Proton VPN on Mint with Cinnamon DE and Ubuntu with Gnome DE?

Linux Mint
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Hi, has anyone here succeeded at installing and running Proton VPN on Linux Mint with Cinnamon desktop environment (though this distro is not officially supported by Proton) or on Ubuntu GNOME, which is officially supported by Proton?

I have downloaded and installed the relevant .deb packages for Ubuntu as described on the Proton website. I was able to install the UI version of proton VPN on my system, but no matter whether I started this VPN app from the UI launcher or the terminal, it did not start to run at all. As for the terminal version of Proton VPN, I could not even get it installed. Since I had no problems like this with any other programs on my Linux Mint system, I suppose that both programs might have some dependencies on some GNOME lib(s) and have since given up on trying to use Proton VPN on Mint with Cinnamon.

As an alternative, I would like to know if anybody here successfully uses Proton VPN on Ubuntu GNOME because in this case I would consider using this Distribution on an external SSD for surfing on the internet with Proton VPN. Thanks, Joe

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Proton VPN is the default for Vivaldi, as long as you have a Proton account. I havenā€™t tried a distro where Vivaldi and the VPN wonā€™t work.

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4

I have a free partitionā€”Iā€™ll try to duplicate your issue.

Edit, a couple of hours later

Installed Mint, installed proton pass and proton vpn as extensions to firefox.

When I try to invoke proton vpn, I get the following:

:warning: invalid language tag: ā€œchrome://global/locale/intl.propertiesā€

No ideas what that might mean. Proton vpn and pass work correctly in Chromium browser.

Looks like the problem is Firefox, especially after looking at the other responses. Mint isnā€™t the problem; Ubuntu likely isnā€™t, either.

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I run Proton VPN via an extension installed in Brave browser. The computer is running Gnome in Ubuntu 24.04.3. The VPN runs smoothly for me when used in this manner. I have not tried to install the Proton VPN app (if there is oneā€”there wasnā€™t one for Linux at first).

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I installed Proton VPN on Ubuntu 24.04 running Gnome. No issues that I can recall.

I think I went to their site and created a free account. Then downloaded the deb and installed like ā€˜sudo apt install ./protonvpn-stable-release_1.0.8_all.debā€™

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I never installed the .deb for Proton VPN. Instead, I downloaded two .ovpn files, one for Switzerland and another for Spain. These .ovpn files can be used in Cinnamonā€™s network manager without any problem. Perfect for VPN whenever you need or want it.

TBH Iā€™m not sure whether these .ovpn files are available in the free version of Proton VPN.

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Iā€™ve used ā€œlicensedā€ OVPN (with MFA) files generated by OpenVPN Access Server (paid software)ā€¦

Iā€™ve used ā€œfreeā€ OVPN files generated by free / OSS versions of OpenVPN server - running on one of my Raspberry Pis and also generated from the OpenVPN plugin on my router (TP-Link branded).

They just work - and - far easier to use than proprietary VPN clients like Azure P2S and CheckPoint (yuck!) - and work cross platform (there was NO client for Azure P2S VPN on anything but Windows and MacOS)ā€¦

But donā€™t ask me now - 'cause I havenā€™t used them for a couple years now - Iā€™ve not had a needā€¦

If I do get Fibre broadband (every year they promise ā€œnext yearā€ and it never happens) - Iā€™ll probably setup an OpenVPN tunnel on my router and do stuff like let my brother and mum watch content hosted on my JellyFin server - maybe even my sister in the UKā€¦

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Yes, they are. In account on website when selecting server (download) , top portion is clients next portion is wireguard download- continue to scroll down and the next section is ovpn selection and download. (your OpenVPN username and password would be found in the account tab)
For me it is a little glitchy with ipv6 (leakage sometimes)- I just disable it when using the vpn.

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Yes. I think itā€™s the only way to use VPN. I use PIA and IPv6 is disabled (default). I have disabled it even when Iā€™m not using VPN. I prefer Wireguard.

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Hmmm - I just had a quick look at my OpenVPN ā€œserverā€ hosted on my router - yeah, nahā€¦

No way to create specific users - i.e. the only way is with a generated *.ovpn fileā€¦

Thatā€™s not going to cut itā€¦

I might set it up again on my Pi4 that sits in my kitchen next to the routerā€¦ I want to be able to lock it down users with a username and passwordā€¦

i.e. OpenVPN Community Editionā€¦ the unlicensed version of OpenVPN Access Server only allows two connectionsā€¦

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