Sign Up Now

← All installation guides

Installation Guide

Install on Linux

Run Arresti VPN on Linux via a command-line VPN client and a config profile. Tested on Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, CentOS, RHEL and Arch.

Step 1 — Install a VPN client

On Linux, there are several ways to connect with a config profile. This guide uses the widely-supported open-source CLI package openvpn, but any VPN client or Network Manager that can import a .ovpn profile will work. If you hit trouble, look up a VPN client installation guide specific to your distribution.

Use the appropriate command for your distribution:

  • Ubuntu / Debian: sudo apt-get install openvpn
  • Fedora: sudo dnf install openvpn
  • CentOS / RHEL: sudo yum install openvpn
  • Arch Linux: sudo pacman -S openvpn

Step 2 — Download an Arresti VPN connection profile

After the VPN client is installed, you need a connection profile tied to your Arresti VPN account.

  1. Open a web browser.
  2. Go to the Arresti VPN downloads page: portal.arresti.com/downloads.php.
  3. Log in with your account credentials.
  4. Scroll down to the list of server locations and choose one.
  5. Save the resulting .ovpn file to your Linux system.

Step 3 — Manually start the connection

To start a connection profile manually, run:

sudo openvpn --config /path/to/your/configuration/profile.ovpn

For example:

sudo openvpn --config /path/to/AUSSydneyDirect.ovpn

You can verify the status of your connection at whatismyipaddress.com — the location shown should be the VPN exit, not your real one.

Optional: auto-login via the service daemon

To set up an auto-login connection that survives reboots:

  1. Place the client.ovpn file in /etc/openvpn/.
  2. Rename it to end with .conf. For example: sudo mv /etc/openvpn/client.ovpn /etc/openvpn/client.conf
  3. Enable the VPN client service to start at boot:

    systemd (Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, CentOS, RHEL):
    sudo systemctl enable openvpn@client
    sudo systemctl start openvpn@client

    SysVinit (older distributions):
    sudo service openvpn start
    sudo chkconfig openvpn on

  4. Reboot to apply changes: sudo reboot

After reboot, the auto-login profile will be picked up automatically. Verify with ifconfig — you should see a tun0 network adapter listed.

Stuck somewhere? Send our support team a quick message and we'll get back to you within one business day.

← All guides ← Windows 10 guide DD-WRT routers guide →