Our app officially supports Elementary OS. Please see What Linux versions does Proton VPN support? for a list of which versions are currently supported.

Users of our old community Linux app are advised to uninstall it before installing the new app. Instructions for doing this can be found in the notes section at the end of this article.

1. This DEB package sets up  the Proton VPN repository on your system

This package contains the repository configuration and keys that are required to install the Proton VPN app.

Download the Proton VPN DEB package

2. Install the Proton VPN repository

Open Terminal and run:

sudo apt-get install {/path/to/} protonvpn-stable-release_1.0.3-2_all.deb

Replace {/path/to/} with the path to where you download the file. For example:

sudo apt-get install ~/Downloads/protonvpn-stable-release_1.0.3-2_all.deb

Please don’t try  to check the GPG signature of this release package (dpkg-sig –verify). Our internal release process is split into several part and the release package is signed with a GPG key, and the repo is signed with another GPG key. So the keys don’t match.

If you want to check the repo package integrity, you can check its checksum with the following command:

echo "c68a0b8dad58ab75080eed7cb989e5634fc88fca051703139c025352a6ee19ad  protonvpn-stable-release_1.0.3-2_all.deb" | sha256sum --check -

3. Update the apt-get package list

Once the package list is updated, your package manger can use the repository you just installed.

Enter:

sudo apt-get update

4. Install the Proton VPN Linux app

And finally, enter:

sudo apt-get install protonvpn

You can now use the Proton VPN app to bypass censorship and secure your internet connection. 

Learn how to use the Proton VPN Linux app

Notes

1. How to uninstall the Proton VPN app

Open Terminal and enter:

sudo apt-get autoremove protonvpn

Remove any leftover files with:

rm -rf ~/.cache/protonvpn

And

rm -rf ~/.config/protonvpn

2 How to disable the kill switch if you have uninstalled the official app

If you uninstall the app without first disabling the kill switch in the app, you won’t be able to access the internet. So please disable it before uninstalling the app. If you don’t do this, you can disable the kill switch and regain internet access as follows:

a) Open Terminal and identify Proton VPN connections with:

nmcli connection show --active

This will show a list of all your system’s active connections.

b) Look for any connections with the pvpn- This usually includes pvpn-killswitch and pvpn-ipv6leak-protection, and may include pvpn-routed-killswitch. Delete all these connections using the following command:

nmcli connection delete [connection name]

For example:

nmcli connection delete pvpn-killswitch

c) Repeat step a) (and step b, if necessary) to ensure all connections are deleted.

4. Required dependencies

You must have one of these keyring dependencies installed on your system for our app to work.

• KWallet  or
• Gnome-keyring

Elementary OS comes with gnome-keyring pre-installed, so no additional action is needed on your part unless you have manually removed it for some reason. Please don’t install both keyrings, as this can cause problems. 

5. Try out our beta Linux app

The beta version of our Linux app gives you access to new features before they are released publicly, but it is still in development. By using the beta version and sharing your feedback, you can help us find and address bugs. 

Please note that we only officially support the beta app on Debian, Ubuntu, and Fedora. It should work on Elementary OS, but support for this distribution may be limited.

Important: You cannot upgrade from the beta version of our Linux app to the stable version. You will need to uninstall the beta app and then install the official app. Similarly, if you are using the stable version of our Linux VPN app, you should uninstall it before installing the early beta version. 

If you would like to install the beta version instead of the stable release of this app, open a terminal window and:

1. Download the beta package. Enter:

wget https://repo.protonvpn.com/debian/dists/unstable/main/binary-all/protonvpn-beta-release_1.0.3-2_all.deb

2. Install the Proton VPN beta repository containing the new app. Run:

sudo dpkg -i ./protonvpn-beta-release_1.0.3-2_all.deb && sudo apt update

3. If you’re running the old (v3) Proton VPN app or CLI (stable or beta versions), simply run:

sudo apt update && apt upgrade

If you don’t have Proton VPN installed, run:

sudo apt install proton-vpn-gnome-desktop

To check for updates and ensure that you’re running the latest version of the app, enter:

sudo apt update && apt upgrade

How to remove the beta Linux app

To uninstall the new Linux app, open a terminal and enter:

sudo apt purge "protonvpn*" proton-vpn-gnome-desktop && sudo apt autoremove