Getting MotionPro VPN Working on Arch Linux (Every Fix I Found)

MotionPro is the VPN client for Array Networks’ AG SSL VPN appliances. Official builds only target Windows, macOS, Ubuntu, RedHat, and CentOS — there’s no native Arch package from the vendor. This guide walks through getting it fully working on Arch, based on a real troubleshooting session that hit every common failure point.

Overview

Install MotionPro (via AUR preferred, or the Ubuntu .sh installer as fallback)
Fix the daemon (vpnd) so it actually starts and runs with the right privileges
Fix the GUI’s display backend (Qt platform plugin) if it won’t launch
Configure the connection profile correctly
Resolve tunnel/network conflicts with other VPN or DNS-tunneling software

1. Install MotionPro

Preferred: AUR

yay -S motionpro motionpro-gui

This installs proper Arch-native binaries and file locations under /opt/MotionPro/ and /usr/bin/MotionPro.

Fallback: Vendor’s Ubuntu Installer

chmod +x MotionPro_Linux_Ubuntu_x64.sh
sudo ./MotionPro_Linux_Ubuntu_x64.sh

You’ll likely see output like:

cp: cannot create regular file '/etc/init.d/': Not a directory
installing vpnd...
installing MotionPro...
./install.sh: line 132: update-rc.d: command not found
./install.sh: line 133: service: command not found
install MotionPro successfully.

This is normal on Arch. The binaries still get installed correctly — only the Debian-specific service registration fails. We fix daemon startup manually in the next step.

Don’t run this installer inside a toolbox/distrobox container. VPN clients need to create real tun network interfaces and modify host routing tables.

2. Get the vpnd Daemon Running

MotionPro’s GUI doesn’t talk to the network directly — it hands off tunnel setup to a background daemon called vpnd, which needs root privileges.

Check if vpnd Is Running

ps aux | grep vpnd

If it’s not listed, or running under a non-root UID, it won’t have permission to build the tunnel.

Start It as Root

    bash
    
sudo pkill vpnd
sudo /usr/bin/vpnd &

Confirm it’s running as root:

ps aux | grep vpnd

Check the tun Kernel Module

    bash
    
lsmod | grep tun
ls -l /dev/net/tun
sudo modprobe tun

Make It Persistent Across Reboots

    ini
    
    
  
# /etc/systemd/system/vpnd.service
[Unit]
Description=MotionPro VPN daemon
After=network.target

[Service]
ExecStart=/usr/bin/vpnd
Restart=on-failure
User=root

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

    bash
    
sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable --now vpnd

3. Fix the GUI if It Won’t Launch

Launching MotionPro may fail with a Qt platform plugin error on Wayland:

This application failed to start because it could not find or load the Qt platform plugin "wayland;xcb".

Force it to use the xcb plugin:

    bash
    
QT_QPA_PLATFORM=xcb MotionPro

If that works, wrap it in a launcher script or export the variable in your shell profile.

You may also see harmless messages:

/usr/bin/MotionPro: line 9: runlevel: command not found
cp: cannot stat '/opt/MotionPro/motionpro.ini': No such file or directory

These are Debian leftovers in the wrapper script — they don’t affect functionality.

4. Configure the Connection Profile

When MotionPro opens, fill in:

Field	What to Enter
Site Name	Any label — e.g. `MyOrg VPN`
Host	`<gateway-ip>:<port>` — e.g. `198.51.100.10:443`. Leave off any alias unless your admin requires one.
Username	Your VPN account username
Password	Entered at connect time
Mode	`AutoDetect`, unless told otherwise

Troubleshooting

“fails to obtain the AAA method”: Client couldn’t fetch gateway’s auth config. Check DNS resolution and basic connectivity. Remove any alias from the host field.
Login failure after entering credentials: Server-side authentication rejection. Verify your password and account status with your VPN admin.

5. Resolve Tunnel Conflicts

If login succeeds but you get:

The MotionPro client fails to configure the L3VPN tunnel. Please check your installation.

…and vpnd is confirmed running as root, the most common cause is another VPN or tunneling client already active.

Check for and disconnect them:

    bash
    
warp-cli disconnect
warp-cli status
ip a

Then retry connecting in MotionPro.

You generally can’t run two full-tunnel VPN clients simultaneously without specific split-tunnel configuration on one or both.

Summary Checklist

Installed via AUR (preferred) or the Ubuntu .sh installer
vpnd confirmed running as root
tun kernel module loaded, /dev/net/tun present
GUI launches (use QT_QPA_PLATFORM=xcb if needed)
Connection profile uses plain host:port, no unnecessary alias
No conflicting VPN/tunnel software running at connect time
(Optional) systemd unit created for vpnd so it survives reboots

Launch Script

    bash
    
    
  
#!/usr/bin/env bash
#
# start-motion-pro-gui.sh
#
# Sets up prerequisites and launches the MotionPro GUI client on Arch Linux.

set -uo pipefail

MOTIONPRO_BIN="${MOTIONPRO_BIN:-/opt/MotionPro/MotionPro}"
VPND_BIN="${VPND_BIN:-$(command -v vpnd || echo /usr/bin/vpnd)}"

log()  { printf '\033[1;34m[*]\033[0m %s\n' "$1"; }
ok()   { printf '\033[1;32m[ok]\033[0m %s\n' "$1"; }
warn() { printf '\033[1;33m[!]\033[0m %s\n' "$1"; }
err()  { printf '\033[1;31m[x]\033[0m %s\n' "$1"; }

# 1. Sanity checks
if [[ ! -x "$MOTIONPRO_BIN" ]]; then
    err "MotionPro binary not found (looked for: $MOTIONPRO_BIN)."
    exit 1
fi

if [[ ! -x "$VPND_BIN" ]]; then
    err "vpnd binary not found (looked for: $VPND_BIN)."
    exit 1
fi

# 2. Ensure tun module
log "Checking tun kernel module..."
if ! lsmod | grep -q '^tun'; then
    warn "tun module not loaded, loading now..."
    sudo modprobe tun || { err "Failed to load tun module."; exit 1; }
fi
ok "tun module is loaded."

if [[ ! -e /dev/net/tun ]]; then
    err "/dev/net/tun does not exist."
    exit 1
fi
ok "/dev/net/tun is present."

# 3. Ensure vpnd is running as root
log "Checking vpnd daemon status..."
vpnd_pid_line="$(ps -eo pid,uid,comm | awk '$3 == "vpnd" {print}' | head -n1)"

if [[ -z "$vpnd_pid_line" ]]; then
    warn "vpnd is not running. Starting it as root..."
    sudo "$VPND_BIN" &
    disown
    sleep 1
else
    vpnd_uid="$(awk '{print $2}' <<< "$vpnd_pid_line")"
    if [[ "$vpnd_uid" != "0" ]]; then
        warn "vpnd running as UID $vpnd_uid instead of root. Restarting..."
        sudo pkill vpnd
        sleep 1
        sudo "$VPND_BIN" &
        disown
        sleep 1
    else
        ok "vpnd is already running as root."
    fi
fi

vpnd_pid_line="$(ps -eo pid,uid,comm | awk '$3 == "vpnd" {print}' | head -n1)"
if [[ -z "$vpnd_pid_line" ]]; then
    err "vpnd still isn't running. Aborting."
    exit 1
fi
ok "vpnd confirmed running (pid $(awk '{print $1}' <<< "$vpnd_pid_line"))."

# 4. Warn about conflicting VPN clients
log "Checking for conflicting VPN/tunnel software..."
if command -v warp-cli &>/dev/null; then
    warp_status="$(warp-cli status 2>/dev/null | head -n1)"
    if [[ "$warp_status" == *"Connected"* ]]; then
        warn "Cloudflare WARP is connected — this commonly conflicts with MotionPro."
        read -r -p "    Disconnect it now? [Y/n] " reply
        if [[ -z "$reply" || "$reply" =~ ^[Yy]$ ]]; then
            warp-cli disconnect
            ok "WARP disconnected."
        fi
    fi
fi

# 5. Launch the GUI
log "Launching MotionPro GUI..."
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH="/opt/MotionPro:${LD_LIBRARY_PATH:-}"
export LD_PRELOAD="/usr/lib/libstdc++.so.6"
export QT_QPA_PLATFORM="xcb"
unset QT_PLUGIN_PATH
"$MOTIONPRO_BIN" "$@"