[Solved] XpressConnect Installation

[hex9]

Im currently using wheezy, i really appreciate your help, i cant see anything on the monash page to help me though, i cant login.

[verahill]

Again, I'm making the assumptions that
1. XpressConnect doesn't do anything other than configure the network for you.
2. Monash and Swinburne have set up eduroam in the same way

If that is the case, try connecting to eduroam using network-manager with the following settings:

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Security: WPA&WPA2Enterprise
Authentication: Protected EAP (PEAP)
Anon. Identity:
CA Certificate: (none)
PEAP version: Automatic
Inner Authentication: MSCHAPv2
Username: myuser@swinburne.edu
Password: mypasswordatswinburne

As username put your staff/student email. As password, use your Swinburne password.
If it all works, you can always add the CA cert later.

If this doesn't work, contact IT, especially as they do say that if you OS isn't supported you SHOULD contact them. It's part of their job to field these questions (and ideally to solve them too), after all.

[verahill]

As an aside, I set up a virtual machine with Squeeze and plugged in a USB wifi dongle, and used network manager. I had no luck with XpressConnect here either -- same error as before. I'll try in an ubuntu vm as well to see if, and if so how, it behaves differently.

It worked in ubuntu 10.04 lts. I've got strace logs and files to compare now.

Note that I used 32 bit ubuntu and 64 bit debian (squeeze). Also, I added no non-free drivers or firmware to debian (but it's using the rtl8187 driver), and I didn't make any post-install modifications.
Ubuntu gives the following in /tmp/xpressconnect.log:

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---- Gathering Data ----
Parsing OS information...
Checking OS bit depth.
OS bits info : i686

OS is 32 bits.
Checking hardware information.
Looking for extra NIC data.
Found driver name for 'wlan0' from DBus.
   - Driver : rtl8187
Couldn't get capabilities from DBus, trying the hard way.
Attempting to release lock.
Release processing lock.
Set welcome banners.
Using DBus UUID for client ID.
Using DBus UUID for client ID.
Client ID : f3af3f95c2229c756e98556050ed0cc4
Session ID : 6980532961366355275
Upload value (1) : 0
Moving to widget 3.


and Debian gives

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---- Gathering Data ----
Parsing OS information...
Checking OS bit depth.
Validating checksum.
OS bits info : x86_64

OS is 64 bits.
Checking hardware information.
Looking for extra NIC data.
Network manager didn't return any NIC details.  Skipping.  (Interface : eth0)
Network manager didn't return any NIC details.  Skipping.  (Interface : eth1)
Network manager didn't return any NIC details.  Skipping.  (Interface : wlan0)
Attempting to release lock.
Release processing lock.
Checking license.
License validation checked out properly.
Today is : 04/19/2013
License expires :
The date validation checked out properly.
Checking for valid networks for this platform.
No valid networks found in the configuration.
Config parser terminated.
Failed to parse configuration.
Set 'static' window labels.
Set welcome banners.
Using DBus UUID for client ID.
Using DBus UUID for client ID.
Client ID : fe88ef3cf6716df910e7fa570000000b
Session ID : 5805931841366354767
Moving to widget 9.


Looks like the answer might be right there -- either to do with nm or dbus?

The network manager version in debian is 0.8.1-6+squeeze2 and in ubuntu is 0.8-0ubuntu3.2.

The XpressConnect script downloads a 64 bit dynamically linked executable on debian 64 bit, and a 32 bit dyn. linked executable on ubuntu 32 bit.

I've repeated this on debain 32 bit with only eth0 and wlan0. Same issue.

On debian no /tmp/netdata.txt gets written (it's empty), while on ubuntu netdata.txt contains the following

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 *-network
       description: Ethernet interface
       product: 82540EM Gigabit Ethernet Controller
       vendor: Intel Corporation
       physical id: 3
       bus info: pci@0000:00:03.0
       logical name: eth0
       version: 02
       serial: 08:00:27:53:23:4c
       width: 32 bits
       clock: 66MHz
       capabilities: bus_master cap_list ethernet physical
       configuration: broadcast=yes driver=e1000 driverversion=7.3.21-k5-NAPI firmware=N/A ip=10.0.2.15 latency=64 mingnt=255 multicast=yes
       resources: irq:10 memory:f0000000-f001ffff ioport:d010(size=8)
  *-network
       description: Wireless interface
       physical id: 1
       logical name: wlan0
       serial: 00:11:a3:08:12:1d
       capabilities: ethernet physical wireless
       configuration: broadcast=yes multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11bg

It get's overwritten each time you run /tmp/Xpressconnect-x64.

Anyway, this seems to be the configuration file which xpressconnect is complaining about as being missing.

Stupidly, write-protecting netdata.txt doesn't solve anything.

Anyone has any suggestions on what I can check to help the OP?

[hex9]

I really appreciate your help so far verahill..

[verahill]

hex9,
you should try connecting without xpressconnect as I describe above and see if it works. XpressConnect should just be a wrapper script, so we don't want to spend too much time trying to get it to work if it isn't necessary. Also, contact the university IT services.

I tried xpressconnect on arch (64 bit) and it behaves exactly like it does on debian.

I don't think there's going to be a simple fix, so try simply connecting and manually configuring instead.

[hex9]

I'll attempt that on monday and let you know of my results

[llivv]

verahill
I'm aware of how many things could be going wrong with the use of the script,
but being half way around the world from the schools lan
there is not way I'm going to get a signal here to test with
the reason I posted the authentication issue
was that I believe that is all the OP is going to need to inform the schools IT about
when the OP talks to them.
Who knows, some sites make the user call support anyways just
as a direct verification.

hex9
I think you are doing a great job of debugging your issue.
Let's keep our fingers crossed
that you will have enough data for your schools IT department
so they wouldn't have to bark at you
and tell you
you can only use their script with ubuntu.

[verahill]

llivv,
You don't need access to the OPs campus lan to test this (I'm half a city away) since the errors occur well before even attempting to look for a signal -- have a look at it, since you might have better ideas than I have.

The step the script fails at is getting information about the NICs from network-manager under debian and arch, but not ubuntu. dbus may be involved too.

To see what happens, try

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cd ~/Downloads
wget http://hosted.cloudpath.net/Xavier/Production/tools/XpressConnect-Linux.tar
tar xvf XpressConnect-Linux.tar
./XpressConnect-DoubleClickToRun


The XpressConnect-DoubleClickToRun file is nothing more than a shell script which determines whether the machine is 32 or 64 bit, and then downloads a tar file in /tmp. The main content of the tar file is a precompiled and dynamically linked* binary, XpressConnect-x64,suitable for the architecture of the machine (i.e. 32 or 64 bit).

The XpressConnect-DoubleClickToRun shell script will launch the XpressConnect-x64 binary in /tmp, but once it's downloaded you can also launch it directly (/tmp gets cleaned out between reboots though). On running, it generates a log file in /tmp, xpressconnect.log -- and if successful, a netdata.txt file with information about the wireless device is also generated. I won't repost the out since it's found in previous posts.

That's why the authentication failure message isn't relevant (it's simple the last item in a list over all the error message that MAY be returned -- the same list is echoed in the expressconnect.log) -- the issue with xpressconnect is at the NIC discovery stage. I've had no issues with ubuntu in a VM in spite of there being no network to connect to.

Again, the issue is that ubuntu returns

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Checking hardware information.
Looking for extra NIC data.
Found driver name for 'wlan0' from DBus.


and generates a netdata.txt file while debian returns

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Checking hardware information.
Looking for extra NIC data.
Network manager didn't return any NIC details.  Skipping.  (Interface : eth0)
Network manager didn't return any NIC details.  Skipping.  (Interface : wlan0)
Attempting to release lock.
Release processing lock.


I hope the OP can connect to eduroam at Swinburne by manually configuring the network in network manager -- XpressConnect should only create a network-manager configuration file and little more if I understand it correctly.

HOWEVER, given that a lot of universities in the US and Oz are using XpressConnect (try googling for xpressconnect site:*.edu' -- and up till a few days ago I'd never heard of it before) -- I don't think it's entirely irrelevant trying to figure out why it works on ubuntu and not debian or arch (have yet to try the red hat clones).

Ultimately the onus is 1) the unis that pick a technology that's broken and 2) Cloudpath networks for releasing a broken binary.

*The ldd output between 32 bit ubuntu and 64 bit debian is a little bit different

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cat ubuntu_xpress/ldd.log
   linux-gate.so.1 =>  (0x006a3000)
   libdbus-1.so.3 => /lib/libdbus-1.so.3 (0x007b3000)
   libXrender.so.1 => /usr/lib/libXrender.so.1 (0x00c8b000)
   libfontconfig.so.1 => /usr/lib/libfontconfig.so.1 (0x008b8000)
   libfreetype.so.6 => /usr/lib/libfreetype.so.6 (0x00da4000)
   libXext.so.6 => /usr/lib/libXext.so.6 (0x00225000)
   libX11.so.6 => /usr/lib/libX11.so.6 (0x00480000)
   libz.so.1 => /lib/libz.so.1 (0x00110000)
   libdl.so.2 => /lib/tls/i686/cmov/libdl.so.2 (0x00125000)
   librt.so.1 => /lib/tls/i686/cmov/librt.so.1 (0x00665000)
   libpthread.so.0 => /lib/tls/i686/cmov/libpthread.so.0 (0x006f2000)
   libstdc++.so.6 => /usr/lib/libstdc++.so.6 (0x00ac3000)
   libm.so.6 => /lib/tls/i686/cmov/libm.so.6 (0x002d8000)
   libgcc_s.so.1 => /lib/libgcc_s.so.1 (0x00129000)
   libc.so.6 => /lib/tls/i686/cmov/libc.so.6 (0x002fe000)
   libexpat.so.1 => /lib/libexpat.so.1 (0x00148000)
   libxcb.so.1 => /usr/lib/libxcb.so.1 (0x00a12000)
   /lib/ld-linux.so.2 (0x00637000)
   libXau.so.6 => /usr/lib/libXau.so.6 (0x00c7a000)
   libXdmcp.so.6 => /usr/lib/libXdmcp.so.6 (0x0096f000)

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cat debian_xpressconnect/ldd.log
   linux-vdso.so.1 =>  (0x00007fff50dfb000)
   libdbus-1.so.3 => /lib/libdbus-1.so.3 (0x00007f2bbb807000)
   libXrender.so.1 => /usr/lib/libXrender.so.1 (0x00007f2bbb5fd000)
   libfontconfig.so.1 => /usr/lib/libfontconfig.so.1 (0x00007f2bbb3c7000)
   libfreetype.so.6 => /usr/lib/libfreetype.so.6 (0x00007f2bbb13f000)
   libXext.so.6 => /usr/lib/libXext.so.6 (0x00007f2bbaf2d000)
   libX11.so.6 => /usr/lib/libX11.so.6 (0x00007f2bbabf1000)
   libz.so.1 => /usr/lib/libz.so.1 (0x00007f2bba9da000)
   libdl.so.2 => /lib/libdl.so.2 (0x00007f2bba7d6000)
   librt.so.1 => /lib/librt.so.1 (0x00007f2bba5cd000)
   libpthread.so.0 => /lib/libpthread.so.0 (0x00007f2bba3b1000)
   libstdc++.so.6 => /usr/lib/libstdc++.so.6 (0x00007f2bba09d000)
   libm.so.6 => /lib/libm.so.6 (0x00007f2bb9e1a000)
   libgcc_s.so.1 => /lib/libgcc_s.so.1 (0x00007f2bb9c04000)
   libc.so.6 => /lib/libc.so.6 (0x00007f2bb98a2000)
   libexpat.so.1 => /usr/lib/libexpat.so.1 (0x00007f2bb9679000)
   libxcb.so.1 => /usr/lib/libxcb.so.1 (0x00007f2bb945d000)
   /lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2 (0x00007f2bbba58000)
   libXau.so.6 => /usr/lib/libXau.so.6 (0x00007f2bb9259000)
   libXdmcp.so.6 => /usr/lib/libXdmcp.so.6 (0x00007f2bb9054000)


Edit: Going through the logs again there's another major difference:
Ubuntu

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Looking for id : 266
Looking for id : 259
Setting start page.
Moving to widget 0.
Loading configuration page.
Starting configuration parse thread.
Acquire processing lock.
Building NIC data.
Starting configuration parser.
Validating checksum.
Checking license.
License validation checked out properly.
Today is : 04/19/2013
License expires :
The date validation checked out properly.
Checking for valid networks for this platform.
Only one network configuration found.  Auto-selecting it.
Auto-selected network 'swinwifi'.
Interface : /org/freedesktop/NetworkManager/Devices/0 is in state 8
Interface : /org/freedesktop/NetworkManager/Devices/1 is in state 3
There were no interfaces found that could be autodetected for use.  Checking that there are interfaces of the correct type available.
Found 1 possible interface(s).
Selected interface with object path of /org/freedesktop/NetworkManager/Devices/1
Int type : 2

Set profile index : 11

Going to page 3
Config parser terminated.
Set 'static' window labels.


Debian:

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Looking for id : 266
Looking for id : 259
Setting start page.
Moving to widget 0.
Loading configuration page.
Starting configuration parse thread.
Starting configuration parser.
Acquire processing lock.
Building NIC data.
Unable to get NIC data list.


(note that there's no wifi around that's called swinwifi)

[llivv]

I ran the script to get the GUI up and have a look
but I forgot to mention preivously
I don't use wireless.
All my radios are turned "off"
except that damned cell. grrrrr

[verahill]

Edit: I set up network-manager to test it and it still doesn't work.

The only progress is that we now know that you need to install lshw to get the netdata.txt file properly generated. The script also uses iwlist which is in /sbin

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sudo apt-get install lshw
export PATH=$PATH:/sbin


[hex9]

I've just tested it serveral times, the network keeps asking me for a certificate, upon selecting ignoreit attempts to connect but fails and returns me to the log in screen. Is there a way to manually download the certificate and install it?

[hex9]

ignore that previous post, i put my email in wrong

its working fine, thank you so much for all your help verahill and all others!

[verahill]

Edit: fixed XpressConnect now. strace showed that XpressConnect checks for /etc/lsb-release which is a file that doesn't exist on debian. If you copy the /etc/lsb-release file from ubuntu XpressConnect works without issues on Debian. Editing the file to replace all instances of 'ubuntu' with 'debian' breaks it.

Original post:
Googled and couldn't find the CA cert for download.
Someone had similar issues in 2008, before XpressConnect:
https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=53375
http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/935800

Don't forget that you still have a few more avenues to try:
1. try the java applet: http://www.its.swin.edu.au/wifi/eduroam ... pplet.html
2. contact IT support.
3. get the CA cert via ubuntu (which should be unnecessary)

I've just tried 1 for you as well, and it doesn't work.

2 is your responsibility and I hope you've already initiated that. Give them the URL to this thread and to this post to show that you've done enough troubleshooting already to deserve a bit of help:http://verahill.blogspot.com.au/2013/04/393-not-fix-xpressconnect-on-ubuntu-vs.html

I've also done 3 for you. The settings are
Security: WPA & WPA2 Enterprise
Authentication: Tunneled TLS
Anonymous identity: anonymous
CA certificate: swinwifi.der
Inner authentication: PAP
Username: ***@swinburne.edu
Pasword: ******

I can't post swinwifi.der (binary), but swinwifi.pem is below. I generated a .der file using

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openssl x509 -in swinwifi.pem -out test.der -outform DER


and compared the md5sum with that of the one ubuntu downloaded. They're the same.

Here's swinwifi.pem (note that you as a rule should NEVER trust certificates that are provided for you on a forum )

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-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----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-----END CERTIFICATE-----


[verahill]

Glad to hear it's working!

Do the following now:
1. Write a last post in this thread detailing EXACTLY (step by step) what you did so that other people in the same situation can follow your instructions.
2. Edit the title of your first post and change it from "XpressConnect Installation" to "[Solved] XpressConnect Installation"

[hex9]

Its pretty simple to install. Simply attempt to connect to eduroam and input the following data:

Security: WPA&WPA2Enterprise
Authentication: Protected EAP (PEAP)
Anon. Identity:
CA Certificate: (none)
PEAP version: Automatic
Inner Authentication: MSCHAPv2
Username: myuser@swin.edu.au
Password: mypasswordatswinburne

It will ask for a certificate but you can ignore this.

This should work with all unis etc using XpressConnect, just input you uni user/pass