Bridge the Gap: Connecting to AWS VPN Client on Ubuntu 22.04+ (Workaround)

Unfortunately AWS VPN Client currently supports only untill ubuntu 20.04. That is why we are here to make it work on Ubuntu 23 and 24.04 versions. Below is the screenshot of the error I am facing on ubuntu 24.04.

I have digged into the Desktop file and found that Exec field specified correctly. Later when connected to AWS Support team, I concluded that AWS VPN Client only supports untill ubuntu 20.04. I found a workaround to fix this issue.

Follow the below steps to get it work.

1. Install libssl

First step is to install libssl. Enter the following commands in terminal to do so

wget http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/main/o/openssl/libssl1.1_1.1.0g-2ubuntu4_amd64.deb
sudo dpkg -i libssl1.1_1.1.0g-2ubuntu4_amd64.deb

2.Environment Variable Configuration

The first step involves setting an environment variable called DOTNET_SYSTEM_GLOBALIZATION_INVARIANT to the value 1. This can be achieved by adding an entry to your ~/.bashrc file. Here's how to do it:

1. Open your terminal and navigate to your home directory using the command cd ~.

2. Use a text editor like nano to open your .bashrc file with the command nano ~/.bashrc.

3. Add the following line to the file:

export DOTNET_SYSTEM_GLOBALIZATION_INVARIANT=1

4. Save the changes by pressing Ctrl+O and then Enter.

5. Exit the editor by pressing Ctrl+X.

3.Service File Modification

The second step involves modifying the systemd service file for the AWS VPN client. This file dictates how the service runs.

1. Open your terminal again.

2. Use the sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/awsvpnclient.service command to open the service file with administrator privileges (provided by sudo).

3. Locate the [Service] section of the file.

4. Within the [Service] section, add a new line reading:

Environment=DOTNET_SYSTEM_GLOBALIZATION_INVARIANT=1

5. The resulting [Service] section should look similar to this:

[Service]
Type=simple
ExecStart=/opt/awsvpnclient/Service/ACVC.GTK.Service
Restart=always
RestartSec=1s
User=root
Environment=DOTNET_SYSTEM_GLOBALIZATION_INVARIANT=1

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

6. Save the changes by pressing Ctrl+O and then Enter.

7. Exit the editor by pressing Ctrl+X.

Please note that editing of these files can also be done by using text editor, just open those files with text editor and save the changes when they are done. After completing these steps, restart your system or the AWS VPN client service for the changes to take effect.

Now it wont be resolved yet. Still we can't access the application by clicking on the application icon from apps section. We have to run the application manually from the terminal by entering the below lines in the terminal .

/opt/awsvpnclient/AWS\ VPN\ Client %u

This will open the application and then proceed to add profile of your vpn to connect.
Final result:

Thanks for reading :)