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Wireguard unavailable as an option when adding a new VPN

Open o-alquimista opened this issue 1 year ago • 5 comments

What Happened?

Wireguard support was released a while back, but I've never gotten it to work. I'm currently running elementary OS 8, and I have the wireguard package installed. Rebooting didn't help.

See screenshot below showing the "add new VPN" dialog:

add new VPN dialog, but wireguard is missing

I tried to import from a connection file (i.e. a file backed up from /etc/NetworkManager/system-connections/), but it says it's unsupported when I pick it.

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Steps to Reproduce

  1. Install and update elementary OS 8.
  2. Install wireguard package and reboot
  3. open Settings, then Network, then VPN, then Add a Connection

Expected Behavior

There should be a way to manually add a Wireguard connection, filling in details in a form; or at least let us import from a file. None of that appears to be available.

OS Version

8.x (Circe)

Session Type

Secure Session (Wayland)

Software Version

Latest release (I have run all updates)

Log Output

No response

Hardware Info

  • Dell Inspiron 15 3583 (amd64 laptop)

o-alquimista avatar Nov 30 '24 15:11 o-alquimista

I got it to import from a wg-quick .conf file instead. It works...

Wireguard VPN added

Then it opens up this window where you can edit its details:

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I just think this feature needs to be more DISCOVERABLE.


On a related matter...

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I've added these additional Wireguard connections. Notice that they are all active, all at once. This is default behavior, believe it or not. They are enabled automatically when you login.

To turn this off, you have to go to the General tab and uncheck the box labelled as "Connect automatically with priority" (translated from Portuguese).

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I've also disabled the checkbox "All users can connect to this VPN". This should not be the default on a multi-user system such as elementary OS.

Another similar option exists in the Wireguard tab, in the Private Key field. "Store this password for this user" or "Store this password for all users" (default). Unfortunately, selecting the former (store for user only) makes the private key field go blank — it loses the data.

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o-alquimista avatar Nov 30 '24 16:11 o-alquimista

My expectation is that the dropdown select contains a fourth option Import wireguard .conf file

This was my original comment to this but I think this is kinda out of scope of the original issue topic: Created this issue instead: #432

Original comment I found that after adding the config with wg-quick, it connects successfully and I see the connected VPN in the wingpanel When I click on it to disconnect, it disappears. Instead I want the entry to stay so I can reconnect comfortably from wingpanel at any time

spotlesscoder avatar Jun 18 '25 20:06 spotlesscoder

If I am not mistaken, Wireguard has been added to the network in PR #338. Thus this should not be a feature request, but a BUG and/or a REGRESSION.

proedie avatar Aug 27 '25 08:08 proedie

I think that only adds the ability to import from a wg-quick file or from an existing NetworkManager connection; and they never added a GUI to configure a Wireguard connection — like the one GNOME has. This is a feature request for that.

o-alquimista avatar Aug 27 '25 11:08 o-alquimista

I think that only adds the ability to import [a config file] and they never added a GUI to configure a Wireguard connection […].

Oh, okay. In that case it’s a feature request alright. Ignore me and carry on. 😅

proedie avatar Aug 27 '25 11:08 proedie