HOW TO RUN SURFSHARK VPN WITHOUT USING WEB BROWSER EXTENSION
Many people are trying to pass all the 3 main leak tests after connected using VPN via command line(OpenVPN) without success. Some issues appear.
Some sites simply do not work properly when you use OpeVPN configured for Surfshark. While they work better(but not perfect) with the web browser extension.
So how to make these sites work properly and at the same time pass the security checks?
After you finish this tutorial you should see the following screens:
OpenVPN Working:
IP Checker:
DNS Leak Checker:
And some sites that do not load 100% must load normally after the changes.
Let's go?
Installing OpenVPN and Downloading the Configuration Files
You will need to install OpenVPN and a program to extract package with configuration files.
On Debian-like distros(like Ubuntu, Xubuntu,etc...) you show time on a terminal emulator:
sudo apt-get install openvpn unzip
For you to keep your system organized I recommend you to create a separated directory to store the configuration files. I may want to use other VPNs from other companies, for example.
OK. Cd(change dir) to the directory you created:
cd /directory-to-store-surfshark-vpn-config-files
Time to download the configuration files:
sudo wget https://my.surfshark.com/vpn/api/v1/server/configurations
Now just unzip this package. If this is not the definitive directory for theses files, then move them to the proper directory.
Time to Choose and Test Servers
Enter the directory where you extracted the configuration files:
cd /dir-with-VPN-configs
Now start testing the VPN servers to see which is more suitable for your needs.
Once you are in the directory with the config files type this:
ls
You will see something like this:
Just select one of them using your mouse then complete the following command line:
sudo openvpn name-of-the-server
You will need your credentials. You can get on Surfshark website VPN> Manual setup
If everything is OK you'll see the message "Initialization Sequence Completed".
Adjustment tips
As mentioned above, even if you receive that message you still need to perform security checks.
In our case here we needed some extra steps.
Fix DNS during VPN usage
I think this is the main issue. There are many forums and pages with people complaining about DNS changing. Or DNS leak check fails. Also some sites that do not work properly. Each one bringing a different "solution". None of them worked here.
Creating Network Profiles
OK. If you read the documentation you will see instructions to setup their secure DNS on Router WAN. But I could only progress changing local PC DNS before connecting to Surfshark VPN.
Here is what I did.
First, open your preferred network manager and create a separate profile for you to use with Surfshark VPN. Insert Surfshark DNS info.
Something like this:
Now connect the network profile you've just created. Then run openvpn again as explained above.
Time to see if everything is working:
https://surfshark.com/dns-leak-test
More Tweaks and Adjustments
Now that everything was tested and is running nice it's time to make things quicker and more practical.
How can you avoid the situation of typing your credentials every time you connect to this VPN?
There are many ways. But here is one: create an empty text file. Open this file and type your credentials. Two lines. One for the user name and the other one for the password. It's very important to keep this file on a safe place and with the correct permissions. If you are in doubt you can press "generate new credentials" after using the VPN with this method.
It would be like this:
sudo openvpn --config /path-to-your/VPN-config-file --auth-user-pass /path-to-your/credentials-file --auth-nocache
This way you can kind of automate this process, avoiding to type all those command lines and you do not need to type your credentials every time.
You can create a refined scritpt with a short file name.
In my case here, I created a script using Zenity to select one the configuration files inside that directory and using all the parameters we need.
If you reached here, I must thank you for visit here.
Here are some notes from Tom's Guide on this VPN service:
"If you're after a premium service for as little money as possible, Surfshark is perfect. With decent streaming and intuitive apps on just about every device, it's the best VPN on a budget at just $2.21 a month, which includes 3 months free, and its unlimited connections policy will cover all your devices."
You can give it a chance here
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