SUMMARY Ticking "Automatically connect to VPN" on a wired or wireless connection causes the primary connection to not connect. STEPS TO REPRODUCE 1. Go to "Configure Network Connections" 2. Select the connection > "General configuration" 3. Tick the "Automatically connect to VPN" checkbox and select VPN connection (in my case PPTP). 4. Restart PC / Laptop OBSERVED RESULT Neither the VPN nor the primary connection starts. EXPECTED RESULT Both the primary connection and VPN should connect. SOFTWARE/OS VERSIONS Linux/KDE Plasma: (available in About System) KDE Plasma Version: 5.18.5 KDE Frameworks Version: 5.68.0 Qt Version: 5.12.8 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION Kubuntu 20.04 This is the case with both my laptop (on wifi) and desktop PC (cabled connection). The VPN is valid and connects manually once the primary connection has been manually started.
This looks like a upstream problem: https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=785699 As a workaround I do this in my Gentoo Linux: systemtray -> Notifications -> Applications: Configure -> Network Management -> Configure Events... -> Connection Activated In "Run command field" add the path of a script like this: #!/bin/sh CONNECTION_NAME=connection VPN_NAME=vpn if nmcli | grep -q "connected to $CONNECTION_NAME" && ! nmcli c show $VPN_NAME | grep -q ActiveConnection; then nmcli c up $VPN_NAME fi
Basically the same as bug 463250, with the difference that in bug 463250 you set the VPN itself to auto-connect. Might be considered a duplicate though.