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hrnick
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Joined: 31 Aug 2002
Posts: 425
Location: Sweden
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 Posted: Mon Aug 07, 2023 5:32 pm Post subject: NordVPN: Whoops! Connection failed. Please try again. |
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I have installed the nordvpn client using the ebuilds in the NordVPN portage overlay. I am logged in but when trying to connect I get the following error message:
| Quote: | # nordvpn connect
Connecting to Sweden #566 (se566.nordvpn.com)
-Whoops! Connection failed. Please try again. If the problem persists, contact our customer support. |
Can anyone point me in the right direction on where to start troubleshooting? I have contacted the NordVPN customer support but they are busy just telling me what dpkg commants to run in the Debian system the assume I'm running so we're not really getting anywhere there...
Any help would be appreciated, thanks! |
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rab0171610
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Joined: 24 Dec 2022
Posts: 299
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| Posted: Mon Aug 07, 2023 10:12 pm Post subject: |
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The NordVPN client used in the ebuild available for Gentoo is actually the Debian version. NordVPN only supports Debian and derivatives (*buntus, MX etc.)
When this occurs it is a bug that can affect even Debian and Ubuntu users. Usually it is because there is only one version of the NordVPN client built upstream but
dependent libraries change on newer and newer versions of Debian and Ubuntu. I saw this once on a machine because of a minor update to a newer version of OpenSSL.
The required libraries and versions are usually dependent on the most recent stable version of Debian. So Debian testing, unstable and Ubuntu versions will experience this problem connecting with the error message you provided most often.
It has been my experience that you will have to wait for an update for a newer, updated version of the client app from NordVPN. The other option is to use VPN with Network Manager. Personally, I use an OpenVPN client configuration file that you get directly from NordVPN and use a firewall killswitch that shuts off the network access if the VPN goes down. In other words, all traffic is forced in and out of the virtual tunnel (tun0) and if that becomes unavailable there is no network access unless I turn off the firewall temporarily.
So, from my experience with that very same generic error message, my guess is you will have to wait for a new version of the binary NordVPN client as NordVPN is not very helpful when it comes to their client version built for Linux. Windows users have much better support.
If you decide you want to try using NordVPN with OpenVPN and need guidance or have any questions, feel free to ask. I think it is the much better NordVPN client solution for Gentoo users. |
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hrnick
Guru
Joined: 31 Aug 2002
Posts: 425
Location: Sweden
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| Posted: Tue Aug 08, 2023 2:27 pm Post subject: |
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| rab0171610 wrote: | The NordVPN client used in the ebuild available for Gentoo is actually the Debian version. NordVPN only supports Debian and derivatives (*buntus, MX etc.)
When this occurs it is a bug that can affect even Debian and Ubuntu users. Usually it is because there is only one version of the NordVPN client built upstream but
dependent libraries change on newer and newer versions of Debian and Ubuntu. I saw this once on a machine because of a minor update to a newer version of OpenSSL.
The required libraries and versions are usually dependent on the most recent stable version of Debian. So Debian testing, unstable and Ubuntu versions will experience this problem connecting with the error message you provided most often.
It has been my experience that you will have to wait for an update for a newer, updated version of the client app from NordVPN. The other option is to use VPN with Network Manager. Personally, I use an OpenVPN client configuration file that you get directly from NordVPN and use a firewall killswitch that shuts off the network access if the VPN goes down. In other words, all traffic is forced in and out of the virtual tunnel (tun0) and if that becomes unavailable there is no network access unless I turn off the firewall temporarily.
So, from my experience with that very same generic error message, my guess is you will have to wait for a new version of the binary NordVPN client as NordVPN is not very helpful when it comes to their client version built for Linux. Windows users have much better support.
If you decide you want to try using NordVPN with OpenVPN and need guidance or have any questions, feel free to ask. I think it is the much better NordVPN client solution for Gentoo users. |
Thank you for your reply rab0171610! I did see that the ebulds pull in the .deb archives that I guess are used everywhere else but I would have guess that the dependencies would be handled through those ebuilds. Anyway, now I understand the problem better and using OpenVPN sounds like a better option if this is what is to be expected from using the NordVPN client. If you could point me in the right direction on how to set up NordVPN using OpenVPN I would be grateful! Thanks again! |
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rab0171610
Apprentice
Joined: 24 Dec 2022
Posts: 299
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| Posted: Tue Aug 08, 2023 4:33 pm Post subject: |
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Unfortunately the client is closed-source, built by NordVPN and does not bundle its own libraries. It depends on whatever version of a library that is found on every Debian stable installation, such as OpenSSL. Since Debian doesn't change much and is supported for 5 years this works fine in Debian, until a new version comes out. When that happens, like recently with Debian 12, NordVPN Linux Client often quits working for some time until a newer binary is released. Ubuntu changes every six month or so and I notice it there frequently. Whoops!
Here is a generalized OpenVPN guide from NordVPN:
https://support.nordvpn.com/Connectivity/Linux/1047409422/Connect-to-NordVPN-using-Linux-Terminal.htm
It is not comprehensive and is Debian centric. The one important thing you will get from that page is this command:
| Code: | | wget https://downloads.nordcdn.com/configs/archives/servers/ovpn.zip |
That will download a zipped archive of all of the OpenVPN servers configuration files worldwide to connect to NordVPN.
This link mentioned there
https://nordvpn.com/servers/tools/
can be used to pick a server and download its config file for either UDP or TCP. I use UDP.
Obviously, you will want to read:
https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/OpenVPN
but I also recommend (for comparison):
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/OpenVPN
(If you use OpenRC, just remember Arch uses Systemd.)
As you are reading, keep in mind that recommended directory for client config files changed, previously it was /etc/openvpn, but changed to /etc/openvpn/client. It should work in either but to follow upstream I moved things to said client directory. Some info is outdated and systemd or OS centric, so take what you read as a guide not a step-by-step tutorial.
Outdated, but I found it helpful:
https://www.maketecheasier.com/connect-vpn-automatically-linux/
I have two filess, /etc/openvpn/client/auth.txt with login credentials (not recommended for security reasons but convenient)
If you decide to do it that way don't forget to lock it down:
sudo chmod 600 your_auth_pass.txt # security to disallow reading from group/others
The other file is the OpenVPN conf file downloaded from NordVPN in /etc/openvpn/client. The files will be named similar to udp.nordvpn.us.opvn. Once you pick which server, its conf file can be changed to anything but should actually end with .conf, not .opvn, ex:
openvpn.conf or nordvpn.conf
Consider a kill switch like the client has (via firewall):
https://www.reddit.com/r/nordvpn/comments/9752fq/nordvpn_for_linux_kill_switch_and_stop_dns_leaks/
https://gist.github.com/Necklaces/18b68e80bf929ef99312b2d90d0cded2
https://www.comparitech.com/blog/vpn-privacy/how-to-make-a-vpn-kill-switch-in-linux-with-ufw/
Additional:
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/38869427/openvpn-on-linux-passing-username-and-password-in-command-line
https://nordvpn.com/what-is-my-ip/cybersecurity-site/
Do your research. It may not work the first try. Be patient. Take notes. Search if you get errors. Ask for help. Try again.
If that is too much to take on, consider using the OpenVPN configuration with NetworkManager. It is much simpler to configure. |
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