AnyConnect Secure Mobility - Disable the automatic launch on login

[John Getzke]

Hello,

I recently got my hands on the latest Secure Mobility VPN v3.1.01 client.  We are upgrading from the old anyconnect 2.4 client so there are many changes that are catching us by surprise.

The biggest issue I have right now is that the new Mobility VPN launches automatically when a user signs into a machine.  We would like to disable that automatic connection/launch feature.  With the old 2.4 client we simply disabled the AnyConnect Service in Services.msc by default and started it up when a user was ready to connect.

Any suggestions on how to do this?                  

[Javier Portuguez]

Hi John,

Have you unchecked this option?

You could also do it in the AnyConnect XML profile.

false

HTH.

Portu.

Please rate any helpful posts

[John Getzke]

We must have configured to hide that particular feature.  Here is what my Settings window looks like:

I also tried modifying the preferences.xml under C:\Users\\AppData\Local\Cisco\Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client.  Adding the line into the preferences did not have an impact.

Let me know if I modified the wrong file.  Otherwise I'll go back and recompile my installation so that it includes the Connect on Start-up feature.  We must have left it on.

[Javier Portuguez · Accepted solution]

John,

I am sorry, I actually missed the "3.1" version.

To turn off the "AutoConnectOnStart" please add the previous piece of code to the XML profile:

false

The XML profile can be found in the following path:

OS Directory Path

Windows 7 and Vista

C:\ProgramData\Cisco\Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client\Profile\

Windows XP

C:\Document and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Cisco\Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client\Profile

Mac OS X and Linux

/opt/cisco/anyconnect/profile/

I am attaching an example of the XML profile.

Further information:

Auto Connect on Start Now Disabled By Default

HTH.

Portu.

Please rate any helpful posts

Message was edited by: Javier Portuguez

[John Getzke]

That did the trick!

Once I found the correct profile I was able to confirm what we needed.  We then went back and updated the profile on the ASA so that my changes were not overwritten the next time I connected.  It all seems to be working correctly now.

[Javier Portuguez]

I appreciate the update, great news!!

Thanks for counting on this great Support Community!

[saiyanzzrage]

Hello, I am having the same issue on my Mac...Anyconnect launches automatically on login...in the xml file, AutoConnectOnStart is set to false but it still starts every time I log into the machine after a restart.  

I am using version 4.5 of Anyconnect...any ideas as to why it is happening?

[AndyInCali]

I have the same question. On the Mac, it seems that AnyConnect launches automatically at login. I have tried editing the following file:

/Library/LaunchAgents/com.cisco.anyconnect.gui.plist

I changed the "RunAtLoad" to false like so:

defaults write /Library/LaunchAgents/com.cisco.anyconnect.gui.plist RunAtLoad -bool false

But this doesn't seem to work. How can we prevent AnyConnect from launching automatically at login for our Mac clients?

[techarfb1]

Is there a fix for this?  Anyconnect automatically starting at each boot up is causing me many problems.  I DO NOT want Anyconnect to ever automatically startup.  We only need the software to run occasionally. It is not set to startup in Users > Logins and not Anyconnect preference relate to auto startup.  I insure it's not started before I reboot and I uncheck "reopen windows when logging back in".

I've made sure I'm on the latest versions of macOS and Anyconnect as follows; although, this has occurred on all previous version of both software.

macOS Catalina 10.15

Cicso Anyconnect  Secure Mobile Client 4.8.00175

[simonandersen]

If you want to permanently suppress the auto launching of the AnyConnect GUI you can achieve it by disabling the launch agent label like this:

launchctl load /Library/LaunchAgents/com.cisco.anyconnect.gui.plist ; launchctl unload -w /Library/LaunchAgents/com.cisco.anyconnect.gui.plist

[RebeccaH]

I'm a Windows 10 user.  Do you have a solution for us?