[SOLVED] OpenVPN using only username and password

[doktor5000]

I've been tearing myhair out trying to get OpenVPN running on Mageia 4. On my Slackware desktop, the VPN configuration dialog gives me an option of "Password" under the "Type" dropdown. However, on Mageia 4, this option does not appear to exist! The only options are X509 or Static. All the other solutions listed here seem to refer to the "three files", but my VPN provider only supplies one certificate - a username and password are used in lieu of the others.

Why is there no "Password" option for VPN type? Have I omitted to install something, or is Mageia not capable of communicating with this kind of VPN? What am I missing here?

It only took a few clicks to get it working in Slackware (once I'd remembered to activate TUP/TUN in the kernel!), so why does it seem impossible here?

TIA,

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Pete

[doktor5000]

Care to share a screenshot of the dialog you're referring to?

[pchristy]

OK, here's the Mageia config screen:

mageia_vpn.jpg (39.94 KiB) Viewed 7407 times

And here's the equivalent in Slackware (sorry about the crudely deleted details!):

slackware_vpn.jpg (55.5 KiB) Viewed 7407 times

I couldn't grab a screenshot with the dropdown open, but you can see that Slackware has a "password" option, which Mageia doesn't - and that's what I need!

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Pete

[doktor5000]

You could try to switch to networkmanager: viewtopic.php?f=25&t=5782

Otherwise, if you scroll down in the drakvpn dialog, you can open advanced options - which offers a checkbox to authenticate using username + password.
Although on a quick glance I didn't see any place where you can provide that, maybe on activating the connection via net_applet ...

[pchristy]

Yes, I'd already checked the box for "authenticate using username + password" - it appeared to have no effect!

So, I took the plunge and switched to networkmanager. I've now got that working with openvpn (woohoo!), but there were some issues. Firstly, although I'd installed the networkmanager applet, I couldn't find it in any of the menus. Selecting to add a widget to the panel brought up a network management icon, but it wasn't clear if this was the new applet, or the old one! I selected it anyway, and luckily it was the new one! However, once installed on the panel, there is something very wrong with the icon! It is bloated (takes up the space of four or five normal icons) and monochrome! It does however work, and I can now select VPN whenever I need it!

Many thanks for your help with this. Perhaps this is a subject that needs to be covered better in the documentation rather than us chasing our own tails or pestering people like your good self!

Now if only I can find where that icon is stored, perhaps I can do something about it........

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Pete

[doktor5000]

What you can try, once your desktop has completely loaded, run the following as root:

Code: Select all

systemctl restart NetworkManager

That should also reload the applet and hopefully fix the icon. I've got the same problem at work when run under KDE.

Or it may be https://wiki.mageia.org/en/Mageia_4_Err ... ze_too_big
Which desktop environment do you use?

[pchristy]

Restarting NetworkManager didn't help, but resetting the default icon size as per your link did! As you probably guessed, I'm using KDE.

Many thanks for your help in resolving this! I'll mark this topic as solved!



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Pete