diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index 6938ddeda2..be1aa14634 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,11 @@
+2007-10-10  Dan Williams  <dcbw@redhat.com>
+
+	* libnm-util/nm-setting.c
+	  libnm-util/nm-setting.h
+		- Add a default 'user_name' field to the VPN setting, which VPN plugins
+			can use if they choose.  Should be filled in by the settings service
+			on-the-fly with the currently logged in user's username
+
 2007-10-10  Dan Williams  <dcbw@redhat.com>
 
 	* src/nm-device-802-11-wireless.c
diff --git a/libnm-util/nm-setting.c b/libnm-util/nm-setting.c
index d927387c60..039fd3bc43 100644
--- a/libnm-util/nm-setting.c
+++ b/libnm-util/nm-setting.c
@@ -1260,6 +1260,10 @@ setting_vpn_verify (NMSetting *setting, GHashTable *all_settings)
 	if (!self->service_type || !strlen (self->service_type))
 		return FALSE;
 
+	/* default username can be NULL, but can't be zero-length */
+	if (self->user_name && !strlen (self->user_name))
+		return FALSE;
+
 	return TRUE;
 }
 
@@ -1269,6 +1273,7 @@ setting_vpn_destroy (NMSetting *setting)
 	NMSettingVPN *self = (NMSettingVPN *) setting;
 
 	g_free (self->service_type);
+	g_free (self->user_name);
 
 	if (self->routes) {
 		g_slist_foreach (self->routes, (GFunc) g_free, NULL);
@@ -1280,6 +1285,7 @@ setting_vpn_destroy (NMSetting *setting)
 
 static SettingMember vpn_table[] = {
 	{ "service_type", NM_S_TYPE_STRING, G_STRUCT_OFFSET (NMSettingVPN, service_type), TRUE, FALSE },
+	{ "user_name", NM_S_TYPE_STRING, G_STRUCT_OFFSET (NMSettingVPN, user_name), FALSE, FALSE },
 	{ "routes", NM_S_TYPE_STRING_ARRAY, G_STRUCT_OFFSET (NMSettingVPN, routes), FALSE, FALSE },
 	{ NULL, 0, 0 },
 };
diff --git a/libnm-util/nm-setting.h b/libnm-util/nm-setting.h
index 3964157ce1..b9f6ba6d3d 100644
--- a/libnm-util/nm-setting.h
+++ b/libnm-util/nm-setting.h
@@ -227,6 +227,7 @@ typedef struct {
 	NMSetting parent;
 
 	char *service_type;
+	char *user_name;
 	GSList *routes;
 } NMSettingVPN;