I’ve been using ProtonVPN with the permanent killswitch enabled for several months. Everything was working as normal, but when I got on the computer today, ProtonVPN was no longer installed and I can’t access the internet. I’ve tried removing the VPN profile and my wired profile from Network Settings but that hasn’t helped. I can’t ping anything, access pages, nothing. I don’t see that anything else on my computer has changed, it’s just that ProtonVPN is no longer installed and appears to have left the killswitch enabled in its absence.
Is there a standalone app that I can download on another computer and install from a thumbdrive?
Is there a config file that I can edit to restore internet access?
I’m running Pop_OS 22.04 (which is basically a modified version of Ubuntu and Gnome).
Please help, I’m dead in the water right now.
UPDATE: fixed.
I removed the program via apt (it wasn’t showing in my application manager but it was showing as installed in apt (apt list --installed))
- sudo apt remove proton*
Then I removed the CLI devices
- nmcli connection delete pvpn-killswitch
- nmcli connection delete pvpn-ipv6leak-protection
My internet is now restored, though without ProtonVPN.
lol finally a killswitch that has actual teeth, for use cases where leaking even a little traffic could be fatal this is a worthwhile tradeoff
that is randomly dissapears tho…
i had something happen today where i checked the macbook app, saw that killswitch enabled was no longer turned on… which is strange cause i always have it on. and then i turned it back on and it bricked my internet completely until i restarted my computer and internet, but now protonVPN no longer connects at all.
Gratz on fixing it. Double gratz for posting the fix for others just incase
Had the same issue on Pop!_OS (although luckily without the permanent killswitch) - so I just had no VPN and the software had disappeared so I couldn’t launch it again. I’m back in with the following steps:
- Remove with apt like above, then remove residual configs with dpkg --purge protonvpn-stable-release
- Download the .deb file from the Proton website but don’t double-click it to install. Eddy messes this up somehow so it doesn’t actually add the repo and apt thinks protonvpn-stable-release is software that is installed.
- Instead, open up the data.tar.xz archive inside the .deb file and copy out protonvpn-stable.list to /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ and protonvpn-stable-archive-keyring.gpg to /usr/share/keyrings/.
- The previous step adds the protonvpn repo as a source, so now you can run sudo apt-get update and get the package list from it.
- Now you can run sudo apt-get install protonvpn and you should be good to go. You’ll have to log in again and it isn’t as pretty as the old version, but it’s working for me now and it feels more responsive.
Hope this helps other folks too!
This is the 2nd time Protonvpn blocked up on me with the kill-switch ON. On Linux Mint. Protonvpn works great on my Windows 10, but it is toxic as hell on Lunux Mint. Last time I muddled through, this time I am stuck with no internet. If I get Protonvpn back on this computer I won’t dare use the kill-switch.
SORRY, I USED THOSE - nmcli connection commands with a dash in front. Without the dash, they work.
And my internet is now opened.
How about calyx, or riseup for free VPN’s on linux? I have installed the Lokinet Gui on both Windows and Linux, but I never could figure out how to initiate an account.
I went through some commands on the riseup.net website for the vpn on Linux Mint. It seemed like it installed using snap. But I don’t find it anywhere on the computer?
So I went back to Proton, and it is running. Maybe I could use the kill switch again, now that I know how to get out of this hole. We’ll see, and THANKS
This is also listed on their site, although buried within three layers of pages: https://protonvpn.com/support/linux-ubuntu-vpn-setup/
Other distros towards bottom: https://protonvpn.com/support/linux-vpn-setup/
How to disable the kill switch if you have uninstalled the app
You can easily turn off the kill switch inside our Linux app, but this isn’t possible if you have already uninstalled it. In this case, you can remove the kill switch and restore access to the internet as follows:
a) Identify the Proton VPN connection name with the command:
nmcli connection show --active
This will show a list of your system’s active connections.
b) Look for any connections that begin with prefix 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) Re-run the following command to check that all Proton VPN connections have been removed:
nmcli connection show --active
If you see any Proton VPN connections left, delete them as described above.