need help sorting a 'self-populating' plist file (vpn on mac leopard server - 10.6.8)

i recently configured my mac snow leopard server using terminal and had it successfully working.

i could vpn internally and externally to my server at its location.

i one day started getting the message

"The connection has failed. Please verify your settings and try again"

i did as the message said and everything remained the same;

- server IP

- shared secret

- username and password

- public IP address

- com.apple.ppp.l2tp.plist stil, configured correctly

on a mission i thought id configure it the normal way by entering the data into the server admin panel and tried flicking the VPN service on and it wouldnt work, i was also getting an error saying it could not launch the com.apple.ppp.l2tp plist.

upon investigation i found out that i had installed (but not running) iVPN... so i uninstalled this...

still i could not get a VPN connection so i checked the com.apple.RemoteAccessServers.plist and noticed it had doubled in size (originally 4kb and now 8kb).

i thought this was a mistake and deleted it knowing it would self create a new fresh plist file.... HOWEVER it constantly populates the info twice as shown below:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">

<plist version="1.0">

<dict>

<key>ActiveServers</key>

<array>

<string>com.apple.ppp.l2tp</string>

</array>

<key>Globals</key>

<dict>

<key>PSKeyAccount</key>

<string>vpn_0649d87c2f06</string>

</dict>

<key>Servers</key>

<dict>

<key>com.apple.ppp.l2tp</key>

<dict>

<key>DNS</key>

<dict>

<key>OfferedSearchDomains</key>

<array>

<string>8.8.8.8</string>

<string>8.8.4.4</string>

</array>

<key>OfferedServerAddresses</key>

<array>

<string>192.168.0.248</string>

</array>

</dict>

<key>EAP</key>

<dict>

<key>KerberosServicePrincipalName</key>

<string>vpn/minicooper.turbo@MINICOOPER.TURBO</string>

</dict>

<key>IPSec</key>

<dict>

<key>AuthenticationMethod</key>

<string>SharedSecret</string>

<key>IdentifierVerification</key>

<string>None</string>

<key>LocalCertificate</key>

<data>

</data>

<key>LocalIdentifier</key>

<string></string>

<key>RemoteIdentifier</key>

<string></string>

<key>SharedSecret</key>

<string>com.apple.ppp.l2tp</string>

<key>SharedSecretEncryption</key>

<string>Keychain</string>

</dict>

<key>IPv4</key>

<dict>

<key>ConfigMethod</key>

<string>Manual</string>

<key>DestAddressRanges</key>

<array>

<string>192.168.0.230</string>

<string>192.168.0.240</string>

</array>

<key>OfferedRouteAddresses</key>

<array/>

<key>OfferedRouteMasks</key>

<array/>

<key>OfferedRouteTypes</key>

<array/>

</dict>

<key>Interface</key>

<dict>

<key>SubType</key>

<string>L2TP</string>

<key>Type</key>

<string>PPP</string>

</dict>

<key>L2TP</key>

<dict>

<key>Transport</key>

<string>IPSec</string>

</dict>

<key>PPP</key>

<dict>

<key>ACSPEnabled</key>

<integer>1</integer>

<key>AuthenticatorACLPlugins</key>

<array>

<string>DSACL</string>

</array>

<key>AuthenticatorEAPPlugins</key>

<array>

<string>EAP-KRB</string>

</array>

<key>AuthenticatorPlugins</key>

<array>

<string>DSAuth</string>

</array>

<key>AuthenticatorProtocol</key>

<array>

<string>MSCHAP2</string>

</array>

<key>DisconnectOnIdle</key>

<integer>1</integer>

<key>DisconnectOnIdleTimer</key>

<integer>7200</integer>

<key>IPCPCompressionVJ</key>

<integer>0</integer>

<key>LCPEchoEnabled</key>

<integer>1</integer>

<key>LCPEchoFailure</key>

<integer>5</integer>

<key>LCPEchoInterval</key>

<integer>60</integer>

<key>Logfile</key>

<string>/var/log/ppp/vpnd.log</string>

<key>VerboseLogging</key>

<integer>1</integer>

</dict>

<key>Radius</key>

<dict>

<key>Servers</key>

<array>

<dict>

<key>Address</key>

<string>1.1.1.1</string>

<key>SharedSecret</key>

<string>1</string>

</dict>

<dict>

<key>Address</key>

<string>2.2.2.2</string>

<key>SharedSecret</key>

<string>2</string>

</dict>

</array>

</dict>

<key>Server</key>

<dict>

<key>LoadBalancingAddress</key>

<string>1.2.3.4</string>

<key>LoadBalancingEnabled</key>

<integer>0</integer>

<key>Logfile</key>

<string>/var/log/ppp/vpnd.log</string>

<key>MaximumSessions</key>

<integer>128</integer>

<key>VerboseLogging</key>

<integer>1</integer>

</dict>

</dict>

<key>com.apple.ppp.pptp</key>

<dict>

<key>DNS</key>

<dict>

<key>OfferedSearchDomains</key>

<array>

<string>8.8.8.8</string>

<string>8.8.4.4</string>

</array>

<key>OfferedServerAddresses</key>

<array>

<string>192.168.0.248</string>

</array>

</dict>

<key>EAP</key>

<dict>

<key>KerberosServicePrincipalName</key>

<string>vpn/minicooper.turbo@MINICOOPER.TURBO</string>

</dict>

<key>IPv4</key>

<dict>

<key>ConfigMethod</key>

<string>Manual</string>

<key>DestAddressRanges</key>

<array/>

<key>OfferedRouteAddresses</key>

<array/>

<key>OfferedRouteMasks</key>

<array/>

<key>OfferedRouteTypes</key>

<array/>

</dict>

<key>Interface</key>

<dict>

<key>SubType</key>

<string>PPTP</string>

<key>Type</key>

<string>PPP</string>

</dict>

<key>PPP</key>

<dict>

<key>ACSPEnabled</key>

<integer>1</integer>

<key>AuthenticatorACLPlugins</key>

<array>

<string>DSACL</string>

</array>

<key>AuthenticatorEAPPlugins</key>

<array>

<string>EAP-RSA</string>

</array>

<key>AuthenticatorPlugins</key>

<array>

<string>DSAuth</string>

</array>

<key>AuthenticatorProtocol</key>

<array>

<string>MSCHAP2</string>

</array>

<key>CCPEnabled</key>

<integer>1</integer>

<key>CCPProtocols</key>

<array>

<string>MPPE</string>

</array>

<key>DisconnectOnIdle</key>

<integer>1</integer>

<key>DisconnectOnIdleTimer</key>

<integer>7200</integer>

<key>IPCPCompressionVJ</key>

<integer>0</integer>

<key>LCPEchoEnabled</key>

<integer>1</integer>

<key>LCPEchoFailure</key>

<integer>5</integer>

<key>LCPEchoInterval</key>

<integer>60</integer>

<key>Logfile</key>

<string>/var/log/ppp/vpnd.log</string>

<key>MPPEKeySize128</key>

<integer>1</integer>

<key>MPPEKeySize40</key>

<integer>0</integer>

<key>VerboseLogging</key>

<integer>1</integer>

</dict>

<key>Radius</key>

<dict>

<key>Servers</key>

<array>

<dict>

<key>Address</key>

<string>1.1.1.1</string>

<key>SharedSecret</key>

<string>1</string>

</dict>

<dict>

<key>Address</key>

<string>2.2.2.2</string>

<key>SharedSecret</key>

<string>2</string>

</dict>

</array>

</dict>

<key>Server</key>

<dict>

<key>Logfile</key>

<string>/var/log/ppp/vpnd.log</string>

<key>MaximumSessions</key>

<integer>128</integer>

<key>VerboseLogging</key>

<integer>1</integer>

</dict>

</dict>

</dict>

</dict>

</plist>

Thinking i was half clever i thought id do a restore to when i first set the server up... not successful

Secondly i wiped the drive with zero data and did a fresh install... still not successful.

There must be a way to fix this BS error!

my source for the original setup was here: http://dreaming-artemis.com/2011/07/18/setting-up-vpn-on-the-imac-osx-snow-leopa rd-10-6-8/

Thanks in advance

TMC