How to connect to Surfshark in countries with internet restrictions on iOS

In this tutorial, you will learn how to set up the IKEv2 VPN connection on your iOS device.

This is an alternative way of connecting to Surfshark servers that will come in handy if the Surfshark VPN app can not be installed on your iOS or it does not perform as expected. 

We will go through the following:

1. Get your credentials
2. Find server hostnames
3. Download and install the VPN profile
4. Connect to the VPN
5. Ensure the connection is successful

Get your credentials

NOTE: These are not your regular credentials, such as your email and password.

1. Enter the Surfshark login page and log in. Then, click on Products > VPN > Manual Setup > Desktop or mobile > IKEv2 to generate your credentials.
   
   
   

2. Once there, make sure that you are in the Credentials tab and click on Generate new credentials.
   
   NOTE: Keep this tab open as we'll need it later.

   

Find server hostnames

Every server has a hostname that you will need to use to connect to the specific VPN location. You can find all the hostnames in the Locations tab.

1. Here, you will see a list of all the servers.
   
2. Tap on the location of your choice. Once you do, you will be able to see the server address.
   
   

Download and install the IKEv2 profile

1. Scroll down to the bottom of the Locations tab. Tap on the IKEv2 certificate to start the download.
   
   NOTE: We highly recommend downloading them through the Safari browser, as other browsers may not work correctly.
   
   
   
2. Once you press download, you may get a pop-up. Press Allow.
   
   
   
3. When the download is complete, you will get a notification – Profile Downloaded.
   
   
   
4. Open the Settings app. You will notice a tab saying Profile Downloaded. Tap on it.
   
   
   
5. After opening the profile, click Install.
   
   
   
6. Confirm the installation by clicking Install again.
   
   
   
7. When the installation is complete, tap Done and proceed to the next step.
   
   
   

Connect to the VPN

1. Open the Settings app on your device, go to General, and tap on the VPN & Device Management tab.
   
   
   
2.  Select Add VPN Configuration...
   
   
   
3. Fill in all the required details:
   
   Type: IKEv2.
   Description: Your preferred name of this connection.
   Server: the hostname of the server. Refer to the Find server hostnames part of this article.
   Remote ID: the same hostname that you entered in the Server field.
   Local ID: leave empty.
   
   User Authentication: Username.
   Username: Your Surfshark service username. Refer to the Get your credentials part of this article.
   Password: Your Surfshark service password. Refer to the Get your credentials part of this article.
   Proxy: Off.
   
   Press Done after entering all the details.
   
   
   
4. From now on, you will find the configured VPN profile in the VPN tab that you will always find in Settings > General.
   
   Move the slider to connect and disconnect from the VPN.
   
   

Ensure the connection is successful

We always recommend checking if Surfshark VPN is working after setting it up for the first time. You can easily do it by performing Surfshark IP leak test and a DNS leak test. For your convenience, both are available on our website.

You may also be interested in:

• How to make sure if my connection was successful?
• How to enable 2FA on your Surfshark account?
• How to connect from countries with network restrictions?