Can I use NordVPN on Ubuntu? How to install NordVPN? How to run NordVPN on Ubuntu?

Would you like to use a VPN on your computer running the Ubuntu operating system? Is it hard? Is it complicated? Is it possible? Maybe you have many questions related to running a VPN on your computer, but we can already assure you that it isn’t very hard, at least not if you read this article and follow the instructions.

A VPN can be truly useful if you want to secure your data and remain private online. I am currently writing this article using the public WiFi in a shopping mall, meaning that my data would be at risk. But, while I am working, I am also using the VPN services of NordVPN in order to secure my data and to make sure that nobody will spy on my activities. I can feel safe about this, knowing that NordVPN is encrypting all my data, making all my activities hidden from anyone with good and bad intentions in my vicinity right now.

But, what can you do if you want to install and run NordVPN on your Ubuntu system as well? Here I will show you what to do!

How to install and run NordVPN on Ubuntu

Let’s get started.

1. Buy a subscription and download the installation file for Ubuntu/Linux

The first thing you need to do is to visit the NordVPN website. Click the link to get there immediately and to get a nice discount on their different packages. After you have bought your subscription, download the installation file for Linux to your system.

When you have downloaded the file, simply double click the file and you will be prompted to install the required files on your computer.

You have now installed the needed NordVPN files on your computer.

2. Log in with your NordVPN account

You should now open your terminal window in Ubuntu. This can be done by clicking CTRL-ALT-T, or by just looking for Terminal among all the applications on the system.

When you have opened the terminal window, run the following command.

nordvpn login

You will then be shown a URL that you need to visit to confirm that you have an account. Open the required link in your browser and then allow the browser to communicate with the NordVPN application as you have chosen your NordVPN account. This will activate the NordVPN installation and you will be able to run the app.

3. Connect to any NordVPN server

If you want to connect to just any NordVPN server, run the following command.

nordvpn connect

If you want to connect to a server in one specific country, use the following command.

nordvpn connect germany

There are lots of different options and settings available in the application. For a full list of all options, run the following command.

nordvpn --help

To see which settings are active, you can also run the following command.

nordvpn settings

I guess you should now be ready to surf safely using NordVPN on your Ubuntu system.

A common error while installing NordVPN on Ubuntu (permission is denied accessing /run/nordvpn/nordvpnd.sock)

There is a frequent error that keeps coming to many as they try to login to their NordVPN account as they run the “nordvpn login” command.

Have you seen an error message like the one above yourself? It says that permission is denied accessing /run/nordvpn/nordvpnd.sock. It also tells you to run usermod -aG nordvpn $user to fix the issue. Have you tried running the command but it didn’t help? If you want to give it one more try, run the following command.

sudo usermod -aG nordvpn $USER

That should make it all work. After you have used this command, restart your device. When that is done, you should be ready to run the nordvpn login command and finish your NordVPN installation on your Ubuntu device.

Some other useful NordVPN commands on Ubuntu (Auto-connect and Kill Switch)

Would you like to make your VPN autoconnect whenever you start the operating system? This can be done using the following command.

nordvpn set autoconnect on 

Would you like to enable the kill-switch which will make your Internet connection drop in the moment the VPN stops working? This will protect you in case it is utterly important that you never surf the net without an active VPN.

nordvpn set killswitch on

If you want to disable the autoconnect function or the kill switch function, simply run the same command but use off instead of on.

NordVPN bug in Ubuntu 22.04

If you are running the newest version of Ubuntu you might have trouble connecting to the different NordVPN servers and using any of the NordVPN commands at all. If that is you, try running the following command and then try it all once again afterward.

sudo ln -s /usr/bin/resolvectl /usr/bin/systemd-resolve

Are you ready to run NordVPN on your Ubuntu device? I hope you are. If you still need some help, use the comment field below.

Would you like to read similar instructions showing you how to run ExpressVPN on Ubuntu? That is another great VPN, but to be honest, I am a bigger fan of NordVPN on Ubuntu as the application seems to work smoother and cause less bugs than the ExpressVPN application. But, that is just my personal experience.