Summary:
I can't connect to a VPN with Cisco IPSec apparently because the Shared Secret is not being saved after entering it (it always remains blank).
Detailed explanation:
I created a VPN connection with Cisco IPSec and connected successfully. Suddenly (a couple of hours later) i got disconnected and got the following error after trying to reconnect:
"The VPN server did not respond. Verify the server address and try reconnecting."
The address was ok, so i checked the logs and found:
Feb 22 17:59:35 gerry racoon[4401]: couldn't find the pskey by address 204.232.144.166.I checked the shared secret and it was blank; i typed it in again, clicked ok and opened it right away and got again a blank shared secret. I typed the shared secret again and tried to connect and got the following logs:
Feb 22 18:10:41 gerry com.apple.preference.network.remoteservice[4315]: CGContextSetFillColorWithColor: invalid context 0x0. If you want to see the backtrace, please set CG_CONTEXT_SHOW_BACKTRACE environmental variable.
Feb 22 18:10:41 gerry com.apple.preference.network.remoteservice[4315]: CGContextSetStrokeColorWithColor: invalid context 0x0. If you want to see the backtrace, please set CG_CONTEXT_SHOW_BACKTRACE environmental variable.
Feb 22 18:10:41 gerry com.apple.preference.network.remoteservice[4315]: CGContextGetCompositeOperation: invalid context 0x0. If you want to see the backtrace, please set CG_CONTEXT_SHOW_BACKTRACE environmental variable.
Feb 22 18:10:41 gerry com.apple.preference.network.remoteservice[4315]: CGContextSetCompositeOperation: invalid context 0x0. If you want to see the backtrace, please set CG_CONTEXT_SHOW_BACKTRACE environmental variable.
Feb 22 18:10:41 gerry com.apple.preference.network.remoteservice[4315]: CGContextFillRects: invalid context 0x0. If you want to see the backtrace, please set CG_CONTEXT_SHOW_BACKTRACE environmental variable.
Feb 22 18:10:41 gerry com.apple.preference.network.remoteservice[4315]: CGContextSetCompositeOperation: invalid context 0x0. If you want to see the backtrace, please set CG_CONTEXT_SHOW_BACKTRACE environmental variable.
Feb 22 18:10:41 gerry com.apple.preference.network.remoteservice[4315]: CGContextClipToRect: invalid context 0x0. If you want to see the backtrace, please set CG_CONTEXT_SHOW_BACKTRACE environmental variable.
Feb 22 18:10:41 gerry com.apple.preference.network.remoteservice[4315]: CGContextGetShouldSmoothFonts: invalid context 0x0. If you want to see the backtrace, please set CG_CONTEXT_SHOW_BACKTRACE environmental variable.
Feb 22 18:10:41 gerry com.apple.preference.network.remoteservice[4315]: CGContextGetFontSmoothingStyle: invalid context 0x0. If you want to see the backtrace, please set CG_CONTEXT_SHOW_BACKTRACE environmental variable.
Feb 22 18:10:41 gerry com.apple.preference.network.remoteservice[4315]: CGContextGetFontAntialiasingStyle: invalid context 0x0. If you want to see the backtrace, please set CG_CONTEXT_SHOW_BACKTRACE environmental variable.
Feb 22 18:10:41 gerry com.apple.preference.network.remoteservice[4315]: CGContextSetFontSmoothingStyle: invalid context 0x0. If you want to see the backtrace, please set CG_CONTEXT_SHOW_BACKTRACE environmental variable.
Feb 22 18:10:41 gerry com.apple.preference.network.remoteservice[4315]: CGContextGetCTM: invalid context 0x0. If you want to see the backtrace, please set CG_CONTEXT_SHOW_BACKTRACE environmental variable.
Feb 22 18:10:41 gerry com.apple.preference.network.remoteservice[4315]: CGContextGetDefaultUserSpaceToDeviceSpaceTransform: invalid context 0x0. If you want to see the backtrace, please set CG_CONTEXT_SHOW_BACKTRACE environmental variable.
Feb 22 18:10:41 gerry com.apple.preference.network.remoteservice[4315]: CGContextSaveGState: invalid context 0x0. If you want to see the backtrace, please set CG_CONTEXT_SHOW_BACKTRACE environmental variable.
Feb 22 18:10:41 gerry com.apple.preference.network.remoteservice[4315]: CGContextConcatCTM: invalid context 0x0. If you want to see the backtrace, please set CG_CONTEXT_SHOW_BACKTRACE environmental variable.
Feb 22 18:10:41 gerry com.apple.preference.network.remoteservice[4315]: CGContextSaveGState: invalid context 0x0. If you want to see the backtrace, please set CG_CONTEXT_SHOW_BACKTRACE environmental variable.
Feb 22 18:10:41 gerry com.apple.preference.network.remoteservice[4315]: CGContextDrawImages: invalid context 0x0. If you want to see the backtrace, please set CG_CONTEXT_SHOW_BACKTRACE environmental variable.
Feb 22 18:10:41 gerry com.apple.preference.network.remoteservice[4315]: CGContextRestoreGState: invalid context 0x0. If you want to see the backtrace, please set CG_CONTEXT_SHOW_BACKTRACE environmental variable.
Feb 22 18:10:41 --- last message repeated 1 time ---
Feb 22 18:10:41 gerry com.apple.preference.network.remoteservice[4315]: CGContextGetCTM: invalid context 0x0. If you want to see the backtrace, please set CG_CONTEXT_SHOW_BACKTRACE environmental variable.
Feb 22 18:10:41 gerry com.apple.preference.network.remoteservice[4315]: CGContextGetShouldSmoothFonts: invalid context 0x0. If you want to see the backtrace, please set CG_CONTEXT_SHOW_BACKTRACE environmental variable.
Feb 22 18:10:41 gerry com.apple.preference.network.remoteservice[4315]: CGContextGetFontSmoothingStyle: invalid context 0x0. If you want to see the backtrace, please set CG_CONTEXT_SHOW_BACKTRACE environmental variable.
Feb 22 18:10:41 gerry com.apple.preference.network.remoteservice[4315]: CGContextSetFontSmoothingStyle: invalid context 0x0. If you want to see the backtrace, please set CG_CONTEXT_SHOW_BACKTRACE environmental variable.
Feb 22 18:10:41 --- last message repeated 1 time ---
Feb 22 18:10:41 gerry com.apple.preference.network.remoteservice[4315]: CGContextGetCTM: invalid context 0x0. If you want to see the backtrace, please set CG_CONTEXT_SHOW_BACKTRACE environmental variable.
Feb 22 18:10:41 gerry com.apple.preference.network.remoteservice[4315]: CGContextGetDefaultUserSpaceToDeviceSpaceTransform: invalid context 0x0. If you want to see the backtrace, please set CG_CONTEXT_SHOW_BACKTRACE environmental variable.
Feb 22 18:10:41 gerry com.apple.preference.network.remoteservice[4315]: CGContextSaveGState: invalid context 0x0. If you want to see the backtrace, please set CG_CONTEXT_SHOW_BACKTRACE environmental variable.
Feb 22 18:10:41 gerry com.apple.preference.network.remoteservice[4315]: CGContextConcatCTM: invalid context 0x0. If you want to see the backtrace, please set CG_CONTEXT_SHOW_BACKTRACE environmental variable.
Feb 22 18:10:41 gerry com.apple.preference.network.remoteservice[4315]: CGContextSaveGState: invalid context 0x0. If you want to see the backtrace, please set CG_CONTEXT_SHOW_BACKTRACE environmental variable.
Feb 22 18:10:41 gerry com.apple.preference.network.remoteservice[4315]: CGContextDrawImages: invalid context 0x0. If you want to see the backtrace, please set CG_CONTEXT_SHOW_BACKTRACE environmental variable.
Feb 22 18:10:41 gerry com.apple.preference.network.remoteservice[4315]: CGContextRestoreGState: invalid context 0x0. If you want to see the backtrace, please set CG_CONTEXT_SHOW_BACKTRACE environmental variable.
Feb 22 18:10:41 --- last message repeated 1 time ---
Feb 22 18:10:41 gerry com.apple.preference.network.remoteservice[4315]: CGContextGetCTM: invalid context 0x0. If you want to see the backtrace, please set CG_CONTEXT_SHOW_BACKTRACE environmental variable.
Feb 22 18:10:41 --- last message repeated 1 time ---
Feb 22 18:10:41 gerry com.apple.preference.network.remoteservice[4315]: CGContextGetDefaultUserSpaceToDeviceSpaceTransform: invalid context 0x0. If you want to see the backtrace, please set CG_CONTEXT_SHOW_BACKTRACE environmental variable.
Feb 22 18:10:41 gerry com.apple.preference.network.remoteservice[4315]: CGContextSaveGState: invalid context 0x0. If you want to see the backtrace, please set CG_CONTEXT_SHOW_BACKTRACE environmental variable.
Feb 22 18:10:41 gerry com.apple.preference.network.remoteservice[4315]: CGContextConcatCTM: invalid context 0x0. If you want to see the backtrace, please set CG_CONTEXT_SHOW_BACKTRACE environmental variable.
Feb 22 18:10:41 gerry com.apple.preference.network.remoteservice[4315]: CGContextSaveGState: invalid context 0x0. If you want to see the backtrace, please set CG_CONTEXT_SHOW_BACKTRACE environmental variable.
Feb 22 18:10:41 gerry com.apple.preference.network.remoteservice[4315]: CGContextDrawImages: invalid context 0x0. If you want to see the backtrace, please set CG_CONTEXT_SHOW_BACKTRACE environmental variable.
Feb 22 18:10:41 gerry com.apple.preference.network.remoteservice[4315]: CGContextRestoreGState: invalid context 0x0. If you want to see the backtrace, please set CG_CONTEXT_SHOW_BACKTRACE environmental variable.
Feb 22 18:10:41 --- last message repeated 1 time ---
Feb 22 18:10:41 gerry com.apple.preference.network.remoteservice[4315]: CGContextGetCTM: invalid context 0x0. If you want to see the backtrace, please set CG_CONTEXT_SHOW_BACKTRACE environmental variable.I searched for information regarding this logs but couldn't figure out if they were related to the problem.
I tried deleting the VPN connection and creating a new one (by the way, i wasn't able to use the same name) and it didn't work either so, again, i review the logs:
Feb 22 18:16:26 gerry nesessionmanager[951]: Failed to load configuration with ID <__NSConcreteUUID 0x7fedfa504910> A7892601-20D6-4D80-88B7-8D2AA22CF4E1
Feb 22 18:16:26 gerry nesessionmanager[951]: Failed to create a session with type 1 and configuration ID <__NSConcreteUUID 0x7fedfa504910> A7892601-20D6-4D80-88B7-8D2AA22CF4E1
Feb 22 18:16:26 gerry nesessionmanager[951]: Failed to load configuration with ID <__NSConcreteUUID 0x7fedfa407490> A7892601-20D6-4D80-88B7-8D2AA22CF4E1
Feb 22 18:16:26 gerry nesessionmanager[951]: Failed to create a session with type 1 and configuration ID <__NSConcreteUUID 0x7fedfa407490> A7892601-20D6-4D80-88B7-8D2AA22CF4E1Unfortunately i couldn't make anything without those logs either (the same log repeated itself about 20 times and stopped), so i deleted all my VPN connections (again), created a new one (this time i was able to choose the same name) and got a different log entry:
Feb 22 18:31:49 gerry nehelper[217]: 3C44D371-6954-4001-A2D7-0100446EDA8A.XAUTH: SecKeychainItemCreateFromContent failed: User interaction is not allowed.
Feb 22 18:31:49 gerry nehelper[217]: 3C44D371-6954-4001-A2D7-0100446EDA8A.SS: SecKeychainItemCreateFromContent failed: User interaction is not allowed.Finally i searched for the keychain entry (in keychain access) for my VPN connection but didn't found any. I guess this could be the problem.
Any ideas what could be the problem? I tried to connect in a different Mac (same OS, El Capitan) and had no issues at all, but can't get the VPN to work on my Mac.
Thank you!
Complete logs generated after trying to connect (for context):
Feb 22 17:59:35 gerry nesessionmanager[951]: NESMLegacySession[VPN (Cisco IPSec):47CF9F0A-25FA-43A3-A675-9B30B55D84C0]: Received a start command from SystemUIServer[292]
Feb 22 17:59:35 gerry nesessionmanager[951]: NESMLegacySession[VPN (Cisco IPSec):47CF9F0A-25FA-43A3-A675-9B30B55D84C0]: status changed to connecting
Feb 22 17:59:35 gerry nesessionmanager[951]: IPSec connecting to server 204.232.144.166
Feb 22 17:59:35 gerry nesessionmanager[951]: IPSec Phase1 starting.
Feb 22 17:59:35 gerry racoon[4401]: accepted connection on vpn control socket.
Feb 22 17:59:35 --- last message repeated 1 time ---
Feb 22 17:59:35 gerry racoon[4401]: IPSec connecting to server 204.232.144.166
Feb 22 17:59:35 --- last message repeated 1 time ---
Feb 22 17:59:35 gerry racoon[4401]: Connecting.
Feb 22 17:59:35 gerry racoon[4401]: IPSec Phase 1 started (Initiated by me).
Feb 22 17:59:35 --- last message repeated 1 time ---
Feb 22 17:59:35 gerry racoon[4401]: IKE Packet: transmit success. (Initiator, Aggressive-Mode message 1).
Feb 22 17:59:35 gerry racoon[4401]: >>>>> phase change status = Phase 1 started by us
Feb 22 17:59:35 --- last message repeated 1 time ---
Feb 22 17:59:35 gerry racoon[4401]: none message must be encrypted, status 0x14a1, side 0
Feb 22 17:59:35 --- last message repeated 1 time ---
Feb 22 17:59:35 gerry nesessionmanager[951]: IPSec Controller: IKE FAILED. phase 2, assert 0
Feb 22 17:59:35 gerry nesessionmanager[951]: IPSec Controller: retry IPSec aggressive mode with DH Group 2
Feb 22 17:59:35 gerry nesessionmanager[951]: IPSec Phase1 starting.
Feb 22 17:59:35 gerry racoon[4401]: IPSec connecting to server 204.232.144.166
Feb 22 17:59:35 --- last message repeated 1 time ---
Feb 22 17:59:35 gerry racoon[4401]: Connecting.
Feb 22 17:59:35 gerry racoon[4401]: IPSec Phase 1 started (Initiated by me).
Feb 22 17:59:35 --- last message repeated 1 time ---
Feb 22 17:59:35 gerry racoon[4401]: IKE Packet: transmit success. (Initiator, Aggressive-Mode message 1).
Feb 22 17:59:35 gerry racoon[4401]: >>>>> phase change status = Phase 1 started by us
Feb 22 17:59:35 --- last message repeated 1 time ---
Feb 22 17:59:35 gerry racoon[4401]: port 62465 expected, but 0
Feb 22 17:59:35 --- last message repeated 1 time ---
Feb 22 17:59:35 gerry racoon[4401]: try to get pskey by the peer's address.
Feb 22 17:59:35 --- last message repeated 1 time ---
Feb 22 17:59:35 gerry racoon[4401]: couldn't find the pskey by address 204.232.144.166.
Feb 22 17:59:35 --- last message repeated 1 time ---
Feb 22 17:59:35 gerry racoon[4401]: couldn't find the pskey for 204.232.144.166.
Feb 22 17:59:35 --- last message repeated 1 time ---
Feb 22 17:59:35 gerry racoon[4401]: failed to generate SKEYID
Feb 22 17:59:35 --- last message repeated 1 time ---
Feb 22 17:59:35 gerry racoon[4401]: IKE Packet: receive failed. (Initiator, Aggressive-Mode Message 2).
Feb 22 17:59:38 gerry racoon[4401]: IKE Packet: transmit success. (Phase 1 Retransmit).
Feb 22 17:59:38 gerry racoon[4401]: port 37905 expected, but 0
Feb 22 17:59:38 --- last message repeated 1 time ---
Feb 22 17:59:38 gerry racoon[4401]: try to get pskey by the peer's address.
Feb 22 17:59:38 --- last message repeated 1 time ---
Feb 22 17:59:38 gerry racoon[4401]: couldn't find the pskey by address 204.232.144.166.
Feb 22 17:59:38 --- last message repeated 1 time ---
Feb 22 17:59:38 gerry racoon[4401]: couldn't find the pskey for 204.232.144.166.
Feb 22 17:59:38 --- last message repeated 1 time ---
Feb 22 17:59:38 gerry racoon[4401]: failed to generate SKEYID
Feb 22 17:59:38 --- last message repeated 1 time ---
Feb 22 17:59:38 gerry racoon[4401]: IKE Packet: receive failed. (Initiator, Aggressive-Mode Message 2).
Feb 22 17:59:41 gerry racoon[4401]: IKE Packet: transmit success. (Phase 1 Retransmit).
Feb 22 17:59:43 gerry racoon[4401]: port 37905 expected, but 0
Feb 22 17:59:43 --- last message repeated 1 time ---
Feb 22 17:59:43 gerry racoon[4401]: try to get pskey by the peer's address.
Feb 22 17:59:43 --- last message repeated 1 time ---
Feb 22 17:59:43 gerry racoon[4401]: couldn't find the pskey by address 204.232.144.166.
Feb 22 17:59:43 --- last message repeated 1 time ---
Feb 22 17:59:43 gerry racoon[4401]: couldn't find the pskey for 204.232.144.166.
Feb 22 17:59:43 --- last message repeated 1 time ---
Feb 22 17:59:43 gerry racoon[4401]: failed to generate SKEYID
Feb 22 17:59:43 --- last message repeated 1 time ---
Feb 22 17:59:43 gerry racoon[4401]: IKE Packet: receive failed. (Initiator, Aggressive-Mode Message 2).
Feb 22 17:59:45 gerry racoon[4401]: IKE Packet: transmit success. (Phase 1 Retransmit).
Feb 22 17:59:45 gerry nesessionmanager[951]: NESMLegacySession[VPN (Cisco IPSec):47CF9F0A-25FA-43A3-A675-9B30B55D84C0]: status changed to disconnecting
Feb 22 17:59:45 gerry nesessionmanager[951]: IPSec disconnecting from server 204.232.144.166
Feb 22 17:59:45 gerry racoon[4401]: IPSec disconnecting from server 204.232.144.166
Feb 22 17:59:45 --- last message repeated 3 times ---
Feb 22 17:59:45 gerry nesessionmanager[951]: NESMLegacySession[VPN (Cisco IPSec):47CF9F0A-25FA-43A3-A675-9B30B55D84C0]: status changed to disconnected, last stop reason None
Feb 22 17:59:45 gerry racoon[4401]: glob found no matches for path "/var/run/racoon/*.conf"
Feb 22 17:59:46 gerry racoon[4401]: Connecting.
Feb 22 17:59:46 --- last message repeated 1 time ---
Feb 22 17:59:46 gerry racoon[4401]: Unknown Informational exchange received.1 Answer
The problem was indeed with Apple's keychain, i couldn't sort it out so i decided to reset the keychain (Keychain Access > Preferences > Reset My Default Keychain) and it worked, the only (minor) drawback was that i needed to add all my passwords again.
I couldn't figure out what caused the problem in the first place, so if anyone has any idea what could cause the keychain to fail, please share!
UPDATE
The problem is happening again, so i guess something between keychain and vpn is not working. The only way i can keep it working is to restart the keychain over and over... Any suggestions?
UPDATE 2
I finally found the origin of this problem: The latest version (5.1.2) of Phusion Passenger makes a modification to /Library/Preferences/com.apple.security.plist, causing problems with the keychain.
The complete issue description and a temporary solution can be found here.
