discussion Guide Linux OpenVPN 3 Client Installation Guide on Linux 2025

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OpenVPN 3 Client Installation Guide on Linux 2025 💻​

In this guide, I will walk you through step-by-step how to install the modern and powerful VPN client, OpenVPN 3 Client, on Linux distributions. By following these steps, you can start using OpenVPN 3 packages smoothly on your system.

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Step 1: Installing the OpenVPN 3 Repository Key​

First, we need to add the repository key used by OpenVPN 3 Linux packages to the system. This ensures that the packages we download are verified and trusted. Open your terminal and run the following command:

sudo mkdir -p /etc/apt/keyrings && curl -fsSL https://packages.openvpn.net/packages-repo.gpg | sudo tee /etc/apt/keyrings/openvpn.asc

This command downloads the repo key and safely saves it in the keyrings directory on your system.

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Step 2: Get Your Distribution Codename​

Now, we need to get the specific information about your Linux distribution and store it in a variable. This is important for the next step:

lsb_release -c -s

This command outputs the codename of your distribution, which we will assign to the DISTRO variable in the next step.

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Step 3: Add the Repository to Your System​

With the distribution info ready, now let's add the OpenVPN 3 package repository to your system. This tells the apt package manager where to download the OpenVPN packages from. Run the following command:

echo "deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/openvpn.asc] https://packages.openvpn.net/openvpn3/debian $DISTRO main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/openvpn-packages.list

This command adds the OpenVPN repository to the sources.list.d directory.

⚠️ NOTE: Replace $DISTRO with the codename you obtained in Step 2.

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Step 4: Update Package Information​

Since we added a new repo, we need to update our package list so that apt can recognize the new packages.

sudo apt update

After running this, you will see the package info being fetched from the OpenVPN repo in the console.

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Step 5: Install the OpenVPN 3 Package​

Now that everything is ready, the last step is to install the OpenVPN 3 package on your system:

sudo apt install openvpn3

This command installs the OpenVPN 3 client along with its dependencies. Once installed, you can manage your VPN connections using the openvpn3 command.

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Your installation is complete! Now, you can connect to your OpenVPN servers using your .ovpn profile files.

To import your configuration file:

openvpn3 config-import --config ${MY_CONFIGURATION_FILE}

${MY_CONFIGURATION_FILE} is the path to your configuration file. For example:

openvpn3 config-import --config /home/ahmet/OpenVPN3-File/VPN-Ahmet.ovpn

To start the VPN session with your config file:

openvpn3 session-start --config ${CONFIGURATION_PROFILE_NAME}

Example:

openvpn3 session-start --config /home/ahmet/OpenVPN3-File/VPN-Ahmet.ovpn

To disconnect (stop the VPN):

openvpn3 session-manage --disconnect --config ${CONFIGURATION_PROFILE_NAME}

Example:

openvpn3 session-manage --disconnect --config /home/ahmet/OpenVPN3-File/VPN-Ahmet.ovpn

 

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If you don't want to encounter permission issues, you can run commands using sudo.