On that final step, as the authentication dialog appears, I get this output from gnome-shell:

    JS ERROR: !!!   Exception was: TypeError: obj.active is undefined
    JS ERROR: !!!     message = '"obj.active is undefined"'
    JS ERROR: !!!     fileName = '"/usr/share/gnome-shell/js/ui/status/network.js"'
    JS ERROR: !!!     lineNumber = '1564'
    JS ERROR: !!!     stack = '"([object GObject_Object])@/usr/share/gnome-shell/js/ui/status/network.js:1564
wrapper([object GObject_Object])@/usr/share/gjs-1.0/lang.js:213
()@/usr/share/gnome-shell/js/ui/status/network.js:2031
wrapper()@/usr/share/gjs-1.0/lang.js:213
([object GObject_Object],[object GObject_ParamSpec])@/usr/share/gnome-shell/js/ui/status/network.js:2292
wrapper([object GObject_Object],[object GObject_ParamSpec])@/usr/share/gjs-1.0/lang.js:213
"'

*** Bug 969855 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***

Issue is fixed upstream in master.
By just taking /usr/share/gnome-shell/js/ui/status/network.js of master, it functions correctly.
I haven't checked what commit did fix it.

That also works here; thanks. Still very confused that this appears to happen on one of my machines, but not another with identically-configured VPN.

Minor issue still: VPN icon is missing when there is an active VPN connection.

Quick and dirty patch to show encrypted VPN icon on VPN connection:

@@ -1960,5 +1960,6 @@
         }
 
         this._vpnIcon.icon_name = this._vpnSection.getIndicatorIcon();
+	this._vpnIcon.show();
     }
 });

Bug 967743 still doesn't seem fixed though. After my VPN session expires and I'm logged out, the network list still just says 'connection failed' and won't let me attempt to reconnect.

Is there a way to go back to using nm-applet?

If you modify /usr/share/gnome-shell/js/ui/status/network.js checkConnection() method like so:

    checkConnection: function(connection) {
        let pos = this._findConnection(connection.get_uuid());
        let exists = pos != -1;
        let valid = this.connectionValid(connection);
        let same = false;
        if (exists) {
            let existing = this._connections[pos];

-            // Check if connection changed name or id
-            similar = existing.name == connection.get_id();
-                existing.timestamp == connection._timestamp;
+            same = existing.uuid == connection.get_uuid();
        }

does that fix the issue for you?  The core problem is that the timestamp is different because udpateConnection() fails to correctly update the timestamps and thus the VPN connection gets added/removed and when it's removed, it clears '.active' and thus fun things happen.  Comparing (name+timestamp) is not the right approach here anyway, it should only be using UUID.

*** Bug 967743 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***

*** Bug 995617 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***

Fixed patch:

    checkConnection: function(connection) {
        let pos = this._findConnection(connection.get_uuid());
        let exists = pos != -1;
        let valid = this.connectionValid(connection);
        let similar = false;
        if (exists) {
            let existing = this._connections[pos];

-            // Check if connection changed name or id
-            similar = existing.name == connection.get_id();
-                existing.timestamp == connection._timestamp;
+            similar = existing.uuid == connection.get_uuid();
        }

Thank you for quick attention, is this patch will be pushed to updated rpm ?

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