[subxinu]

Hello all. I'm hoping I'm just missing something small here.

So, I have my VPN running (via OpenVPN) just fine on the Ubuntu side of my installation but when I log into the XBMC side, I only get my local ISP connection (all hardware works just fine and I have a solid internet connection). Usually, if I make a system change on the Ubuntu side, the changes are applied to the XBMC side (I made the VPN settings available to all "users"). What am I missing here? I assume the fact that I am logging out of the Ubuntu side and into XBMC means I must select the VPN somehow. Suggestions?

Thanks!

[subxinu]

Problem solved. I am posting this follow-up for anyone searching for a similar issue in the future.

The problem: network-manager's "connect automatically" option simply is not reliable. So, the solution: a script was needed to connect to the VPN once a network connection has been established. I found a very simple script that I modified with my network SSID and VPN name and placed into my "if-up.d" directory. Then I was getting a "no valid VPN secrets" error when the script was executed (but not when I manually executed the nmcli command). After finding this bug report, I realized that the VPN password was stored in the keychain for the "XBMCbuntu" user and that it was unavailable to the other users (i.e. root). The solution was to edit the connection settings allowing all users access to the password. So, problem solved.

Another item to be aware of is that the System > System Info > Network screen only shows the local ISP IP and not that of the VPN. To confirm that my VPN was working, I installed "Advanced Launcher" to load up Chromium from within XBMC and did a simple search for "What is my IP?".

I hope this helps someone.

[artrafael]

Glad you got it resolved and thank you for posting your solution for others who may need to use VPN in the future.

[Z3NO]

Do you know where I could find a step-by-step guide on how to set up OpenVPN on XBMC for the less Linux savvy amongst us?

[User 72847]

Any answer for this latest request?

[wsnipex]

Xbmc has nothing to do with VPN, just use a normal ubuntu openvpn guide.

[sreeslinux]

Excellent tutorial. This worked perfectly for me.
The VPN connects when booting straight into XBMC.
To improve this further it would be nice if the VPN reconnects if it drops out.
Does anyone know of a mod or tweak to get the VPN to reconnect if it drops?
Thanks

[FishOil]

Excellent tutorial. This worked perfectly for me.
The VPN connects when booting straight into XBMC.
To improve this further it would be nice if the VPN reconnects if it drops out.
Does anyone know of a mod or tweak to get the VPN to reconnect if it drops?
Thanks

This is what I use. It checks to see if the connection is active. If not it reconnects.
I have highlighted personal details. Replace with your own. This would be run as a cron job as root every 1 min.

#!/bin/bash +x

VPNCON=$(sudo nmcli con status | grep VPN-Connection-Name | cut -f1 -d " ")
if [[ $VPNCON != "VPN-Connection-Name" ]]; then
(sudo nmcli con up uuid c8e9ad59-3dde-5b9b-a795-b3ea07e1gg57)

else
echo "Already connected !"

fi

You can skip the esle part if you want.