Automatic VPN PPTP reconnect script

**liamria.z01** · November 6th, 2009

I would like to share what I learnt with regards to reconnecting VPN connections. I am using 9.04 and I had the problem that my VPN connection dropped now and then, and I did not want to manually reconnect it all the time again. Obviously the Ubuntu network manager (applet) does not provide such an automatic VPN reconnect functionality, so I started searching for a solution on the internet. Several bugs have been filed with regards to that and I am surprised that nobody has taken care of this yet. This issue seems to have been ignored for quite a while.

Nevertheless, a couple of guys tried to find a solution using scripts. I found this thread, but it did not work for me, but this one had the right solution. Thanks to Daniel Akerud who was so kind as to resend me his modified script I could work out a solution for me. It is the following python script to reconnect the VPN connection previously configured via network manager:

First the original script from Daniel Akerud:

nm-vpn-restart.py

Code:

#!/usr/bin/python

import sys
import os
import dbus
import gobject
from  dbus.mainloop.glib import DBusGMainLoop

# The uuid of the VPN connection to activate
VPN_CONNECTION_UUID = "FILL IN YOUR OWN"

# The uuid of the connection that needs to be active to start the VPN connection
ACTIVE_CONNECTION_UUID = "FILL IN YOUR OWN"

# some service, path and interface constants
NM_DBUS_SERVICE                   = "org.freedesktop.NetworkManager"
NM_DBUS_PATH                      = "/org/freedesktop/NetworkManager"
NM_DBUS_INTERFACE                 = "org.freedesktop.NetworkManager"
NM_DBUS_IFACE_CONNECTION_ACTIVE   = "org.freedesktop.NetworkManager.Connection.Active"
NM_DBUS_SERVICE_SYSTEM_SETTINGS   = "org.freedesktop.NetworkManagerSystemSettings"
NM_DBUS_SERVICE_USER_SETTINGS     = "org.freedesktop.NetworkManagerUserSettings"
NM_DBUS_IFACE_SETTINGS            = "org.freedesktop.NetworkManagerSettings"
NM_DBUS_PATH_SETTINGS             = "/org/freedesktop/NetworkManagerSettings"
NM_DBUS_IFACE_SETTINGS_CONNECTION = "org.freedesktop.NetworkManagerSettings.Connection"

DBusGMainLoop(set_as_default=True)

nm_dbus_settings_services = (NM_DBUS_SERVICE_SYSTEM_SETTINGS, NM_DBUS_SERVICE_USER_SETTINGS)

def get_connections(bus, service):
  proxy = bus.get_object(service, NM_DBUS_PATH_SETTINGS)
  iface = dbus.Interface(proxy, dbus_interface=NM_DBUS_IFACE_SETTINGS)
  return iface.ListConnections()

def get_connection_by_uuid(bus, uuid):
  for service in nm_dbus_settings_services:
    for c in get_connections(bus, service):
      proxy = bus.get_object(service, c)
      iface = dbus.Interface(proxy, dbus_interface = NM_DBUS_IFACE_SETTINGS_CONNECTION)
      settings = iface.GetSettings()
      if settings['connection']['uuid'] == uuid:
        return (c, service)
  return None

def list_uuids(bus):
  for service in nm_dbus_settings_services:
    for c in get_connections(bus, service):
      proxy = bus.get_object(service, c)
      iface = dbus.Interface(proxy, dbus_interface=NM_DBUS_IFACE_SETTINGS_CONNECTION)
      settings = iface.GetSettings()
      conn = settings['connection']
      print " %s: %s - %s (%s)" % (service, conn['uuid'], conn['id'], conn['type'])

def get_active_connection_path(bus, uuid):
  proxy = bus.get_object(NM_DBUS_SERVICE, NM_DBUS_PATH)
  iface = dbus.Interface(proxy, dbus_interface='org.freedesktop.DBus.Properties')
  active_connections = iface.Get(NM_DBUS_INTERFACE, 'ActiveConnections')
  connection_and_service = get_connection_by_uuid(bus, uuid)
  if connection_and_service == None:
    return None
  for a in active_connections:
    proxy = bus.get_object(NM_DBUS_SERVICE, a)
    iface = dbus.Interface(proxy, dbus_interface='org.freedesktop.DBus.Properties')
    path = iface.Get(NM_DBUS_IFACE_CONNECTION_ACTIVE, 'Connection')
    service = iface.Get(NM_DBUS_IFACE_CONNECTION_ACTIVE, 'ServiceName')
    if service != connection_and_service[1]:
      continue
    proxy = bus.get_object(connection_and_service[1], path)
    iface = dbus.Interface(proxy, dbus_interface=NM_DBUS_IFACE_SETTINGS_CONNECTION)
    settings = iface.GetSettings()
    if settings['connection']['uuid'] == uuid:
      return a
  return None

def activate_connection(bus, vpn_connection, active_connection):
  def reply_handler(opath):
    print "<<SUCCESS>>"
    sys.exit(0)
  def error_handler(*args):
    print "<<FAILURE>>"
    sys.exit(1)
  proxy = bus.get_object(NM_DBUS_SERVICE, NM_DBUS_PATH)
  iface = dbus.Interface(proxy, dbus_interface=NM_DBUS_INTERFACE)
  iface.ActivateConnection(NM_DBUS_SERVICE_USER_SETTINGS,
                           vpn_connection[0],
                           dbus.ObjectPath("/"), 
                           active_connection,
                           reply_handler=reply_handler,
                           error_handler=error_handler)

bus = dbus.SystemBus()

print "connections:"
list_uuids(bus)

if len(VPN_CONNECTION_UUID) < 1 or len(ACTIVE_CONNECTION_UUID) < 1:
    print "you need to set the uuids"
    sys.exit(0)

vpn_connection = get_connection_by_uuid(bus, VPN_CONNECTION_UUID)
if not vpn_connection:
    print "Configured VPN connection is not known to NM, check VPN_CONNECTION_UUID."
    sys.exit(1)

active_connection = get_connection_by_uuid(bus, ACTIVE_CONNECTION_UUID)
if not active_connection:
  print "Configured active connection is not known to NM, check ACTIVE_CONNECTION_UUID."
  sys.exit(1)

if get_active_connection_path(bus, VPN_CONNECTION_UUID) != None:
  print "VPN connection already activated"
  sys.exit(0)

active_connection_path = get_active_connection_path(bus, ACTIVE_CONNECTION_UUID)
if not active_connection_path:
  print "The required connection isn't active at the moment"
  sys.exit(0)

print "connecting to:\n  '%s'\nwith active connection:\n  '%s'" % (vpn_connection, active_connection)

activate_connection(bus, vpn_connection, active_connection_path)

loop = gobject.MainLoop()
loop.run()

DO NOT FORGET to fill in your UUID on the top section of the script after you have run it for the first time....

I modified it a bit for my purposes:

nm-vpn-restart2.py

Code:

#!/usr/bin/python

import sys
import os
import dbus
import gobject
from  dbus.mainloop.glib import DBusGMainLoop

# The uuid of the VPN connection to activate
VPN_CONNECTION_UUID = "FILL IN YOUR OWN"

# The uuid of the connection that needs to be active to start the VPN connection
ACTIVE_CONNECTION_UUID = "FILL IN YOUR OWN"

# some service, path and interface constants
NM_DBUS_SERVICE                   = "org.freedesktop.NetworkManager"
NM_DBUS_PATH                      = "/org/freedesktop/NetworkManager"
NM_DBUS_INTERFACE                 = "org.freedesktop.NetworkManager"
NM_DBUS_IFACE_CONNECTION_ACTIVE   = "org.freedesktop.NetworkManager.Connection.Active"
NM_DBUS_SERVICE_SYSTEM_SETTINGS   = "org.freedesktop.NetworkManagerSystemSettings"
NM_DBUS_SERVICE_USER_SETTINGS     = "org.freedesktop.NetworkManagerUserSettings"
NM_DBUS_IFACE_SETTINGS            = "org.freedesktop.NetworkManagerSettings"
NM_DBUS_PATH_SETTINGS             = "/org/freedesktop/NetworkManagerSettings"
NM_DBUS_IFACE_SETTINGS_CONNECTION = "org.freedesktop.NetworkManagerSettings.Connection"

DBusGMainLoop(set_as_default=True)

nm_dbus_settings_services = (NM_DBUS_SERVICE_SYSTEM_SETTINGS, NM_DBUS_SERVICE_USER_SETTINGS)

def get_connections(bus, service):
  proxy = bus.get_object(service, NM_DBUS_PATH_SETTINGS)
  iface = dbus.Interface(proxy, dbus_interface=NM_DBUS_IFACE_SETTINGS)
  return iface.ListConnections()

def get_connection_by_uuid(bus, uuid):
  for service in nm_dbus_settings_services:
    for c in get_connections(bus, service):
      proxy = bus.get_object(service, c)
      iface = dbus.Interface(proxy, dbus_interface = NM_DBUS_IFACE_SETTINGS_CONNECTION)
      settings = iface.GetSettings()
      if settings['connection']['uuid'] == uuid:
        return (c, service)
  return None

def list_uuids(bus):
  for service in nm_dbus_settings_services:
    for c in get_connections(bus, service):
      proxy = bus.get_object(service, c)
      iface = dbus.Interface(proxy, dbus_interface=NM_DBUS_IFACE_SETTINGS_CONNECTION)
      settings = iface.GetSettings()
      conn = settings['connection']
      print " %s: %s - %s (%s)" % (service, conn['uuid'], conn['id'], conn['type'])

def get_active_connection_path(bus, uuid):
  proxy = bus.get_object(NM_DBUS_SERVICE, NM_DBUS_PATH)
  iface = dbus.Interface(proxy, dbus_interface='org.freedesktop.DBus.Properties')
  active_connections = iface.Get(NM_DBUS_INTERFACE, 'ActiveConnections')
  connection_and_service = get_connection_by_uuid(bus, uuid)
  if connection_and_service == None:
    return None
  for a in active_connections:
    proxy = bus.get_object(NM_DBUS_SERVICE, a)
    iface = dbus.Interface(proxy, dbus_interface='org.freedesktop.DBus.Properties')
    path = iface.Get(NM_DBUS_IFACE_CONNECTION_ACTIVE, 'Connection')
    service = iface.Get(NM_DBUS_IFACE_CONNECTION_ACTIVE, 'ServiceName')
    if service != connection_and_service[1]:
      continue
    proxy = bus.get_object(connection_and_service[1], path)
    iface = dbus.Interface(proxy, dbus_interface=NM_DBUS_IFACE_SETTINGS_CONNECTION)
    settings = iface.GetSettings()
    if settings['connection']['uuid'] == uuid:
      return a
  return None

def activate_connection(bus, vpn_connection, active_connection):
  def reply_handler(opath):
    print "<<SUCCESS>>"
    sys.exit(0)
  def error_handler(*args):
    print "<<FAILURE>>"
    sys.exit(1)
  proxy = bus.get_object(NM_DBUS_SERVICE, NM_DBUS_PATH)
  iface = dbus.Interface(proxy, dbus_interface=NM_DBUS_INTERFACE)
  iface.ActivateConnection(NM_DBUS_SERVICE_USER_SETTINGS,
                           vpn_connection[0],
                           dbus.ObjectPath("/"), 
                           active_connection,
                           reply_handler=reply_handler,
                           error_handler=error_handler)

bus = dbus.SystemBus()

#print "connections:"
#list_uuids(bus)

if len(VPN_CONNECTION_UUID) < 1 or len(ACTIVE_CONNECTION_UUID) < 1:
    print "you need to set the uuids"
    sys.exit(0)

vpn_connection = get_connection_by_uuid(bus, VPN_CONNECTION_UUID)
if not vpn_connection:
    print "Configured VPN connection is not known to NM, check VPN_CONNECTION_UUID."
    sys.exit(1)

active_connection = get_connection_by_uuid(bus, ACTIVE_CONNECTION_UUID)
if not active_connection:
  print "Configured active connection is not known to NM, check ACTIVE_CONNECTION_UUID."
  sys.exit(1)

if get_active_connection_path(bus, VPN_CONNECTION_UUID) != None:
  print "VPN connection already activated"
  sys.exit(0)

active_connection_path = get_active_connection_path(bus, ACTIVE_CONNECTION_UUID)
if not active_connection_path:
  print "The required connection isn't active at the moment"
  sys.exit(0)

print "connecting...." # to:\n  '%s'\nwith active connection:\n  '%s'" % (vpn_connection, active_connection)

activate_connection(bus, vpn_connection, active_connection_path)

loop = gobject.MainLoop()
loop.run()

and I created a bash script that takes care of the reconnection every 20 seconds which I run in a terminal

Code:

#!/bin/bash

while [ 1 ]; do
   echo -n $(date) "##  "
   sudo /home/USER/Install/VPN-Control/nm-vpn-restart2.py #wherever you have installed the script
   sleep 20
done

I know that I will not win a programming price for that but for me it works and I am very happy with it....

**TidyBhoy** · January 17th, 2010

sorry to sound a bit silly here... but what do i do with that script exactly... how do i implement it? where does it go?

**agkbill** · January 17th, 2010

Tried this out today and it works great.

For me the first script worked but not the second one you modified.

What is the difference?

Really happy for getting this to work, thank you!

**TidyBhoy** · January 17th, 2010

any chance you could tell me how you done it? I couldnt open python to add that code..

**agkbill** · January 19th, 2010

I am running Ubuntu 9.10 and python must have been installed by default. I just made the textile with the script executional and then run it in a terminal.

The first time without any changes whatever. That gives the UUID. Then I copied thous into the script.

That process you need to do every time you restart the computer, looks like you get new UUID every time.

Best regards,
/Christer

**TidyBhoy** · January 20th, 2010

well that sucks

**KhaaL** · April 30th, 2010

I think its silly that such a basic functionality is sorely missing from ubuntu for so long, with no reliable solution!

**Sandiep** · May 1st, 2010

Does the rm command work in bash scripts?

**Eldis** · May 12th, 2010

Really nice script thanks for posting and sharing.

Would be really nice to get the UUIDs somehow automagically into the script on boot. I don't boot often but still I dislike the idea of having to manually fiddle with this. I'm sure it's possible but just beyond my scripting abilities.

couldn't we somehow grep and echo it into the script ?

**Eldis** · May 14th, 2010

Nevermind my previous post, the UUIDs don't seem to change on reboot I assumed they would.

My only problem now is that it still requires a keyring password for the vpn connection on reboot. Any way I could get rid of that keyring password asking for the VPN connection ?

If I check the available for all users checkbox the VPN connection will no longer start.