AnyConnect Linux client issues

[DKEBeck88]

I just switched computers and have installed the AnyConnect Mobility VPN Client for Ubuntu Linux (client version 4.6.03049) on the new computer in order to connect to my university's VPN.  On my previous computer for the longest time I simply used openconnect until very recently when I discovered one (and only one) VPN-protected resource that simply would not work with openconnect (it was like the DNS server simply didn't exist - the connection attempt failed in the browser right away) but worked fine with the official AnyConnect client.

Anyway, installation on the old machine worked just fine.  However, on this new machine, trying to launch the AnyConnect client (/opt/cisco/anyconnect/bin/vpnui) from the application launcher takes about 15 seconds.  It eventually does open and works fine, but it is really delayed.  If instead I run from the command line using 'sudo', it launches right away.  Running the non-gui '/opt/cisco/anyconnect/bin/vpn' runs fast with or without sudo.

Running vpnui both with or without sudo does give the following warning - but with sudo it happens right away while without the warning takes 10 or 15 seconds:

I/O warning : failed to load external entity "/opt/cisco/anyconnect/CustomerExperienceFeedback/CustomerExperience_Feedback.xml"

Any ideas what may be the problem?  The only difference between my old and new computers software-wise is that my old computer was on Xubuntu 19.10 while my new one is on the newest Xubunbu 20.04.

Also, while I'm at it - is there a way to get the VPN client to minimize to the system tray like in Windows.  Right now there is an icon in the system tray but the application still takes up space in the window panel as well.

[Francesco Molino]

Hi

I didn't upgraded my Ubuntu to version 20 yet.
Have you tried installing the latest 4.8 version?
Also did you install it using sudo privileges and installed prerequisites packages?
https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/security/vpn_client/anyconnect/anyconnect48/release/notes/b_Release_Notes_AnyConnect_4_8.html#ID-1454-0000039b

[DKEBeck88]

Hi - thanks for the reply!

I'm using version 4.6 as that is what is provided by my university.  Is there a way to get the 4.8 client on my own?  I did use sudo for installation.  FYI, this is the exact software and installation instructions I used:

https://oit.ncsu.edu/campus-it/campus-data-network/vpn/vpn-installation-instructions-for-ubuntu-and-red-hat-linux/

All of the prereqs are installed.  That set of instructions worked my two Ubuntu 19.10 computers.  And like I said, it does work on my new 20.04 computer, but unless I launch the application via sudo, it takes forever to eventually launch (10-15 seconds), with the mouse pointer spinning in circles for the whole time.  That is not the experience with my other installs.

[Francesco Molino]

If you have access to Cisco download page, you'll be able to download the latest and greatest anyconnect version.
I can't test right now as i didn't performed an Ubuntu upgrade (need to keep it in version 19 for customer testing purposes). Afterwards i will upgrade and test but it could be related to a change of behavior with new Ubuntu version and i have said to open a TAC case but i'm afraid this version it's not officially supported yet.
Sorry about that, but can't help you more except but asking your university of they can provide newer anyconnect version.

[DKEBeck88]

Unfortunately the download page tells me that I need a valid service contract to download the 4.8 client.  I changed my registration email address from my personal to my university thinking that might help, but it did not.

I'm going to be doing a fresh install of 20.04 on my laptop later today and will try the install on that.  If it works and the client launches normally (without sudo), then it's something with my computer.  If it also takes 15 seconds to launch without sudo, then it's probably something with ubuntu 20.04.

[Francesco Molino]

Tested with a Ubuntu 20.04 on a VM (fresh install) and Anyconnect 4.8. Works without delay by running the client without sudo privileges.

[DKEBeck88]

I just set up 20.04 (Xubuntu) on a a new machine.  The first thing I did was install the anyconnect client (4.6, since that's all I get from my university and the download page on Cisco site won't let me do 4.8).  It worked perfectly, launched immediately without sudo.  Then I went about setting up my machine, installing new software, etc.  Every once in a while I would launch anyconnect to make sure it was still working.  And for the first few times, it worked great with no delay.  But then the last time I tried, it had the same delay as my other machine.  Bummer.  While I didn't test AnyConnect after every single change, I did it after every few changes, so I do have just a small list of about 4 or 5 changes that could have been the culprit.  I'll continue to investigate.  But it does look like it is something with my setup (which is the exact same setup as it was on my 19.10 machines) combined with something with Xubuntu 20.04 compared to 19.10 that makes Anyconnect (at least 4.6) have some issue that causes a 10-15 second delay at launch.

[Francesco Molino]

Can you try going back to gnome desktop without any changes and see if that works?

[DKEBeck88]

I've never used Gnome - always XFCE.  Did you think I had been using Gnome before experiencing this issue, or are you asking me to install Gnome fresh and see if it works with Gnome?

[Francesco Molino]

My thoughts are go with a standard Ubuntu Gnome installation to validate. I know gnome isn't the best and i personally use awesome but just to see how it goes. Otherwise, keep doing what you did but test after each package you've installed to validate which one is causing the issue. The issue isn't related to anyconnect itself. Check your Linux logs to see if something isn't going the way it's expected to.

[DKEBeck88]

OK, no problem.  I've used Gnome in the past, just at no point while experiencing this issue, I just wanted to ask before I went ahead and installed an entire new DE.  I'll do that tomorrow.

in the meantime while at work today, I installed Xubuntu 20.04 in VirtualBox and tried to pinpoint exactly what I did to cause the issue.  While my findings aren't conclusive, best I can tell is that the AnyConnect client stopped launching instantaneously once I installed Zoom.  It's not a 100% certain finding, but in the VM I checked the launch of the Anyconnect client after every single change, and I didn't see the delay until I installed Zoom.  But, uninstalling Zoom didn't remove the delay, so not sure what I can do with my findings.

[Francesco Molino]

Can you check if zoom is changing something regarding the network?

Have you checked the logs to see if an error pops up while opening your anyconnect?

[DKEBeck88]

FYI, this appears to have resolved itself.  I have been using openconnect over the last few weeks after not being able to pinpoint why Anyconnect was taking so long to launch.  A few kernel updates and other updates were installed via software updater in that time.  Yesterday I had to use Anyconnect due to the issue I described with that one remote resource in the initial post, and it opened up instantaneously.  I pulled out my laptop and verified that it too was working fine.  So no real idea what was happening, but it seems to be fine now.

If anyone has any ideas on how to get Anyconnect to minimize just to the tray instead of also to the window panel, I'm all ears - although I think that's more of an xfce issue and I'll investigate that route.

[DKEBeck88]

Oh, in case anyone else out there is having the other issue I outlined in the initial post (a VPN-protected resource not reachable via OpenConnect but available via the official AnyConnect client), it was an issue with DNS setup on that new resource - those in charge of setting it up never set up an external DNS entry.  I'm not sure why that didn't matter to the official AnyConnect client, but it's been resolved and now I can stick with the OpenConnect client for all of my needs.

[mikefry]

I am challenged with this same issue.  I have a custom ISO of 20.04 and install version 4.9.0637.  The launch takes around 15 seconds to open.  No errors are presented.  This same client version is fine on 18.04.  Additionally, one of our gateways is configured to MFA.  The secondary window stopped opening and the AnyConnect client says to finish the authentication process in the AnyConnect Login window.  Any thoughts on this?