Install Mullvad app on Linux

Mullvad app 

Last updated:

This guide shows how to install the Mullvad VPN app for Linux.

You can see what Linux distributions and versions we support on our Downloads page.

What this guide covers

Installing the app using the Mullvad repository

The Mullvad VPN app is available via our repository servers for Ubuntu, Debian and Fedora. To add our repository to your package manager and install it, follow the steps below.

Ubuntu/Debian

Download our signing key

The following command will download our PGP public key and store it where your package manager looks for trusted keyrings:

sudo curl -fsSLo /usr/share/keyrings/mullvad-keyring.asc https://repository.mullvad.net/deb/mullvad-keyring.asc

Option 1: Add the stable repository

This command adds the stable Mullvad repository to apt:

echo "deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/mullvad-keyring.asc arch=$( dpkg --print-architecture )] https://repository.mullvad.net/deb/stable $(lsb_release -cs) main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mullvad.list

Option 2: Add the beta/stable repository

If you would like to be a bit more bleeding edge and help us find bugs, you can add our beta repository instead. With this repository you will always get the latest public version of our app, beta or stable. Run this command instead of the above. Please note that you cannot have both repositories at the same time:

echo "deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/mullvad-keyring.asc arch=$( dpkg --print-architecture )] https://repository.mullvad.net/deb/beta $(lsb_release -cs) main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mullvad.list

Install the package

After the repositry is added you can install the Mullvad app using these commands:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install mullvad-vpn

The app should now be installed, and will automatically be upgraded in the future when you run sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade.

You can now start using the app. For some help, see the guide Using the Mullvad VPN app or How to use the Mullvad CLI.

Uninstalling the app

If you ever want to uninstall the app, use this command:

sudo apt purge mullvad-vpn

Troubleshooting

If the sudo apt update command fails with an error similar to this:

E: The repository 'https://repository.mullvad.net/deb/stable bionic Release' does not have a Release file

This is probably because you are running an unsupported distribution. Please note that we only support Debian and Ubuntu, and only fairly new versions of them. You can see what platforms we support on our Downloads page.

Fedora

Option 1: Add the stable repository

This command adds the stable Mullvad repository to dnf:

sudo dnf config-manager --add-repo https://repository.mullvad.net/rpm/stable/mullvad.repo

Option 2: Add the beta/stable repository

If you would like to be a bit more bleeding edge and help us find bugs, you can add our beta repository instead. With this repository you will always get the latest public version of our app, beta or stable. Run this command instead of the above. Please note that you cannot have both repositories at the same time:

sudo dnf config-manager --add-repo https://repository.mullvad.net/rpm/beta/mullvad.repo

Install the package

After the repositry is added you can install the Mullvad app using this command:

sudo dnf install mullvad-vpn

The app should now be installed, and will automatically be upgraded in the future when you run sudo dnf upgrade.

You can now start using the app. For some help, see the guide Using the Mullvad VPN app or How to use the Mullvad CLI.

Uninstalling the app

If you ever want to uninstall the app, use this command:

sudo dnf remove mullvad-vpn

Installing the app without the Mullvad repository

On Linux we recommend installing the Mullvad app via your package manager with our repository, as described above. However, if you can’t do that for some reason, then you can download and install the deb/rpm files manually.

Download and install the app

  1. Download the latest version of the app from the Downloads page on our website. If you have trouble downloading it from our website then you can download the app from our Github.
  2. Open up a Terminal and run the following command, depending on your distribution. Replace YYYY.N so the file name matches the file you downloaded:

Ubuntu/Debian

sudo apt install ./MullvadVPN-YYYY.N_amd64.deb

Fedora

sudo dnf install ./MullvadVPN-YYYY.N_x86_64.rpm

You can now start using the app. For some help, see the guide Using the Mullvad VPN app or How to use the Mullvad CLI.

Uninstalling the app

If you ever want to uninstall the app, use one of these commands:

Ubuntu/Debian

sudo apt purge mullvad-vpn

Fedora

sudo dnf remove mullvad-vpn

FAQ

How to install Mullvad on Arch Linux or Manjaro?

We do not support Arch Linux or Manjaro, however you can try to install the unofficial AUR package. Another option is to use WireGuard or OpenVPN instead.

The mullvad-daemon does not start

Try to start it using sudo systemctl start mullvad-daemon. If it does not help then run sudo /usr/bin/mullvad-daemon -v

The Mullvad GUI does not start

Try to kill the Mullvad app GUI using killall mullvad-gui and start it without GPU acceleration with this command:

/opt/Mullvad\ VPN/mullvad-vpn --disable-gpu