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The NordVPN native application is the recommended option for connecting to NordVPN servers on your Linux device. We designed it with your experience in mind, giving easy access to features such as CyberSec, Autoconnect, and automated Kill Switch.
This tutorial explains how to download and install the NordVPN app on RHEL (Red-Hat Enterprise) and CentOS distributions, log in, and connect to our servers using VPN for Linux. You can also find an explanation of various settings.
Downloading the app.
1. Download the NordVPN Linux client by opening the terminal, writing the command below, and following any on-screen instructions:
sh <(curl -sSf https://downloads.nordcdn.com/apps/linux/install.sh)
Note: If you do not have a curl package, evidenced by the fact that the above does not work, you can alternatively use this command:
sh <(wget -qO - https://downloads.nordcdn.com/apps/linux/install.sh)
Additionally, if you receive the following issue: Whoops! Permission denied accessing /run/nordvpn/nordvpnd.sock, all you need to do is write the following command: sudo usermod -aG nordvpn $USER and then reboot your device.
nordvpn login
3. Connect to a NordVPN server:
nordvpn connect
Settings
To access the NordVPN client settings, type the nordvpn command in a Terminal.
Here is the list of available commands:
nordvpn login - Log in.
nordvpn connect or nordvpn c - Connect to VPN. To connect to specific servers, use nordvpn connect <country_code server_number> (eg. nordvpn connect uk715)
nordvpn disconnect or nordvpn d - Disconnect from VPN.
nordvpn set or nordvpn s - Set a configuration option. Possible options:
nordvpn set cybersec on or off - Enable or disable CyberSec
nordvpn set killswitch on or off - Enable or disable Kill Switch
nordvpn set autoconnect on or off - Enable or disable Autoconnect. You can set a specific server for automatic connection using nordvpn set autoconnect on country_code+server_number. Example: nordvpn set autoconnect on us2435.
nordvpn set dns 1.1.1.1 1.0.0.1 - Set custom DNS (you can set up a single DNS or two like shown in this command).
nordvpn set autoconnect on or off - Enable or disable Auto connect.
nordvpn set protocol udp or tcp - Switch between UDP and TCP protocols
nordvpn set obfuscate on or off - Enable or disable Obfuscated Servers.
nordvpn whitelist add port 22 - Open incoming port 22 (the port number can be different)
nordvpn whitelist remove port 22 - Remove the rule added with the above command
nordvpn whitelist add subnet 192.168.0.0/16 - Add a rule to whitelist your specified subnet.
nordvpn whitelist remove subnet 192.168.0.0/16 - Remove a rule to whitelist your specified subnet.
nordvpn settings - See the current settings.
nordvpn status - See the connection status.
nordvpn countries - See the country list.
nordvpn cities - See the city list. E.g.: nordvpn cities united_states
nordvpn groups - See a list of available server groups.
nordvpn logout - Log out.
nordvpn help or nordvpn h - See the list of commands or help for one command.
You can see the full list of commands by using man nordvpn command in a terminal.
Tip: Your VPN connection safety depends on your account password too. Don't forget to use a strong password on your account, as it will help you to avoid credential stuffing attacks and will keep your connections safe and uninterrupted.
As generating and remembering strong and secure passwords is not an easy task, we recommend downloading our free password manager — NordPass. It generates secure passwords for you and stores them safely, letting you avoid time-wasting password resets in the future.
