A distro-by-distro guide for installing the official ProtonVPN GUI app with beta access on Fedora, Debian/Ubuntu, Arch-based, and openSUSE systems — plus clean removal instructions for each.
Only Fedora and Debian/Ubuntu have official beta repositories from Proton. Arch and openSUSE rely on community-maintained packages — for these, install the regular GUI app first, then enable the Beta access toggle inside the app's Settings menu. This is the officially recommended path for those distros.
# 1. Download and install the beta repo package
wget "https://repo.protonvpn.com/fedora-$(cat /etc/fedora-release | cut -d' ' -f3)-unstable/protonvpn-beta-release/protonvpn-beta-release-1.0.4-1.noarch.rpm"
sudo dnf install -y ./protonvpn-beta-release-1.0.4-1.noarch.rpm
# 2. Refresh repos — accept the GPG key prompt when it appears
sudo dnf update
# 3. Install the GUI app
sudo dnf install -y proton-vpn-gnome-desktopVerify the GPG fingerprint before accepting (correct for Fedora 44; differs on older releases):
6929133BDE1CE1CFA9EDB286D84176F6844830D4
Launch it from your app grid, or run protonvpn-app in a terminal.
sudo dnf remove proton-vpn-gnome-desktop protonvpn-beta-release proton-vpn-gtk-app \
proton-vpn-daemon proton-vpn-cli python3-proton-core python3-proton-keyring-linux \
python3-proton-vpn-api-core python3-proton-vpn-local-agent
sudo rm -f /etc/yum.repos.d/*proton*
sudo dnf autoremovewget https://repo.protonvpn.com/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-all/protonvpn-beta-release_1.0.8_all.deb
sudo dpkg -i ./protonvpn-beta-release_1.0.8_all.deb
sudo apt update
# Accept the GPG key prompt, then:
sudo apt install -y proton-vpn-gnome-desktopOn plain GNOME (no tray icon support by default), you may need an AppIndicator extension for the ProtonVPN tray icon to appear.
sudo apt remove --purge proton-vpn-gnome-desktop protonvpn-beta-release
sudo rm -f /etc/apt/sources.list.d/*proton*
sudo apt autoremoveThere's no official beta repo for Arch. The extra repo ships the stable community-maintained build.
sudo pacman -S proton-vpn-gtk-appThen open the app → Settings → Beta access → toggle on. It will now pull beta updates going forward.
sudo pacman -Rns proton-vpn-gtk-appProton does not officially support openSUSE. The community OBS project home:mantarimay:protonvpn maintains a package. Use at your own discretion.
sudo zypper addrepo https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:mantarimay:protonvpn/openSUSE_Tumbleweed/home:mantarimay:protonvpn.repo
sudo zypper refresh
sudo zypper install proton-vpn-gtk-appThen Settings → Beta access toggle, same as Arch.
sudo zypper remove proton-vpn-gtk-app
sudo zypper removerepo home:mantarimay:protonvpnAfter removing the packages, clear any leftover config, cache, and kill-switch network connections:
# Remove leftover config/cache
rm -rf ~/.config/protonvpn* ~/.config/Proton* ~/.cache/protonvpn* ~/.local/share/protonvpn*
# Check for leftover VPN/kill-switch NetworkManager connections
nmcli connection show | grep -i pvpn
# Delete any matches found above, one by one:
sudo nmcli connection delete <connection-name>Common leftover connection names include pvpn-killswitch, pvpn-ipv6leak-protection, and pvpn-routed-killswitch. Deleting these restores normal internet access if the app was uninstalled while the kill switch was still active.
- Officially supported distros for the GUI app: Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora. Arch and openSUSE work via community packages.
- Beta builds are still in development — expect occasional bugs, and consider reporting issues via Proton's support form.
- Always verify GPG key fingerprints against Proton's published documentation before accepting them, especially on a fresh install.