Ask Different is a question and answer site for power users of Apple hardware and software. It only takes a minute to sign up.
Sign up to join this community
Unfortunately I used a bad VPN service called VPN OneClick Pro. When you uninstall the app it does not remove the VPN configuration files it creates in Network in System Preferences.
So in other words, when you open System Preferences and then click on Network, to your left you always see your Wi-Fi, Ethernet, Firewire, etc. VPN OneClick Pro places about 28 VPN Configuration files. The minus button "-" has been greyed out so removing them is impossible.
How do I remove the remnants ?
To remove the VPN Profile from your Mac:
System Preference > Profile > Vpn One Click > Remove.
If you can't remove vpn in the System Preference, you can remove it like this:
open Terminal.app, run the command below to get vpn name
networksetup -listallnetworkservices
then run the command below to remove it
networksetup -removenetworkservice "vpnname"
The problem appears when you first uninstall VPN and then try to remove the configuration from Network Preferences. So next time first go to Network preferences.
If that's too late this way is dummy-proof, worked even for me:
In /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration, track down the following 3 files:
Networkinterfaces.plist
preferences.plist
com.apple.airport.preferences.plist
Have no fear, remove these files and restart your Mac.
All network configuration will be deleted and your Mac will have the default settings again. So take note before you begin, but the actions are simple enough even for me.
VPN, Bluetooth PAN, and Thunderbolt (bridge) connections will probably all be lost. You will have to log into your Wi-Fi again so have your password handy.
I ended up with an MDM-installed Algo VPN IKEv2 IPsec profile that Network Manager cannot delete.
The – deletion sign is greyed out:
Typically, one would uninstall the corresponding MDM Profile to remove the linked VPN Profile, but I had no MDM Profile to delete.
Reinstalling the original .mobileconfig MDM profile would create another VPN Profile, and removing MDM Profile would only delete a second VPN Profile, leaving the original one intact.
I found that such VPN profiles are stored in the /Library/Preferences/com.apple.networkextension.plist binary plist file.
I already had PLIST Editor, so I used to remove $objects array elements mentioning stale VPN profile.
Since this is a system plist, one would need first to copy it somewhere to edit and then copy it back with the modifications.
*AlgoVPN algo ) but networksetup -removenetworkservice "AlgoVPN algo" worked for me.
Aug 25, 2021 at 17:23
You can remove them from the place you have the original file.
I had the same problem on my iPhone. It has a red button that said "Remove".
Open the finder, press Cmd + shift + G and paste this: /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/preferences.plist copy the preferences.plist file to your desktop (Admin account) right click and open with X-Code (Get it if you don't have it, it's free) Expand the NetworkServices key, expand every group in that key and look for the UserDefinedName you need to delete (VpnOneClick - something) click the - button to the right of the group number (make sure the that row is selected) you will notice the whole group is marked in a blue square when that is done. Save the file Drag the file on the desktop to the original location and authenticate Open the network settings and you will see the vpnOneClick entries are gone!
system preferences profile Vpn One click and then the '-' button you have in network settings to, it worked with me flawlessly
First of all go to System Preferences, then Network, then click on VPN on the left. Click click on the minus button under the screen and remove all the VPNs, then close it.
Now go to Finder → Applications and delete VPN One Click
If the system says VPN One Click is running, then quit the app from the Dock and try again.
I had the same issue with IPVanish. They installed probably 30 or 40 different VPN configurations, and going through each one and selecting Remove would be aggravating and tedious. I just deleted the file: ~/Library/Preferences/ByHost/com.apple.networkConnect.<UUID>.plist. It's a binary XML, so open it in Xcode or TextMate first to confirm that there's nothing there which is important to you. Or rename the file and/or set permissions to 000.
By the way, this is on macOS Sierra. So other OSX versions may differ.
System Preference > Profile > Vpn One Click > Remove.
/Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/preferences.plistunder NetworkServices, check what User Defined Name says to find these entries. If you have plist editor installed (e.g. via Xcode) you can edit that file (create backup first) and delete these entries. If you don't have plist editor, you should be able to edit the .plist file using a text editor, HOWEVER I WOULD STRONGLY RECOMMEND AGAINST DOING SO because it is very very easy to mess things up and render the system nonoperational.