2061841 - [VPN] After the sign-in flow, VPN fails and shows "Couldn't connect to VPN". Connects successfully on a second try.

Status: RESOLVED FIXED

(Firefox for Android :: Privacy, defect)

Description

[Kreesh Ruparelia]

Attachment: ERROR VIDEO

After the sign-in flow, when VPN is enabled, it fails and shows "Couldn't connect to VPN, try again later". Then when you try immediately, it works, and the user is connected.

Steps to reproduce

1. Clean the app, sign in as a user
2. Try to connect to the VPN
3. See "Couldn't connect to VPN, try again later"
4. Try to connect to the VPN again
5. Connected

Expected Behavior

Able to connect to the VPN on first try

Actual Behavior

VPN shows "Couldn't connect to VPN, try again later." Then, you are connected on a second try.

Comment 1

[Jonathan Almeida [:jonalmeida]]

This bug will be resolved by the combination of patches from bug 2057032, bug 2058646, bug 2060973.

Comment 2

[Alexandra Martin [:alemartin], FxA/SubPlat/VPN QA]

I managed to reproduce the issue intermittently where both the "Couldn't connect to VPN" and "Continue without VPN?" errors appear simultaneously after a sign-in on the Fx Beta 154.0b10 build with a Google Pixel 7a (Android 16) and an Oppo A15s (Android 10) with the following steps:

1. Open a clean Fx Beta 154.0b10 profile.
2. Complete the browser onboarding.
3. Sign in to Sync with an FxA account that hasn't used VPN before (I created a new account on the spot).
4. Enroll in the experiment via Nimbus: nimbus-cli --app fenix --channel beta enroll preview/vpn-android-phase-0-progressive-relaunch --branch control.
5. Open the menu and quickly navigate to Settings > VPN.
6. Tap "Get started", then tap "Continue".
7. Wait until the "Connecting..." state disappears, then tap the VPN toggle rapidly several times while it is still off.

Additional Notes:

• This does not reproduce every time. And in some tries, only the "Couldn't connect to VPN" error appeared.
• I tried capturing an about:logging profile, but because the steps need to be executed quickly and the app restarts after enrolling in the experiment, the logging session seems to resets. Please let me know if there's another way I can gather logs or debug data to help investigate.
• video

Comment 3

[Jonathan Almeida [:jonalmeida]]

(In reply to Alexandra Martin [:alemartin], FxA/SubPlat/VPN QA from comment #2)

I managed to reproduce the issue intermittently where both the "Couldn't connect to VPN" and "Continue without VPN?" errors appear simultaneously after a sign-in on the Fx Beta 154.0b10 build with a Google Pixel 7a (Android 16) and an Oppo A15s (Android 10) with the following steps:

Thanks alemartin! We believe these intermittent situations will be improved with bug 2061846 (currently being uplifted to 154).

Additional Notes:

• This does not reproduce every time. And in some tries, only the "Couldn't connect to VPN" error appeared.
• I tried capturing an about:logging profile, but because the steps need to be executed quickly and the app restarts after enrolling in the experiment, the logging session seems to resets. Please let me know if there's another way I can gather logs or debug data to help investigate.

I've also filed bug 2064178 for this.

---

I'm going to close this bug as resolved since the behaviour we were seeing is now resolved, the linked bugs have landed, and comment 2 STR are triggering a similar looking user-effect from a different set of STR.

We can file new bugs accordingly.

Comment 4

[Lesley Norton [:lnorton]]

:alemartin, I think about:logging is probably the wrong choice here and that was my bad for suggesting it. Do you have adb installed? If yes, you might try capturing logs by running adb logcat. Run that before enrolling and leave it running through the restart.

Comment 5

[Alexandra Martin [:alemartin], FxA/SubPlat/VPN QA]

While verifying 2061846 in Fx Nightly 156.0a1 (Build #2016179263), I was able to reproduce intermittently the "Couldn't connect to VPN" error again. Should I file a new bug for this or reopen this one?

• video
• about:logging profile

And thank you Lesley for the suggestion, I will try it when a restart is needed.

Comment 6

[Jonathan Almeida [:jonalmeida]]

If you see it again with those adb logs or network ones, then a new bug would be great - thanks!

Comment 7

[Alexandra Martin [:alemartin], FxA/SubPlat/VPN QA]

Bug 2066104 has been logged, and I've attached the logs from Android Studio. (Standard adb logcat didn't seem to capture the VPN errors for some reason, but I have several saved if you'd like those as well.) Let me know if anything else is needed. Thanks!