Install VpnHood! CONNECT on Linux
One command installs the app, with its window and a set of commands. Sign in once from the window, then connect from either.
Before you start
- A Premium plan, as the Linux version does not have any free servers: upgrade to Premium.
- Check that your machine meets the Linux requirements.
Install
Run this command, and answer its one question: whether the VPN service starts at boot. It picks the right build for your processor.
sudo su -c "bash <( wget -qO- https://github.com/vpnhood/VpnHood.App.Connect/releases/latest/download/VpnHoodConnect-linux.sh)"It installs the VPN service and the vhconnect command. On a machine with a desktop, it also adds VpnHood! CONNECT to the application menu.
Connect
Open VpnHood! CONNECT from the application menu, sign in to your Premium account and connect.
Once you have signed in, you can also connect from a terminal, and check the connection:
vhconnect connectvhconnect statusSigning in needs the app's window, so a machine with no desktop cannot use VpnHood! CONNECT yet. There you can use VpnHood! CLIENT with your own server.
Commands
They work from any administrator's terminal, without sudo. vhconnect --help lists them all, and vhconnect connect --help explains one.
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
vhconnect connect | Connects, and waits for the result. --location chooses a location, as vhconnect locations lists them.
|
vhconnect disconnect | Disconnects. The service keeps running. |
vhconnect status | Shows the connection and any update on its way. --watch keeps printing it.
|
vhconnect locations | Lists the server locations you can connect to. |
vhconnect ui | Opens the app's window. |
vhconnect service status | Shows whether the service is running. |
vhconnect service log | Shows the service's log. -f follows it.
|
vhconnect service restart | Restarts the service, which disconnects the VPN. It asks for your password. |
Connect at startup
With Always On, the VPN connects as the computer starts, before anyone signs in. While the server is out of reach it tries again, waiting longer each time. It stops when you disconnect, when another VPN app takes over, or when the server refuses the connection. Switch it on in the app's Settings, or with this command:
vhconnect always-on onAlways On needs Premium.
Kill switch
The kill switch lets nothing out but the VPN tunnel, through an error, a crash and a reboot. With until-disconnect the block ends when you disconnect, and with lockdown it stays after a disconnect too:
vhconnect kill-switch until-disconnectTo lift the block, run vhconnect kill-switch off. With the service stopped, run it with sudo.
Updates
The app updates itself: at boot and every 12 hours it looks for a newer version, downloads it, and installs it while the VPN is disconnected. Automatic Updates in the app's Settings turns this off. This command installs a newer version at once, even with updates off, and the VPN disconnects while it installs:
vhconnect updateInstaller options
For a script, or a machine with no desktop, add these to the install command, after its closing bracket:
| Option | What it does |
|---|---|
-q | Asks no questions. A new install starts at boot and updates itself; an update keeps the choices you made. |
-noautostart | Does not start the service at boot. |
-noautoupdate | Does not update the app by itself. |
-autoupdate | Updates the app by itself again, after -noautoupdate.
|
-nodesktop | Installs the service and the commands only: no menu entry and no libraries for the window. |
-desktop | Installs the menu entry and the window's libraries even where no desktop is found. |
-help | Lists the options. |
For example, with no questions and no desktop:
sudo su -c "bash <( wget -qO- https://github.com/vpnhood/VpnHood.App.Connect/releases/latest/download/VpnHoodConnect-linux.sh) -q -nodesktop"Uninstall
Right-click VpnHood! CONNECT in the application menu and choose Uninstall, or run this command:
sudo /opt/VpnHoodConnect/vhuninstallIt keeps your settings in /opt/VpnHoodConnect/storage for a later install. Add -purge to delete them too.
When something is wrong
| What you see | What to do |
|---|---|
The VpnHoodConnect service is not running.
| Run sudo vhconnect service start, then read vhconnect service log.
|
| The menu entry does nothing | Run vhconnect ui in a terminal to see why. It is usually a library missing after an install with -nodesktop.
|
| The window says only an administrator can use the app | Add your account to the sudo group, or to wheel where the system uses that one, then sign in again.
|
| The app says another VPN app took over | Only one app made with VpnHood! connects at a time, so connecting another one disconnects this one. It stays off, even with Always On, until you connect it again. |
Could not set the VPN's DNS servers.
| Run sudo systemctl enable --now systemd-resolved, then link /etc/resolv.conf to /run/systemd/resolve/stub-resolv.conf, as the message says.
|
The kill switch needs nftables (nft), which is not installed.
| Install the nftables package, or turn the kill switch off.
|
| Connected, but nothing loads | Read vhconnect service log -n 100.
|
The VPN cannot use its interface name
| Another VPN has an interface called VpnHoodConnect, and the message says whose it is. Stop that VPN, or if it is gone and left the interface behind, run sudo ip link delete VpnHoodConnect.
|
