How to check if VPN is connected before deciding what to do

VPN
1

Hi all. I’ve been using Tasker for simple activities for quite a while, but now I need to do something a little more advanced for my level.

I use OpenVPN and the OpenVPN plugin to connect to different VPNs in different situations, each one triggered by a simple built-in Tasker feature such as which wifi network I’m connected to.

However, now I need to do the following, which I assume should be simple but I don’t know where to start:

Is any VPN connected? If yes, reconnect. If not, connect to VPN X. VPN X is always the same.

Thanks.

2

You could use AutoNotification to query current notifications and see if your which VPN (if any) your connected to.

Without plug-ins, you could use this task to see if you are connected to a VPN (without identifying the VPN):

Task: getVPNStatus

A1: Run Shell [
     Command: ifconfig
     Timeout (Seconds): 0
     Store Output In: %ifconfig_out
     Use Global Namespace: On ]

A2: If [ %ifconfig_out ~R (?m)^tun[0-9] ]

    A3: Return [
         Value: true
         Stop: On ]

A4: Else

    A5: Return [
         Value: false
         Stop: On ]

A6: End If

It returns true if you’re connected to a VPN, and false if not.

3

How can I test the state and run a task depending on the result?

4

Hi u/UnkleMike. Thanks for your reply. Very helpful. I don’t need to identify the VPN because the OpenVPN plugin has a simple action of reconnection which will reconnect whatever is connected, and that’s exactly what I want.

A very basic question, though: how do I get to the point where I can input this script?

Then how do I save the result? I’d assumed it needed to go on a variable somewhere which I could test on both connection and reconnection tasks: connection only runs if false, reconnection only runs if true.

Am I thinking in the right way?

5

I was in the process of giving you an example, and discovered it doesn’t work on my phone. I’m not sure if this is due to a change in Tasker, or the fact that my phone has android 12 now. I’ll have to check this out later and get back to you.

6

Thank you so much. Yes please if you find out. I’m still trying a few things, but I think I’m quite far from the actual solution.

7

For some reason I’m getting a “permission denied” error from the shell command. This is happening on my phone with Android 12, and my tablet with Android 10. Unfortunately, I don’t have an alternative right now.

8

No worries. Thanks for looking into this for me.

9

The task posted above works for me on a11, it does require root however. (Action fails if root is not checked in the options)

10

I don’t have root access so I guess it’s a non starter anyway. I’m going to play with the VPN connected state as proposed in another thread but I haven’t had the chance yet.