Mac OS X Lion VPN stopped working

Question

Level 1

5 points

Mac OS X Lion VPN stopped working

Hey guys,

I've a problem with my VPN connection.

My Macbook is around 2 months old, so it came with a clean installation of OS X Lion. I configured the built-in VPN Client to connect to my parents network, it uses Cisco IPSec and everything went smooth. I didn't use it for a week or so and when I try to connect now I get an error, saying: "A configuration error occurred. Verify your settings and try reconnecting."

I have to say that I installed Little Snitch and ShrewSoft VPN for my Universities VPN. I removed both programs, but that didn't help the problem.

I'm pretty new on Macs so there is probably loads of things I haven't ever heard of/considered.

7/10/11 8:34:00.949 AM configd: IPSec connecting to server xx.dyndns.org

7/10/11 8:34:00.950 AM configd: SCNC: start, triggered by SystemUIServer, type IPSec, status 0

7/10/11 8:34:00.955 AM configd: IPSec Phase1 starting.

7/10/11 8:34:00.968 AM racoon: IPSec connecting to server xx.xx.x.172

7/10/11 8:34:00.968 AM racoon: Connecting.

7/10/11 8:34:00.968 AM racoon: IPSec Phase1 started (Initiated by me).

7/10/11 8:34:00.973 AM racoon: IKE Packet: transmit failed. (Initiator, Aggressive-Mode Message 1).

7/10/11 8:34:10.956 AM configd: IPSec disconnecting from server xx.xx.x.172

7/10/11 8:34:10.956 AM racoon: IPSec disconnecting from server xx.xx.x.172

Btw, using my girlfriend's Mac with Snow Leopard the VPN connection works, as well as on my iPod Touch (both on the same network as my own Mac) so I guess I can rule out any router-related misconfigurations. And of course I restarted my computer several times as well as deleting the VPN connection and reconfiguring it. (OS is uptodate)

I thought there might be some kind of plist file the would allow me to go tabula rasa on all network settings!? Googled it but couldn't find any working solution.

thanks for the help!

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.7.1)

Posted on Oct 7, 2011 1:08 AM

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Answer 1

foxberg

Level 1

133 points

Oct 11, 2011 5:21 PM in response to mstrfcs

I'm having the same problem. Ever since upgrading to 10.7 (stupid, stupid, stupid...) built in IPSec VPN doesn't work. Well, actually last week it started working all of a sudden for a couple of days, but I just tried it today and it doesn't work again. This s definitely Apple's screw up. They should have made sure everything worked before releasing this OS.

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Answer 2

mstrfcs Author

Level 1

5 points

Oct 12, 2011 1:56 AM in response to mstrfcs

Here's an update on my problem:

Called Apple Support the other day. They basically told me that they can't help, because this is a problem of misconfiguration and that those kinda things weren't covered. Still the person on the line gave me a hint, I should look for leftovers of previously installed software in /Library/LaunchDaemons/ and /Library/LaunchAgents/ .

Well, that did the trick. In one of the folders I found "net.shrew.iked.plist". This file obvioulsy belongs to the ShrewSoft VPN client. I removed it and the built-in client works again.

I reinstalled ShrewSoft one more time to see if it works without the mentioned plist-file...needless to say it wouldn't connect anymore, but that's alright with me - for now.

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Answer 3

Nov 8, 2011 7:01 AM in response to foxberg

Have the same problem. I suspect there's something wrong with 10.7.2. I've also tried a clean re-installation, but still have this problem. Sometimes helps to kill racoon process and reboot the router, than it works, but next time same problem. There's something weird in 10.7.2 :-(

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Answer 4

Nov 15, 2011 7:17 PM in response to mstrfcs

I have the same problem. I upgraded to 10.7.2 and my VPN stopped working on Lion Server. I looked in the logs and nothing changes after the service starts and it just sits listening for connections. I can not make a connection internally to my network or from the outside with all the right ports working. This worked fine with 10.7 and 10.7.1. Are there any fixes besides waiting for another release from Apple?

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Answer 5

Dec 27, 2011 12:51 PM in response to Foxtrot79

I feel your pain too!

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