ppp-starter isnt used anywhere afaik.

network-manager.pptp and network-manager-openvpn. but had set up a VPN
only with pptp

Alexander Sack wrote:
> which vpn package do you have installed?
>
>

that file definitly doesnt exist and definitly isnt used. most likely you have clutter in your /usr/local or something else made your system dirty ;)

Hi,

I have the same problem. do you have a solution yet?

check what i said in my previous post.

Hi,
No, not yet. Only feedback I have received so far is:

    that file definitly doesnt exist and definitly isnt used. most likely
    you have clutter in your /usr/local or something else made your system
    dirty ;)

    ** Changed in: network-manager (Ubuntu)
           Status: Incomplete => Invalid

Niels wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I have the same problem. do you have a solution yet?
>
>

On Mon, Nov 03, 2008 at 05:38:59PM -0500, Mickey Reynolds wrote:
> Hi,
> No, not yet. Only feedback I have received so far is:
>
> that file definitly doesnt exist and definitly isnt used. most likely
> you have clutter in your /usr/local or something else made your system
> dirty ;)
>
> ** Changed in: network-manager (Ubuntu)
> Status: Incomplete => Invalid
>
>
>

OK, please attach the files you find in /etc/NetworkManager/VPNs/

 - Alexander

I'm having this problem too, and have attached the files you asked for. I also only see the one IPv4 Settings tab on the VPN configuration dialog box. See also https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/network-manager-pptp/+bug/282538.

After the upgrade I've tried adding a new PPTP VPN connection, which shows 2 tabs on the dialog box VPN and IPv4 Settings. I'm still working on getting the new connection going.

please attach the outpuit of:

dpkg-query -W -f='${Conffiles}' network-manager-pptp

if you have other vpns installed also do the same for those packages.

Attached. I only have PPTP installed.

thanks. could you also please attach what the commmands give you:

1. md5sum /etc/dbus-1/system.d/nm-ppp-starter.conf

2. md5sum /etc/NetworkManager/VPN/nm-ppp-starter.name

d1cd8fdd5dbf822eef5885dc46e95a14 /etc/dbus-1/system.d/nm-ppp-starter.conf
ab9b4df3e14f3198f8c309496045e45f /etc/NetworkManager/VPN/nm-ppp-starter.name

I have the same "nm-ppp-starter no such file" problem.

Here are the md5sums:
d1cd8fdd5dbf822eef5885dc46e95a14 /etc/dbus-1/system.d/nm-ppp-starter.conf
ab9b4df3e14f3198f8c309496045e45f /etc/NetworkManager/VPN/nm-ppp-starter.name

dpkg-query -W -f='${Conffiles}' network-manager-pptp:
 /etc/NetworkManager/VPN/nm-pptp-service.name 2ba2dd8e779feeefab0a8fc09ad3e6c0
 /etc/dbus-1/system.d/nm-pptp-service.conf 3c8a33fec72792ec1e3402af91883014
 /etc/NetworkManager/VPN/nm-ppp-starter.name ab9b4df3e14f3198f8c309496045e45f obsolete
 /etc/dbus-1/system.d/nm-ppp-starter.conf d1cd8fdd5dbf822eef5885dc46e95a14 obsolete

I'm getting this after a fresh install of ubuntu on two computers and after installing the network-manager-pptp package :

jorn@minimonster:~$ dpkg-query -W -f='${Conffiles}' network-manager-pptp
 /etc/NetworkManager/VPN/nm-pptp-service.name 2ba2dd8e779feeefab0a8fc09ad3e6c0
 /etc/dbus-1/system.d/nm-pptp-service.conf 3c8a33fec72792ec1e3402af91883014

jorn@minimonster:~$ md5sum /etc/dbus-1/system.d/nm-ppp-starter.conf
md5sum: /etc/dbus-1/system.d/nm-ppp-starter.conf: No such file or directory

jorn@minimonster:~$ md5sum /etc/NetworkManager/VPN/nm-ppp-starter.name
md5sum: /etc/NetworkManager/VPN/nm-ppp-starter.name: No such file or directory

/var/log/syslog :

minimonster NetworkManager: <info> Starting VPN service 'org.freedesktop.NetworkManager.pptp'...
minimonster NetworkManager: <info> VPN service 'org.freedesktop.NetworkManager.pptp' started (org.freedesktop.NetworkManager.pptp), PID 21068
minimonster NetworkManager: <info> VPN service 'org.freedesktop.NetworkManager.pptp' just appeared, activating connections
minimonster NetworkManager: <info> VPN plugin state changed: 1
minimonster NetworkManager: <info> VPN plugin state changed: 3
minimonster NetworkManager: <info> VPN connection 'VPN connection 1' (Connect) reply received.
minimonster NetworkManager: <WARN> nm_vpn_connection_connect_cb(): VPN connection 'VPN connection 1' failed to connect: 'No VPN configuration options.'.
minimonster NetworkManager: <WARN> connection_state_changed(): Could not process the request because no VPN connection was active.

Tried this in desperation :

I extracted the files in network-manager-pptp_0.6.5+svnhead2574-0ubuntu1_i386.deb from the Hardy repository.

Copied nm-ppp-starter.name into /etc/NetworkManager/VPN/ and nm-ppp-starter.conf into /etc/dbus-1/system.d/

They both have the md5sum's as Nigel Charman wrote above so I figured it would work but same result.

folks please dont do stuff like what j/rn did. the workaround is simple. just remove that starter file from /etc/NetworkManager/VPN/ ... done.

fix is to make .preinst remove obsolete conffiles or rename them if they dont match the original checksum.

Because of the eventual rename we also need a network-manager side to not parse files that have a none-default filename.

ok. if you havent removed the old .name files yet, please dont do that so you can verify the SRU I am going to do today.

initiating sru for pptp part.

uploading network-manager-pptp_0.7~~svn20081015t024626-0ubuntu1.8.10.1_source.changes to ubuntu/intrepid-proposed

uploading network-manager-pptp_0.7~~svn20081015t024626-0ubuntu2_source.changes to ubuntu/jaunty

This bug was fixed in the package network-manager-pptp - 0.7~~svn20081015t024626-0ubuntu2

---------------
network-manager-pptp (0.7~~svn20081015t024626-0ubuntu2) jaunty; urgency=low

  * LP: #259168 Network Manager unable to connect to PPTP VPN (bad NT-Domain
    escaping); we improve ppp domain in username encoding
    - add debian/patches/lp259168_ppp_nt_domain_escaping.patch
  * LP: #268667 MASTER - not all required ppp options get set on command line
    which makes ppp use bad values from /etc/ppp/options*; we explicitly set
    good values for: nodefaultroute, lcp-echo-failure and lcp-echo-interval
    - add debian/patches/lp268667_ppp_default_options.patch
  * LP: #292681 crash when running auth-dialog and secret in keyring;
    we use the proper memory functions in this patch (dupe-of LP: #284212
    VPN connection fails: "unable to find valid VPN secrets")
    - add debian/patches/lp_292681_keyring_memory_free.patch
  * LP: #290468 VPN fails, "/usr/bin/nm-ppp-starter missing"; we remove
    obsolete conffiles in .preinst now
    - add debian/network-manager-pptp.preinst

 -- Alexander Sack <email address hidden> Thu, 30 Oct 2008 00:22:51 +0100

oh. made a mistake in preinst. reuploading.

Accepted into intrepid-proposed, please test and give feedback here. Please see https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Testing/EnableProposed for documentation how to enable and use -proposed. Thank you in advance!

I can't see any network-manager packages in intrepid-proposed. After adding the intrepid-proposed repository, I tried changing my settings to download from Main Server and ran sudo apt-get update -o Acquire::http::No-Cache=True. I get about 75 proposed packages, but none related to network-manager. Any suggestions?

I have now upgraded to updated version and it works!

However the NM-applet does not seem to read the password entered in the VPN-profilemanager.

WORKAROUND :
Leave it blank and you will be prompted for a password when you try to connect to a vpn-service.

Thank you for fixing this Alexander Sack!
Great work and quick response!
I salute you!

I have updated the network-manager-pptp now. When trying to connect to the VPN that had the settings carried over from 8.04, I'm getting:

   "The VPN connection ' vpnname' failed to start. The VPN service was invalid."

On selecting 'Configure VPN' from nm-applet, only the IPv4 tab is shown for the VPN, there is no VPN tab on the dialog.

Should the existing VPN connection be working now, or do I need to create new connections?

/var/log/syslog contains
"Nov 21 10:59:30 leginx NetworkManager: <WARN> impl_manager_activate_connection(): Connection (2) /org/freedesktop/NetworkManagerSettings/1 failed to activate: (2) The VPN service was invalid. "

$ dpkg-query -W -f='${Conffiles}' network-manager-pptp
 /etc/NetworkManager/VPN/nm-pptp-service.name 2ba2dd8e779feeefab0a8fc09ad3e6c0
 /etc/dbus-1/system.d/nm-pptp-service.conf 3c8a33fec72792ec1e3402af91883014
$ md5sum /etc/NetworkManager/VPN/nm-pptp-service.name
2ba2dd8e779feeefab0a8fc09ad3e6c0 /etc/NetworkManager/VPN/nm-pptp-service.name
$ md5sum /etc/dbus-1/system.d/nm-pptp-service.conf
3c8a33fec72792ec1e3402af91883014 /etc/dbus-1/system.d/nm-pptp-service.conf
$ md5sum /etc/NetworkManager/VPN/nm-ppp-starter.name
md5sum: /etc/NetworkManager/VPN/nm-ppp-starter.name: No such file or directory
$ md5sum /etc/dbus-1/system.d/nm-ppp-starter.conf
md5sum: /etc/dbus-1/system.d/nm-ppp-starter.conf: No such file or directory
$ ls /etc/NetworkManager/VPN/
nm-pptp-service.name

$ cat /home/nigel/.gconf/system/networking/connections/2/vpn/%gconf.xml
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<gconf>
        <entry name="service-type" mtime="1225844193" type="string">
                <stringvalue>org.freedesktop.NetworkManager.ppp_starter</stringvalue>
        </entry>
</gconf>

Thanks, Nigel.

Just reporting that network-manager-pptp - 0.7~~svn20081015t024626-0ubuntu1.8.10.1 (intrepid-proposed)
FIXED the problem!!!
God bless u Alex!!

Nigel, this bug is not about migrating old vpn configurations, so please test to create a new connection to verify this package.

not a NM bug (just network-manager-pptp)

The proposed fix appears to work but fails for secure logins. In the configuration dialogue I select advanced settings, use point to point encryption (MME), 128 bit, and allow stateful encryption. All other settings are selected except for PAP. Close out all the windows and attempt to connect, enter password and connection fails. Go back check the settings and find the security settings are not selected.

Kadjette : Do not select "128 bit encryption" - just set i to "All available (default)"

 You may also enable "Allow statefull encryption"

J(/)rn

Selected to "all available (default)" and tried it with "Allow stateful encryption selected and deselected. It still failed. The point-to-point encryption (MME) stayed selected with the "all available (default)" option though.

Kadjette : What error-message do you get?

The passwordfield in the profile should be blank, you will be prompted for a password once you try to connect.

I leave the passwordfield blank in the profile.

Just discovered I had to force the file change to network-manager-pptp - 0.7~~svn20081015t024626-0ubuntu1.8.10.1 (intrepid-proposed).

Attached error log.

Will attempt a manual connection through the console.

reopen NM part. the follow up fix has to take care that only service files with .name suffix are considered. otherwise .dpkg-bak files would still be considered (which would make this problem reappear for users that have modified their service file at some point).

NM part: rev2966

also affects -applet which also parsed service files located in /etc/NetworkManager/VPN/

upload SRU: network-manager_0.7~~svn20081018t105859-0ubuntu1.8.10.1_source.changes to ubuntu/intrepid-proposed

This bug was fixed in the package network-manager - 0.7~~svn20081018t105859-0ubuntu2

---------------
network-manager (0.7~~svn20081018t105859-0ubuntu2) jaunty; urgency=low

  * fix LP: #292054 - Some drivers take too long to associate (Was:
    network-manager 0.7 always asks for WPA passphrase); we workaround
    this driver/wpasupplicant bug by giving association more time
    (e.g. 60sec instead of 25sec)
    - add debian/patches/lp292054_tune_supplicant_timeout_60s.patch
    - update debian/patches/series
  * fix LP: #256905 - dbus policy file (nm-avahi-autoipd.conf) not properly
    deployed in package; install nm-avahi-autoipd.conf
    - update debian/network-manager.install
  * fix LP: #282207 - [Sierra] NM 0.7 does not set APN for AT&T 3G connection;
    apply fix from Jerone Young
    - add debian/patches/lp282207_set_apn_at_syntax.patch
    - update debian/patches/series
  * fix LP: #268667 - not all required ppp options get set on command line
    which makes ppp use bad values from /etc/ppp/options; we backport upstream
    fix
    - add debian/patches/lp268667_more_ppp_default_options.patch
    - update debian/patches/series
  * fix LP: #291564 - ifupdown network manager does not blacklist/unmanage
    mapped devices in managed=false mode; thanks to Stephan Trebels for the
    patch
    - add debian/patches/lp291564_ifupdown_unmanage_mapping_and_iface.patch
    - update debian/patches/series
  * fix LP: #291902 - ifupdown plugin should not export any parsed connection
    configuration when running in managed=false mode; we fix this by exporting
    empty connection list in unmanaged mode
    - add debian/patches/lp291902_IFUPDOWN_dont_export_connection_in_unmanaged_mode.patch
    - update debian/patches/series
  * belt-and-braces fix LP: #290468 VPN fails, "/usr/bin/nm-ppp-starter
    missing"; we remove obsolete conffiles in -pptp .preinst; in case user
    modified them they will be renamed to .dpkg-bak; this patch takes care that
    NM doesn't consider files in /etc/NetworkManager/VPN that don't have a
    .name filename suffix.
    - add debian/patches/lp290468_only_consider_name_suffix_VPN_service_files.patch
    - update debian/patches/series
  * fix LP: #303142 - 3G [Option] some modems take a while time to register on
    network (CREG); we use g_timeout_add instead of _idle_add to give the
    modem some rest during registration phase.
    - add debian/patches/lp303142_more_time_for_automatic_registration.patch
    - update debian/patches/series

 -- Alexander Sack <email address hidden> Fri, 28 Nov 2008 13:47:07 +0100

Accepted network-manager into intrepid-proposed, please test and give feedback here. Please see https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Testing/EnableProposed for documentation how to enable and use -proposed. Thank you in advance!

Applied proposed fix network-manager_0.7~~svn20081018t105859-0ubuntu1.8.10.1_source.changes to ubuntu/intrepid-proposed. VPN still failed. Error log attached.

I was able to connect to my VPN using the PPTP client directly in the console. Config setup at this page:
http://pptpclient.sourceforge.net/howto-debian.phtml

i was wrong. applet already has a suffix check here. closing applet task.

Kadjette, you need to enable MPPE encryption.

I have Use point-to-point encryption (MPPE) enabled. Previously submitted error log was with that option selected.

On Fri, Nov 28, 2008 at 08:25:54PM -0000, Kadjette wrote:
> I have Use point-to-point encryption (MPPE) enabled. Previously
> submitted error log was with that option selected.
>

In any case: you are seeing something else than this bug!!!! File a
new one or something.

 - Alexander

This bug was fixed in the package network-manager-pptp - 0.7~~svn20081015t024626-0ubuntu1.8.10.1

---------------
network-manager-pptp (0.7~~svn20081015t024626-0ubuntu1.8.10.1) intrepid-proposed; urgency=low

  * LP: #259168 Network Manager unable to connect to PPTP VPN (bad NT-Domain
    escaping); we improve ppp domain in username encoding
    - add debian/patches/lp259168_ppp_nt_domain_escaping.patch
  * LP: #268667 MASTER - not all required ppp options get set on command line
    which makes ppp use bad values from /etc/ppp/options*; we explicitly set
    good values for: nodefaultroute, lcp-echo-failure and lcp-echo-interval
    - add debian/patches/lp268667_ppp_default_options.patch
  * LP: #292681 crash when running auth-dialog and secret in keyring;
    we use the proper memory functions in this patch (dupe-of LP: #284212
    VPN connection fails: "unable to find valid VPN secrets")
    - add debian/patches/lp_292681_keyring_memory_free.patch
  * LP: #290468 VPN fails, "/usr/bin/nm-ppp-starter missing"; we remove
    obsolete conffiles in .preinst now
    - add debian/network-manager-pptp.preinst

 -- Alexander Sack <email address hidden> Thu, 30 Oct 2008 00:22:51 +0100

Kadjette, your issue is something else. maybe try to set user "user" in /etc/ppp/options ... in any case open new bug instead of posting here.

anyone willing to verify this for network-manager by following the easy-to-do instructions in description?

This bug was fixed in the package network-manager - 0.7~~svn20081018t105859-0ubuntu1.8.10.1

---------------
network-manager (0.7~~svn20081018t105859-0ubuntu1.8.10.1) intrepid-proposed; urgency=low

  * fix LP: #292054 - Some drivers take too long to associate (Was:
    network-manager 0.7 always asks for WPA passphrase); we workaround
    this driver/wpasupplicant bug by giving association more time
    (e.g. 60sec instead of 25sec)
    - add debian/patches/lp292054_tune_supplicant_timeout_60s.patch
    - update debian/patches/series
  * fix LP: #256905 - dbus policy file (nm-avahi-autoipd.conf) not properly
    deployed in package; install nm-avahi-autoipd.conf
    - update debian/network-manager.install
  * fix LP: #282207 - [Sierra] NM 0.7 does not set APN for AT&T 3G connection;
    apply fix from Jerone Young
    - add debian/patches/lp282207_set_apn_at_syntax.patch
    - update debian/patches/series
  * fix LP: #268667 - not all required ppp options get set on command line
    which makes ppp use bad values from /etc/ppp/options; we backport upstream
    fix
    - add debian/patches/lp268667_more_ppp_default_options.patch
    - update debian/patches/series
  * fix LP: #291564 - ifupdown network manager does not blacklist/unmanage
    mapped devices in managed=false mode; thanks to Stephan Trebels for the
    patch
    - add debian/patches/lp291564_ifupdown_unmanage_mapping_and_iface.patch
    - update debian/patches/series
  * fix LP: #291902 - ifupdown plugin should not export any parsed connection
    configuration when running in managed=false mode; we fix this by exporting
    empty connection list in unmanaged mode
    - add debian/patches/lp291902_IFUPDOWN_dont_export_connection_in_unmanaged_mode.patch
    - update debian/patches/series
  * belt-and-braces fix LP: #290468 VPN fails, "/usr/bin/nm-ppp-starter
    missing"; we remove obsolete conffiles in -pptp .preinst; in case user
    modified them they will be renamed to .dpkg-bak; this patch takes care that
    NM doesn't consider files in /etc/NetworkManager/VPN that don't have a
    .name filename suffix.
    - add debian/patches/lp290468_only_consider_name_suffix_VPN_service_files.patch
    - update debian/patches/series
  * fix LP: #303142 - 3G [Option] some modems take a while time to register on
    network (CREG); we use g_timeout_add instead of _idle_add to give the
    modem some rest during registration phase.
    - add debian/patches/lp303142_more_time_for_automatic_registration.patch
    - update debian/patches/series

 -- Alexander Sack <email address hidden> Fri, 28 Nov 2008 13:48:34 +0100

I fixed this one before; however, I had to do a fresh re-install and now I'm having to do it again.

Last time I added the new repos and after a restart with it still not working, I added a refuse eap line to a file but here is the catch. I don't remember what dir/conf I navagated to. I just need to add this line again and I'm sure my pptp vpn will be up and running again.

Anyone know which file it may have been?

Thanks Much!!

-Nausser

Nausser wrote:
> I fixed this one before; however, I had to do a fresh re-install and now
> I'm having to do it again.
>
> Last time I added the new repos and after a restart with it still not
> working, I added a refuse eap line to a file but here is the catch. I
> don't remember what dir/conf I navagated to. I just need to add this
> line again and I'm sure my pptp vpn will be up and running again.
>
> Anyone know which file it may have been?
>
>
install latest packages from -updates ... if that doesnt help, double
check that you are actually seeing exactly this issue. otherwise open a new.

I'm with the same issue as comment #38, network-manager (or nm-applet) does not save the config.
If I check the 3G connection as system default, I can save the options.
Intrepid with latest updates.

Please do not change bug states without comment.