Accordance 13 Mac Signs Out After Using VPN

[Dr. Nathan Parker]

I've been having an issue where occasionally Accordance 13 on my iMac Pro running macOS Big Sur 11.2.3 (this also occurred in 11.2.2) signs itself out and requires me to re-sign in with my Accordance account just to open the application.

 

I've found the culprit, but not sure how to proceed.

 

Starting in 2021, I’ve had to move some of my work through a VPN, and the VPN is set to “Switzerland” since some of my work has to comply with Swiss Privacy laws. 

 

Generally I open Accordance before the VPN goes active (so my IP address is still showing Arkansas, and I am on a Static IP here), but generally the VPN connection is opened while Accordance is running, so Accordance is likely picking up the IP address change from “Arkansas” to “Switzerland” while Accordance is running, and since it thinks I’ve traveled to Switzerland faster than an angelic being, it throws up the login prompt the next time I open Accordance.

 

The VPN app I’m using is “ProtonVPN”, and the profile I have it set to is “Switzerland”, and I’m on the “Basic” plan. I could give some VPN credentials and a link to download the ProtonVPN app to the Accordance developers in a PM if they need to test this out to see how to work around it. Basically what would resolve it is if Accordance could sense that it is a VPN connection that causes the IP address change and not log the customer out during the next time the app is launched. 

 

If the developers need any more info from me, I’ll be glad to assist.

 

Thanks!

[Pastor Jonathan]

Nathan,

 

Accordance may have a work around, or even reach out to Proton. They may have an idea. 

 

However, and I don't know this for sure, some VPN's allow you to have software go around and not be directed through the VPN itself. 

 

Yes, Accordance and your ISP will see that as connected to you but it may solve the issue. 

 

Just a guess. 

[Fabian]

I'm interested in the ProtonVPN. So I'm curious about a solution.

[Dr. Nathan Parker]

I'll see what Accordance reps chime in with a solution, and if I need to reach out to ProtonVPN, I can. I'd like to start with Accordance's end since other apps work without issues with ProtonVPN, so ProtonVPN would likely bounce me back to Accordance.

[Dr. Nathan Parker]

The continual need to re-sign into Accordance after disconnecting from ProtonVPN is now leading to this issue.

[Silas Marrs]

If you are talking about this message:

This is a request from the system Keychain app, not Accordance.

 

You can just hit "Deny".  This will have no effect on your ability to use Accordance until you try to use Easy Install.

 

If you want it to not even ask, you could try deleting the “Accordance Easy Install” keychain entry using Keychain Access.app, then making sure to uncheck the “Save Password to Keychain” the next time you use Easy Install.

[Dr. Nathan Parker]

I'm not getting that error message. The message I'm receiving after ProtonVPN runs is Accordance re-runs the setup assistant and forces me to re-signin to Accordance just to open the app. The app acts as if it's a brand new Accordance installation.

 

I tried nuking the Keychain entry and re-signing in. The issue still persists every time I run ProtonVPN on my machine, even if Accordance isn't running and I quit ProtonVPN before launching Accordance.

[Silas Marrs]

I have tested with ProtonVPN, and I don’t get the same results.  I was not able to use the login info that you provided to support, because you have two-factor authentication turned on.  But with a free account, I was not able to reproduce the problem.

 

I can’t say what might be causing this, but it shouldn't happen due to an IP address change.

 

Can you post screenshots of your ProtonVPN settings?

 

All I can do without more info is recommend the potential workaround of only launching Accordance before you start the VPN connection.

[Dr. Nathan Parker]

My ProtonVPN Preferences screenshots are attached, as well as the custom profile I had to create to connect to ProtonVPN.

 

If you PM me, I'll give you my phone number, and you're welcome to call me one afternoon when I'm in the office. I can generate an MFA code to give you.

 

The issue is, even if I open Accordance before starting the VPN connection, then I quit Accordance and re-launch it (even if the VPN app isn't open or connected), it still throws up the issue. So no matter what I do, the issue comes back with a vengeance.

[Dr. Nathan Parker]

Here's the issues that arise with Accordance after using ProtonVPN. Today I never had Accordance running during the VPN. I had the VPN running twice today with two work projects. Even after quitting the VPN app entirely and waiting a few hours to launch Accordance, this happened.

[Dr. Nathan Parker]

This issue occurred again today, same as April 6.

[Dr. Nathan Parker]

Now I'm stumped.

 

The issue occurred again twice in a row tonight, but this time around, I haven't run the VPN all day.

 

I have Wireshark on my system and know how to take packet captures. Could I PM a packet capture to you to see if you can tell where the breakdown is happening with Accordance on my network?

 

Thanks!

[SW113]

Accordance running setup assistant just started happening to me as well. I'm not running any VPN software. Are there any known workarounds to this issue?

[Dr. Nathan Parker]

For me I just had to keep signing in, then the setup assistant would go away. The issue though is, do that enough, and you have to call Accordance Support to have your account refreshed.

 

Since moving my DNS from Cisco Umbrella to NextDNS, I haven't had the issue re-surface even when connecting/disconnecting from ProtonVPN. I have, however, been having issues with Accordance starting slowly (as it's still reaching out to the Internet), or occasionally Accordance crashes at launch in which a reboot is the only way to resolve the issue.

 

So there are still some issues with Accordance doing something at startup. I still have the packet captures and logs.