Linux - Installing OpenVPN through the Terminal

Some Linux distributions or desktop environments may not be fully supported by the Private Internet Access (PIA) app. In these cases, you can connect using OpenVPN through the command line.

Steps

  1. Open the Terminal.
  2. Install OpenVPN based on your Linux distribution:
    • Debian-based: sudo apt-get install openvpn
    • Slackware-based: sudo zypper in openvpn
    • Red Hat-based: sudo yum install openvpn
    • Arch-based: sudo pacman -S openvpn
  3. Change to the OpenVPN directory:
    cd /etc/openvpn
  4. Download the configuration file:
    • Using wget:
      sudo wget https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/openvpn/openvpn-nextgen.zip
    • Or using curl:
      sudo curl -o openvpn.zip https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/openvpn/openvpn-nextgen.zip
  5. Extract the downloaded file:
    sudo unzip openvpn.zip

  6. Connect to a VPN server using a configuration file:
    sudo openvpn config-filename.ovpn

    Example:
    sudo openvpn us_california.ovpn

  7. If the connection fails, try downloading an alternative configuration set and repeat the process using a different file type or protocol.

Alternative Configuration Files

Some networks are configured to be more restrictive than others, which can interfere with VPN connections. If the default files do not work, repeat the configuration step and replace the following file:

https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/openvpn/openvpn.zip

with one of the URLs below. Try each set until one works:

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