# fastvpn — Automated Sophos SSL VPN Connect Fully automated connect to Sophos SSL VPN with TOTP (no dialog, no manual input). ## How it works Sophos SSL VPN uses OpenVPN with certificate + username/password+OTP authentication. NetworkManager's normal flow requires an interactive KDE dialog which cannot be automated reliably on Wayland. Instead, `vpn-connect.sh` starts `openvpn` directly with a Unix management socket and feeds credentials programmatically via `socat`. ## Prerequisites ### Packages ```bash sudo pacman -S openvpn oathtool socat libsecret ``` ### Sudo rule (no password prompt for openvpn) ```bash sudo bash -c 'echo "YOUR_USER ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: /usr/bin/openvpn" > /etc/sudoers.d/vpn-openvpn && chmod 440 /etc/sudoers.d/vpn-openvpn' ``` ### Store credentials in keyring (once) ```bash # VPN password secret-tool store --label="Sophos VPN password" service sslvpn user YOUR_USER # TOTP secret (base32 seed from your authenticator app) secret-tool store --label="Sophos VPN TOTP" service sslvpn-totp user YOUR_USER ``` ### Required files - OpenVPN config: `~/Downloads/sslvpn-fixed.ovpn` (exported from Sophos user portal) - Client certificate + key in NetworkManager certificate store: `/home/chk/.local/share/networkmanagement/certificates/nm-openvpn/` - `sslvpn-fixed-cert.pem` - `sslvpn-fixed-key.pem` > The `.ovpn` file has empty `` and `` blocks — NM stores them separately. > The scripts reference the NM certificate path directly. ## Usage ```bash # Connect ~/bin/vpn-connect.sh # Disconnect ~/bin/vpn-disconnect.sh # Check log sudo cat /tmp/vpn-sophos.log ``` ## Configuration Edit the variables at the top of `vpn-connect.sh`: | Variable | Description | |----------|-------------| | `VPN_USER` | VPN username | | `OVPN` | Path to .ovpn config file | | `DNS_SERVER` | VPN DNS server IP | | `DNS_SEARCH` | Space-separated search domains | | `CERT_DIR` | Directory containing cert/key PEM files | ## Pitfalls & lessons learned ### `#` in password breaks openvpn management interface The openvpn management protocol interprets `#` as a comment character. Passwords containing `#` must be wrapped in double quotes: ``` password "Auth" "mypassword#123456" ``` Without quotes, everything after `#` is silently ignored → `AUTH_FAILED`. ### ydotool / wtype don't work on KDE Wayland - `ydotool` sends US keycodes — `y`↔`z` swap, `#` becomes `$` on DE layout - `wtype` requires `zwp_virtual_keyboard` protocol — not supported by KDE Plasma - `xdotool` works via XWayland but the KDE auth dialog runs natively on Wayland ### NM passwd-file is ignored with challenge-response-flags=2 Sophos VPN profiles exported from the user portal set `challenge-response-flags=2` in the NetworkManager connection. With this flag, NM ignores `--passwd-file` and waits for its interactive secret agent (KDE dialog). Removing the flag causes connection timeouts. The only reliable automation path is bypassing NM entirely. ### OTP timing The script waits for a fresh 30s TOTP window (>20s remaining) before generating the OTP to avoid expiry during the TLS handshake. ### DNS requires routing domains (`~` prefix) `resolvectl domain tun0 krah-gruppe.de` sets a search domain but does NOT route DNS queries for that domain to tun0. The `~` prefix is required: ``` resolvectl domain tun0 ~krah-gruppe.de ~internal.lan ... ``` ### VPN network icon does not show connected state Since openvpn is started directly (not via NM), the NetworkManager applet in the system tray does not reflect the VPN state. Functionally everything works. To check: `ip link show tun0` or `sudo cat /tmp/vpn-sophos.log`. ### Account lockout Sophos locks the account after several failed AUTH attempts. Wait ~5 minutes before retrying after multiple failures. --- ## vpn-clip.py — GUI Clipboard Tool PyQt6 tool to manage VPN profiles (password + TOTP) and copy credentials to the Wayland clipboard. Useful when `vpn-connect.sh` is not an option (e.g. manual OpenVPN clients, other VPN systems). ### Prerequisites ```bash # PyQt6 (usually already present on KDE Plasma) sudo pacman -S python-pyqt6 # oathtool and wl-clipboard (wl-copy) — already needed by vpn-connect.sh sudo pacman -S oath-toolkit wl-clipboard # Optional but strongly recommended: encrypt stored profiles sudo pacman -S python-cryptography # or via pip inside a venv: pip install cryptography ``` > **Without `cryptography`:** profiles are stored as plain base64-encoded JSON — > anyone with file access can read them. A warning banner is shown in the UI. > Install `python-cryptography` to get real Fernet/AES encryption with > PBKDF2-derived keys. ### Usage ```bash python3 /path/to/fastvpn/vpn-clip.py ``` - **First run:** no profiles file exists → prompted to set a master password, then immediately asked to create the first profile. - **Subsequent runs:** enter master password to decrypt and load profiles. - Select profile from dropdown. - Click **PW+OTP kopieren** to concatenate password + current TOTP and pipe it to `wl-copy`. If no OTP secret is set, only the password is copied. - The timer label shows seconds remaining in the current 30s TOTP window (turns red below 8s — consider waiting for the next window). - Click **Profil bearbeiten** to open the profile manager (add / edit / delete). ### Profile storage Profiles are stored in `vpn-profiles.enc` next to the script. With `cryptography` installed the file layout is: ``` [2 bytes: salt length] [16 bytes: random salt] [Fernet token] ``` Key derivation: PBKDF2-HMAC-SHA256, 480 000 iterations, 32-byte key. ### Installation as desktop app To make `vpn-clip.py` appear in the application launcher and allow pinning to the taskbar: ```bash # 1. Make executable chmod +x /path/to/fastvpn/vpn-clip.py # 2. Create .desktop entry (adjust Exec= path) cat > ~/.local/share/applications/vpn-clip.desktop << 'EOF' [Desktop Entry] Version=1.0 Type=Application Name=VPN Clip Comment=VPN password+OTP clipboard tool Exec=/path/to/fastvpn/vpn-clip.py Icon=network-vpn Terminal=false Categories=Network;Security;Utility; Keywords=vpn;otp;password;clipboard; StartupNotify=true EOF # 3. Refresh launcher database update-desktop-database ~/.local/share/applications/ ``` After step 3 the app appears under **Network** / **Utilities** in the start menu. Right-click the icon → **Pin to taskbar** (KDE: "Add to panel"). To use a custom icon instead of the system `network-vpn` icon, place a PNG at `~/.local/share/icons/vpn-clip.png` and set `Icon=vpn-clip` in the `.desktop` file. ### Pitfalls (vpn-clip) **`cryptography` not on PATH / wrong Python** `pacman -S python-cryptography` installs for the system Python. If you run the script with a venv or a different Python binary the package may not be found and the fallback kicks in silently — check the warning banner in the UI. **wl-copy requires a running Wayland session** Running the script over SSH without a forwarded Wayland socket will make `wl-copy` fail. The error is shown in a dialog box. **OTP secret format** `oathtool --totp -b` expects a base32-encoded secret (the "seed" shown by most authenticator apps as a QR code alternative). Spaces in the secret are fine; `oathtool` ignores them. **Password + OTP concatenation** The tool concatenates password and OTP with no separator (e.g. `hunter2123456`). Sophos and most other SSL VPN gateways expect exactly this format in the password field. If your gateway uses a different format, edit `_copy()` in the script.