Cannot delete VPN Profile

I think I have an easier solution, at least in 10.8.2. I, too, had a VPN configuration that would not go away; the - button was grayed out. Here's what I did, though only step 2 is mandatory.

1. In Terminal: networksetup -listallnetworkservices
2. In Terminal: networksetup -removenetworkservice networkservice
   
3. In Terminal: networksetup -listallnetworkservices

The first step shows you the names of your networkservices, like "old." The second step removes the network service. Be sure to spell the one you want to remove exactly as it's listed in the results of the first step. The third step confirms it is gone. Only Terminal is required, no XCode. The .plist will automatically update; no need to copy or delete. The remove command bypasses the GUI and removes the service whether or not the - button is grayed out.

Hope this helps. If you run man networkservices you will see many other Terminal commands that maniupulate items in the Network preference pane.

[EDIT: FINALLY FIGURED IT OUT! --> It's from hotspotshield. Go to your system preferences, and there should be an icon called "profiles". Click it and click the minus sign next to the hotspotshield certificate, type in your admin password, and the servers will erase from your networks".]

I've never seen these three servers in my networks in the many many years I've been on a macbook. Do you know why they appeared on your computer in the first place, or what they are?

The US Server on mine was called "ancientarmenia.us"

The GB Server on mine was called "jacketmagazine.us"

This last one the JP Server I can't delete because of IPv4... is called "brain photos.us"

Any idea what these are or why they are on our computers?

To delete a VPN Profile, go to System Preferences > Profile(s). Highlight the profile you want to delete then click the ➖ (minus) button under the list. You will have to confirm and type in your password to delete it. I just deleted a profile. Hope it helps.

1. In Terminal: networksetup -listallnetworkservices
2. In Terminal: networksetup -removenetworkservicenetworkservice
   
3. In Terminal: networksetup -listallnetworkservices

1. Click the Apple Menu in the upper left corner
2. Click on System Preferences
3. In the System Preferences window, click Network
4. In the Network window, click the Lock and enter your password.
5. Click + to add a new connection.
6. In the following prompt, for Interface: select VPN
7. In the VPN Type:, select L2TP over IPSec
8. In the Service Name: field, enter Indonesia vpn Connection
9. Click Create

Well that 's nice that the given solution worked for you..indeed i did find another solution.

1. Open Settings on your iOS device.
2. Tap General.
3. Tap Profile.
4. Here you will see any configuration profiles installed on your device (there might be several). Tap on the one named VyprVPN.
5. Tap on Delete Profile, then Confirm that you would like to delete this profile by tapping Delete again.

Well i prefer that you go for some really nice and simple vpn like gom vpn chrome extension..They are just easy to install and use. Check this for more info: http://www.hackbs.com/gom-vpn-free-tricks-to-bypass-cyberoam-2015/

Creating a new Network location is the quickest but not most convenient solution here.

AliAR gave you the correct way of resolving the issue.

However, there is also a .plist file that needs to be edited if you want to resolve this issue entirely.

Open Terminal and run this command:

networksetup -listallnetworkservices

If you still have a VPN active it after deleting the profile it will appear on this short list.

Open a FInder Window. Go to -> /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration

There is a .plist file called preferences.

Make a copy of this file to your Desktop as a backup just incase.

Open the original file with Xcode and expand all of the directories/subdirectories.

Search for VPN and delete any VPN files.

Close Xcode, Reboot your Mac and you will have successfully deleted that VPN.

Hope it works for you!

Okay, I'm seeing the files now, but I don't know where to begin deleting and where to end. I've tried a couple of times using TextWrangler, since I don't have XCode, but it just screws up the network options - changes the icons, moves settings under wrong network type, etc. Anyone willing to help me understand .plists?

Hi,

I tried this certainly working approach but I must be making a misake in Terminal.

The VPN service is printed in Terminal as (no quotes, of course)

"VPN (server.com)"

When I enter

networksetup -removenetworkservice VPN (server.com)

Terminal returns:

-bash: syntax error near unexpected token `('

I must make some stupid mistake.

Regards,

Twistan

Try this:

networksetup -removenetworkservice "VPN (server.com)"

Put quotes around the network service name. I think this is necessary because the parentheses cause problems with Terminal interpreting the UNIX command. I created a test network service on my machine, entered the command you did, and got the same error result you did. I then used quotes around the network service name and got the correct result. BTW, depending on your system settings, you may be asked to authenticate the deletion with your administrator password. If so, a dialog box will come up asking for it.

Dhalgren

Kindest thanks for your quick help.

I shall do as you said and report back.

We do have this issue on all our Macs (not just one misbehaving machine).

Once again, I am very grateful.

Regards,

Twistan

P.S.

I tried to "edit" the /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/preferences.plist file but when I deleted the VPN entry all network locations were gone and I had to reconfigure from scratch.

That's unfortunate. Not to be preachy, but you shouldn't edit .plist files without making a backup copy. It looks like something went wrong and networkservices created a new, blank one, from scratch.

If you use TimeMachine, you might have a backup of the file and not know it, but it sounds as if you already recreated all your network services.

In my experience, doing a lot of direct .plist editing is fraught with problems. If there's something wrong with the file, I have no problem deleting it, knowing I will have to start over from scratch. Every time I've tried to directly edit a .plist, it hasn't worked out well. I prefer to let Terminal handle the editing and have found there are few Mac OS settings that Terminal can't modify.

Just my opinion. I'm sure there are others who are more adept at directly manipulating .plist files.

Hi,

using quotes did the trick and I could delete all obsolete VPN entries.

I admit that I am quite rusty as regards Unix/Terminal commands, an expert user would have known that parameters are parsed between quotes.

You are also right in regard to plist files. I had indeed made a backup copy and I copied that file back. I was very surprised that my locations were gone nonetheless.

Thanks again for your precious help.

Regards,

Twistan

Sorry to bring this up again but I am having the same problem. I tried following your solution of going into terminal but when I do step 2 it returns an error which says:

VpnOneClick- is not a recognized network service.

VpnOneClick- is not a valid network service name.

** Error: The parameters were not valid.

[Process completed]

What I was trying to delete was called:

VpnOneClick- l2tp France Ip

I thought it might be the spaces which was confusing it...Please can you help you seem to know what you're doing!

Thanks

I suspect you're correct about the spaces, and having the same issue Twistan had on December 23, 2012. This was the gist of my response to him:

Try this:

networksetup -removenetworkservice "VpnOneClick- 12tp France Ip"

Put quotes around the network service name. I think this is necessary because the parentheses cause problems with Terminal interpreting the UNIX command. I created a test network service on my machine, entered the command you did, and got the same error result you did. I then used quotes around the network service name and got the correct result. BTW, depending on your system settings, you may be asked to authenticate the deletion with your administrator password. If so, a dialog box will come up asking for it.

Dhalgren

Let me know if this helps. I haven't tried this solution in 10.9.x but suspect it should work. You're getting the truncated network service name and non-recognition because of the lack of quotes, as discussed above.

Thanks for the quick reply. I tried this but it churned out this:

networksetup -listnetworkserviceorder

networksetup -listallnetworkservices

networksetup -listallhardwareports

networksetup -detectnewhardware

networksetup -getmacaddress <hardwareport or device name>

networksetup -getcomputername

networksetup -setcomputername <name>

networksetup -getinfo <networkservice>

networksetup -setmanual <networkservice> <ip> <subnet> <router>

networksetup -setdhcp <networkservice> [clientid]

networksetup -setbootp <networkservice>

networksetup -setmanualwithdhcprouter <networkservice> <ip>

networksetup -setv4off <networkservice>

networksetup -setv6off <networkservice>

networksetup -setv6automatic <networkservice>

networksetup -setv6LinkLocal <networkservice>

networksetup -setv6manual <networkservice> <networkservice> <address> <prefixlength> <router>

networksetup -getdnsservers <networkservice>

networksetup -setdnsservers <networkservice> <dns1> [dns2] [...]

networksetup -getsearchdomains <networkservice>

networksetup -setsearchdomains <networkservice> <domain1> [domain2] [...]

networksetup -create6to4service <newnetworkservicename>

networksetup -set6to4automatic <networkservice>

networksetup -set6to4manual <networkservice> <relayaddress>

networksetup -getftpproxy <networkservice>

networksetup -setftpproxy <networkservice> <domain> <port number> <authenticated> <username> <password>

networksetup -setftpproxystate <networkservice> <on off>

networksetup -getwebproxy <networkservice>

networksetup -setwebproxy <networkservice> <domain> <port number> <authenticated> <username> <password>

networksetup -setwebproxystate <networkservice> <on off>

networksetup -getsecurewebproxy <networkservice>

networksetup -setsecurewebproxy <networkservice> <domain> <port number> <authenticated> <username> <password>

networksetup -setsecurewebproxystate <networkservice> <on off>

networksetup -getstreamingproxy <networkservice>

networksetup -setstreamingproxy <networkservice> <domain> <port number> <authenticated> <username> <password>

networksetup -setstreamingproxystate <networkservice> <on off>

networksetup -getgopherproxy <networkservice>

networksetup -setgopherproxy <networkservice> <domain> <port number> <authenticated> <username> <password>

networksetup -setgopherproxystate <networkservice> <on off>

networksetup -getsocksfirewallproxy <networkservice>

networksetup -setsocksfirewallproxy <networkservice> <domain> <port number> <authenticated> <username> <password>

networksetup -setsocksfirewallproxystate <networkservice> <on off>

networksetup -getproxybypassdomains <networkservice>

networksetup -setproxybypassdomains <networkservice> <domain1> [domain2] [...]

networksetup -getproxyautodiscovery <networkservice>

networksetup -setproxyautodiscovery <networkservice> <on off>

networksetup -getpassiveftp <networkservice>

networksetup -setpassiveftp <networkservice> <on off>

networksetup -getairportnetwork <device name>

networksetup -setairportnetwork <device name> <network> [password]

networksetup -getairportpower <device name>

networksetup -setairportpower <device name> <on off>

networksetup -listpreferredwirelessnetworks <device name>

networksetup -addpreferredwirelessnetworkatindex <device name> <network> <index> <security type> [password]

networksetup -removepreferredwirelessnetwork <device name> <network>

networksetup -removeallpreferredwirelessnetworks <device name>

networksetup -getnetworkserviceenabled <networkservice>

networksetup -setnetworkserviceenabled <networkservice> <on off>

networksetup -createnetworkservice <newnetworkservicename> <hardwareport>

networksetup -renamenetworkservice <networkservice> <newnetworkservicename>

networksetup -duplicatenetworkservice <networkservice> <newnetworkservicename>

networksetup -removenetworkservice <networkservice>

networksetup -ordernetworkservices <service1> <service2> <service3> <...>

networksetup -getMTU <hardwareport or device name>

networksetup -setMTU <hardwareport or device name> <value>

networksetup -listvalidMTUrange <hardwareport or device name>

networksetup -getmedia <hardwareport or device name>

networksetup -setmedia <hardwareport or device name> <subtype> [option1] [option2] [...]

networksetup -listvalidmedia <hardwareport or device name>

networksetup -createVLAN <VLAN name> <parent device name> <tag>

networksetup -deleteVLAN <VLAN name> <parent device name> <tag>

networksetup -listVLANs

networksetup -listdevicesthatsupportVLAN

networksetup -isBondSupported <hardwareport>

networksetup -createBond <bondname> <hardwareport1> <hardwareport2> <...>

networksetup -deleteBond <bonddevicename>

networksetup -addDeviceToBond <hardwareport> <bonddevicename>

networksetup -removeDeviceFromBond <hardwareport> <bonddevicename>

networksetup -listBonds

networksetup -showBondStatus <bonddevicename>

networksetup -listpppoeservices

networksetup -showpppoestatus <service name ie., MyPPPoEService>

networksetup -createpppoeservice <device name ie., en0> <service name> <account name> <password> [pppoe service name]

networksetup -deletepppoeservice <service name>

networksetup -setpppoeaccountname <service name> <account name>

networksetup -setpppoepassword <service name> <password>

networksetup -connectpppoeservice <service name>

networksetup -disconnectpppoeservice <service name>

networksetup -getcurrentlocation

networksetup -listlocations

networksetup -createlocation <location name> [populate]

networksetup -deletelocation <location name>

networksetup -switchtolocation <location name>

networksetup -listalluserprofiles

networksetup -listloginprofiles <service name>

networksetup -enablesystemprofile <service name> <on off>

networksetup -enableloginprofile <service name> <profile name> <on off>

networksetup -enableuserprofile <profile name> <on off>

networksetup -import8021xProfiles <service name> <file path>

networksetup -export8021xProfiles <service name> <file path> <yes no>

networksetup -export8021xUserProfiles <file path> <yes no>

networksetup -export8021xLoginProfiles <service name> <file path> <yes no>

networksetup -export8021xSystemProfile <service name> <file path> <yes no>

networksetup -settlsidentityonsystemprofile <service name> <file path> <passphrase>

>networksetup -settlsidentityonuserprofile <profile name> <file path> <passphrase>networksetup -deletesystemprofile <service name>

networksetup -deleteloginprofile <service name> <profile name>

networksetup -deleteuserprofile <profile name>

networksetup -version

networksetup -help

networksetup -printcommands

** Error: The command is not recognized.

[Process completed]