Unable to Export Network Connection in El Capitan

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Level 1

9 points

Unable to Export Network Connection in El Capitan

I have a VPN connection for my work setup in Network Preferences. Any time I get a new Mac, the VPN connection is the only thing that never gets copied over by Migration Assistant when I move things over from my old Mac to the new Mac. What I've always done in the past is select the VPN connection on one of my Macs (I have a MBP and an iMac), export it (usually to a USB thumb drive), and then import it on the new Mac because I don't have all the settings to set it up manually again (one of the network guys at work set up the VPN connection for me years ago).

I just got a new MBP, and after everything got copied over I went into Network Preferences - and as usual, the VPN connection wasn't there. I went to my old MBP to export it, and when I selected the VPN connection and tried to export it I couldn't. The Export Configuration menu item was greyed out. So I thought maybe something funky was going on with my old MBP, and tried to do it from my iMac. Same thing happened on my iMac - the Export Configuration menu item was greyed out. All of them have El Capitan on them. It doesn't matter what connection I select under Network Preferences (even non-VPN connections, and even on my new MBP), the Export Configuration menu item is greyed out - it's not just with the VPN connection. Import Configuration is there and is selectable - if I had a configuration to import. Is this some bug in El Capitan, or what the heck is going on?

MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2015), OS X El Capitan (10.11.1)

Posted on Oct 26, 2015 8:26 AM

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Answer 1

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,649 points

Oct 26, 2015 12:53 PM in response to ScotRaleigh

Please post a screenshot that shows what you mean. Be careful not to include any private information.

Start a reply to this message. Drag the image file into the editing window to upload it. You can also include text in the reply.

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Answer 2

ScotRaleigh Author

Level 1

9 points

Oct 26, 2015 6:02 PM in response to Linc Davis

Here is the screenshot. When I select the connection and then try to export it, the export option is greyed out so I'm unable to export. This occurs not only for my VPN connection, but also for any other connection in the list. It's also occurring on all of my Macs.

Normally when I get a new Mac, everything is copied over by Migration Assistant from my old Mac - except for the VPN connection. That's always happened for as long as I can remember. Usually I just export the VPN connection either from my old Mac or my other Mac, and then import it into my new Mac. I can't do that this time because the export option isn't available on any of my Macs. All of my Macs have El Capitan 10.11.1 on them.

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Answer 3

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,649 points

Oct 26, 2015 7:07 PM in response to ScotRaleigh

From the Location menu in the preference pane, please select

Edit Locations...

In the sheet that opens, select Automatic, then from the action menu (with a gear icon) select

Duplicate Location

and click Done. Try to export from the new location.

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Answer 4

ScotRaleigh Author

Level 1

9 points

Oct 26, 2015 8:12 PM in response to Linc Davis

Nope...exactly the same. Export is still greyed out in both the original and the copy.

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Answer 5

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,649 points

Oct 26, 2015 10:27 PM in response to ScotRaleigh

Back up all data.

Triple-click anywhere in the line below on this page to select it:

/Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/preferences.plist

Right-click or control-click the line and select

Services ▹ Reveal in Finder (or just Reveal)

from the contextual menu.* A folder should open with "preferences.plist" selected. Move the selected item to the Trash. You may be prompted for your administrator password. Restart the computer and recreate your settings in the Network preference pane.

*If you don't see the contextual menu item, copy the selected text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C. In the Finder, select

Go ▹ Go to Folder...

from the menu bar and paste into the box that opens by pressing command-V. You may not see what you pasted because a line break is included. Press return.

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Answer 6

ScotRaleigh Author

Level 1

9 points

Oct 27, 2015 6:34 AM in response to Linc Davis

Well...I don't have the information necessary to setup the VPN connection, and the guy who does has been out sick. That was kind of the whole point in me being able to export the VPN connection from one of my other Macs - it was easy, and I didn't have to bother anyone to help me set it up again or worry about them not being available to help with the setup. Exporting was never ever a problem in the past. I'm curious if it's something Apple did in Yosemite or El Capitan that's causing this to happen, or if it's something I did - but if it's something I did, I don't know what it could be that I did that would cause it to happen on 3 Macs.

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Answer 7

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,649 points

Oct 27, 2015 8:20 AM in response to ScotRaleigh

There has to be something unusual about your configuration, because exporting works for me. Do others in your organization have the same problem? How was the VPN configuration installed?

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Answer 8

ScotRaleigh Author

Level 1

9 points

Oct 27, 2015 8:39 AM in response to Linc Davis

Nobody else in my organization has VPN setup on a Mac that I'm aware of. We're a Microsoft Windows shop, so everyone has Windows machines. The Macs are my personal machines, and I asked the guy who knows all about our VPN to help me setup the connection on my Mac years ago so that if I needed to VPN in to do something really quick I could just do it from one of my Macs instead of lugging out my work Windoze laptop. I've exported the VPN connection many times over the years since he first help me set it up. This is the first time anything like this has happened to me. Everything else in Network Preferences seems to be working perfectly fine - it's just the export of connections that's not working. The option to import is available (if I had anything to import), I can create new connections, I can make changes to existing connections - just no export.

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Answer 9

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,649 points

Oct 27, 2015 8:56 AM in response to ScotRaleigh

You should ask for an 802.1x configuration profile with the VPN settings. That's all I can suggest.

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Answer 10

mjkadel

Level 1

0 points

Oct 30, 2015 8:21 AM in response to ScotRaleigh

I have this same problem, and one additional: The VPN profile compatible with Yosemite can't be imported either.

We here in IT have been giving people the profile to import into their network preferences thereby removing the need to either set it up ourselves or hand out the shared secret.

I'd love to hear if anyone gets this solved.

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Answer 11

ohmcno

Level 1

13 points

Nov 3, 2015 8:11 AM in response to mjkadel

Same issue here...no export, and import doesn't work either from a config from 10.10...

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Answer 12

Nov 3, 2015 4:01 PM in response to ohmcno

Same problem for me as well.

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Answer 13

Nov 11, 2015 2:10 PM in response to weberduder

I have the same problem. Brand new MacBook Pro. Running El Capitan 10.11.1. I find some advice in other threads that recommends making sure that "send all traffic over VPN" is checked. However, I cannot find any such setting in El Capitan's system preferences.

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Answer 14

Dec 9, 2015 4:42 PM in response to Linc Davis

I can reproduce this same issue on freshly-imaged OS X El Capitan Macs.

What this Apple KB OS X El Capitan: Import and export connection settings fails to specify is that certain VPN network services may not be exportable (grayed-out). Specifically "VPN (Cisco IPSec)" shows "Export Configurations" as grayed-out, while "VPN (L2TP over IPSec)" DOES allow export.

Furthermore, attempting to import any previously-created .networkconnect files (output via export process), shows the following error.

This issue does not affect Yosemite or earlier, meaning you can import/export network configurations per usual.

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Answer 15

Dec 16, 2015 12:28 PM in response to helpus all

I reproduced the same thing as helps all. Cannot export any IPSec configurations, and cannot import IPSec from Yosemite. I've checked this on a new Macbook Air fresh out of the box with El Capitan 10.11, and an older Macbook Pro with 10.11.2, as well as a 2012 Macbook Pro running 10.11.2.

I am trying to track down why some machines cannot connect to our Cisco VPN while others can, so I was hoping to export a working config to test. I will post more results as I get them.

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