protonvpn-cli

lostintime · 06-03-2022, 06:17 PM

Anybody here using the protonvpn-cli script from SBo?

The web site shows "Proton VPN has 0 Free servers in 0 countries" and "0 Free servers."

There used to be about 48 free servers. I read today there now are 17.

Using protonvpn connect US-FREE#XX fails with:

[!] US-FREE#XX doesn't exist, is under maintenance, or inaccessible with your plan.

Using protonvpn connect -f fails with Python error messages.

I am wondering if this temporary or permanent or if only paid servers are now available.

Thanks!

Aeterna · 06-03-2022, 08:22 PM

Have you checked ProtonVPN site for IP addresses of free servers? Maybe they changed it. Maybe server is down for maintenance.

lostintime · 06-03-2022, 09:06 PM

Quote:

Have you checked ProtonVPN site for IP addresses of free servers? Maybe they changed it. Maybe server is down for maintenance.

In my original post I wrote:

The web site shows "Proton VPN has 0 Free servers in 0 countries" and "0 Free servers."

vonbiber · 06-06-2022, 03:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lostintime

The web site shows "Proton VPN has 0 Free servers in 0 countries" and "0 Free servers."

I checked today, and it lists 3 free servers in 3 countries:
Japan, the Netherlands and the US:
https://protonvpn.com/vpn-servers/#list_free-plan

drumz · 06-06-2022, 09:31 AM

I've meaning to check that it still works with the recent overhaul Proton did with all their services. Thanks for the encouragement

drumz · 06-06-2022, 10:09 AM

So I can confirm protonvpn isn't working right now. Reading this GitHub issue:
https://github.com/Rafficer/linux-cl...ity/issues/342
it looks like they're pushing hard for everyone to switch to the official VPN client. But of course that requires systemd:
https://github.com/ProtonVPN/protonvpn-nm-lib/issues/2

They do provide a guide for using OpenVPN here:

https://protonvpn.com/support/linux-openvpn/

Since I already use NetworkManager, and Slackware 15.0 comes with NetworkManager-openvpn already installed it's pretty easy to use.

So I'll continue to monitor the situation and if necessary have protonvpn-cli removed.

If someone with a paid VPN plan could test protonvpn-cli as it currently exists on SBo that would be great. I only have the free VPN plan (I have Mail Plus).

Edit to add: make sure your firewall allows traffic over tun0

lostintime · 06-06-2022, 10:10 AM

Looks like the breakage was temporary. Thus far the recent revamp reduces the free servers to three. Interestingly, the '-f' option attempts to use any of those three regardless of geographical location. Using a VPN server on the opposite side of the world is slow. Remains to be seen if the list grows or remains at three.

I like the community CLI version because there is no dependency on NetworkManager. Seems all VPN providers expect NM.

I think the breakage was caused by the simple oversight that the code has no error handling to deal with a complete absence of servers, which is what happened for about 24-30 hours.

I accept there is little motivation to develop the community version. That's too bad because almost every other VPN provider requires a paid "money back" period rather than a true free testing period.

Quote:

make sure your firewall allows traffic over tun0

Does the paid version use tun0? The free version uses proton0.

drumz · 06-15-2022, 08:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lostintime

Quote:

make sure your firewall allows traffic over tun0

Does the paid version use tun0? The free version uses proton0.

Sorry, tun0 is when using OpenVPN directly. You are correct when using protonvpn-cli then it is proton0.

And I just tested again, adding proton0 to my firewall and I am now able to connect using protonvpn-cli.

business_kid · 06-15-2022, 12:33 PM

EDIT to delete silly question.

dchmelik · 06-16-2022, 03:24 AM

Neither protonvpn-cli nor openvpn work for me. The first might not even connect, but the second (using ProtonVPN's configurartion for it) does something because breaks my entire network connection for all protocols (maybe can't even connect to router anymore.)

business_kid · 06-25-2022, 02:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by drumz

Sorry, tun0 is when using OpenVPN directly. You are correct when using protonvpn-cli then it is proton0.

And I just tested again, adding proton0 to my firewall and I am now able to connect using protonvpn-cli.

Do you have major/minor numbers for /dev/proton0, or is it a symlink? Did you find a decent document on the configuration?

EDIT: I've the free version, but plan to upgrade once I master it.

ceed · 06-26-2022, 12:28 AM

Hi all, I have a paid account and I can report that the community developed client (Rafficer) works as advertised on Slackware-15. If you successfully install it but fail to connect, ensure that you are using the openvpn/IKEv2 credentials assigned to you by proton; you can find these by logging into your account.

Paid version plus this client does use proton0 though I haven't had to address this with my firewall -- I use arno's.

@dchmelik perhaps it is making the change to your /etc/resolv.conf file as per dns protection when you attempt to run it. If that's the case just reset it to your usual dns servers. "# protonvpn d" will normally accomplish this.

@ business_kid, I'm not entirely clear as to what you're asking, but it doesn't appear in my /dev if that's what you mean.

Finally, there is also the option now of using a wireguard file (this is the case with the paid account). You can import it into nm if you use it, and this makes it very handy in something like KDE where you can switch it on or off with a click.

business_kid · 06-26-2022, 06:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ceed

@ business_kid, I'm not entirely clear as to what you're asking, but it doesn't appear in my /dev if that's what you mean.

That's a depressingly common problem

.

To make a device in /dev, the command is mknod and the syntax is

Code:

mknod <device type> <major> <minor>

The device type tells what kind of I/O is required, the major and the minor pin down the exact device. For instance, /dev/sda is a block device, major 8 minor 0. /dev/sda1 is the same, except minor 1, etc.

Regnad Kcin · 06-26-2022, 12:24 PM

Astrill VPN solved all my vpn problems. it has an interface that works with most OS-es, linux, win, android, no systemd requirement, is multi-user, is fast, and cost about $100/yr for the subscription.

drumz · 06-26-2022, 04:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by business_kid

Do you have major/minor numbers for /dev/proton0, or is it a symlink? Did you find a decent document on the configuration?

EDIT: I've the free version, but plan to upgrade once I master it.

I'm also on the free VPN. There is no /dev/proton0, but then again there isn't a /dev/eth*, either. I'm not sure why you think it would be there?

Code:

# ifconfig -a
eth0: flags=4099<UP,BROADCAST,MULTICAST>  mtu 1500
        ether XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX  txqueuelen 1000  (Ethernet)
        RX packets 0  bytes 0 (0.0 B)
        RX errors 0  dropped 0  overruns 0  frame 0
        TX packets 0  bytes 0 (0.0 B)
        TX errors 0  dropped 0 overruns 0  carrier 0  collisions 0
        device memory 0x94300000-9437ffff  

eth1: flags=4099<UP,BROADCAST,MULTICAST>  mtu 1500
        ether XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX  txqueuelen 1000  (Ethernet)
        RX packets 0  bytes 0 (0.0 B)
        RX errors 0  dropped 0  overruns 0  frame 0
        TX packets 0  bytes 0 (0.0 B)
        TX errors 0  dropped 0 overruns 0  carrier 0  collisions 0
        device memory 0x94200000-9427ffff  

lo: flags=73<UP,LOOPBACK,RUNNING>  mtu 65536
        inet 127.0.0.1  netmask 255.0.0.0
        inet6 ::1  prefixlen 128  scopeid 0x10<host>
        loop  txqueuelen 1000  (Local Loopback)
        RX packets 1438153  bytes 6154358170 (5.7 GiB)
        RX errors 0  dropped 0  overruns 0  frame 0
        TX packets 1438153  bytes 6154358170 (5.7 GiB)
        TX errors 0  dropped 0 overruns 0  carrier 0  collisions 0

proton0: flags=4305<UP,POINTOPOINT,RUNNING,NOARP,MULTICAST>  mtu 1500
        inet XX.XX.XX.XX  netmask 255.255.0.0  destination XX.XX.XX.XX
        inet6 XXXX::XXXX:XXXX:XXXX:XXXX  prefixlen 64  scopeid 0x20<link>
        unspec 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00  txqueuelen 500  (UNSPEC)
        RX packets 380  bytes 128258 (125.2 KiB)
        RX errors 0  dropped 0  overruns 0  frame 0
        TX packets 607  bytes 89813 (87.7 KiB)
        TX errors 0  dropped 0 overruns 0  carrier 0  collisions 0

vboxnet0: flags=4099<UP,BROADCAST,MULTICAST>  mtu 1500
        inet XX.XX.XX.XX  netmask 255.255.255.0  broadcast XX.XX.XX.XX
        inet6 XXXX::XXXX:XXXX:XXXX:XXXX  prefixlen 64  scopeid 0x20<link>
        ether XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX  txqueuelen 1000  (Ethernet)
        RX packets 0  bytes 0 (0.0 B)
        RX errors 0  dropped 0  overruns 0  frame 0
        TX packets 5088  bytes 432045 (421.9 KiB)
        TX errors 0  dropped 0 overruns 0  carrier 0  collisions 0

wlan0: flags=4163<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,MULTICAST>  mtu 1500
        inet XX.XX.XX.XX  netmask 255.255.255.0  broadcast XX.XX.XX.XX
        inet6 XXXX::XXXX:XXXX:XXXX:XXXX  prefixlen 64  scopeid 0x20<link>
        inet6 XXXX:XXXX:XXXX:XXXX:XXXX:XXXX:XXXX:XXXX  prefixlen 64  scopeid 0x0<global>
        ether XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX  txqueuelen 1000  (Ethernet)
        RX packets 22670423  bytes 17533830389 (16.3 GiB)
        RX errors 0  dropped 0  overruns 0  frame 0
        TX packets 17322926  bytes 11702966907 (10.8 GiB)
        TX errors 0  dropped 0 overruns 0  carrier 0  collisions 0

# ls /dev/eth*
/bin/ls: cannot access '/dev/eth*': No such file or directory
# ls /dev/proton*
/bin/ls: cannot access '/dev/proton*': No such file or directory
# ls /dev/vboxnet*
/dev/vboxnetctl
# ls -l /dev/vboxnet*
crw-rw---- 1 root vboxusers 10, 122 Jun 17 08:57 /dev/vboxnetctl
# ls -l /dev/wlan*
/bin/ls: cannot access '/dev/wlan*': No such file or directory