How to set up Surfshark on Linux – Surfshark Customer Support

NOTE: the video displays an older version of Surfshark.

In this tutorial, you will learn how to install the Surfshark application on your Linux device.

Currently supported distros:

DEBIAN 11 or higher
UBUNTU 20.04 or higher
MINT 20 or higher

Advanced requirements:

GNOME, KDE, and XFCE desktop environments supported
systemd service manager supported
amd64 architecture supported

We will go through these steps:

Install the application
Updating the application
Connect to the VPN
Features
Make sure your connection was successful

Install the application

Open the Terminal on your Linux device by clicking CTRL+ALT+T.
Now, type in the following command:

curl -f https://downloads.surfshark.com/linux/debian-install.sh --output surfshark-install.sh #gets the installation script
cat surfshark-install.sh #show script’s content
sh surfshark-install.sh #installs surfshark

Updating the application

The Surfshark application will always check for new updates automatically. However, it is also possible to update it manually if you wish to.

To update the application manually, enter the following commands into the Terminal:


sudo apt update

sudo apt upgrade

Connect to the VPN

Once you open up the app and click on Log in as an existing user or press on Create an account if you do not have one.

After you log in, you will be greeted with the main screen of the Surfshark app.

Here you can connect to a location of your choice by pressing on the flag icon, or, you can press on Quick-connect. You can change the Quick-connect location by pressing the Change button next to it.

Additionally, you can favorite locations of your choice by pressing the star icon next to it. Once you do, it will appear at the top of your locations list for easier access.

At the top left of the app window, you can search for a location of your choice or toggle between MultiHop and Static IP locations.

Features

Click on Settings and you'll find all the options you can configure in the Surfshark app.

In VPN settings, you can configure connection settings.

Protocol – choose what protocol you would like to use to connect to the VPN. Learn more about it here.

Quick-connect – choose which location you connect to on the main screen.

CleanWeb – a smart feature that will block ads and malicious sites on the web. Learn more about it here .

Auto-connect – automatically reconnects you to the VPN if you change networks or restart the app. Learn more about it here.

Kill Switch – disables internet access when the VPN connection drops. Learn more about it here.

Next, click on App settings.

Here, you can change your application's Appearance, Language, toggle the option for Launch app on startup and check the current version of the Surfshark app.

Click on My account.

Here, you can change password, check your plan details and the account's linked, and, lastly, the option to enter login code.

Lastly, there is the Get help tab.

Here you'll be able to access our Help Center, send diagnostics, contact live support, reset your VPN profile, and check Surfshark's ToS.

Make sure your connection was successful

It's always recommended to check whether your connection was successful after setting up a VPN for the first time. This can be quickly done by doing an IP leak test and a DNS leak test available on our website. Click here to find out how to make sure your connection was successful.