NordVPN Reconnector

This is a simple script that is able to instruct the NordVPN client to reconnect to the server it is currently connected to after a certain amount of time has passed on a recurring basis.

The problem this script is trying to solve is the unreliability of the NordVPN Linux client wherein it will frequently hang after it has been connected without interruptions for long periods of time. When the client enters this state, any action fails, including attempting to disconnect or restart the nordvpn(d).service.

In such a state, the only recourse is to reboot the machine. Which is less than ideal.

Installation

To install nordvpn-reconnect I suggest cloning the repository.

Follow these steps.

1. Open a terminal with (on many Linux distros this can be done using Ctrl+T)

2. If you do not have git installed, install it. (On Debian-based distros this is sudo apt install git).

3. type git clone https://github.com/mmnaseri/nordvpn-reconnect. This will create a folder called "nordvpn-reconnect" in the current location.

4. type cd nordvpn-reconnect inside the terminal to enter the folder

5. For a simple installation type sudo ./install.sh install

6. If you want to install the code, start it and enable a service that automatically starts type instead sudo ./install.sh install enable start

Usage

You can either run the main nordvpn-reconnect.sh script individually, or run it as a daemon. A convenience script has been provided which installs the script as a symbolic link under /usr/bin and also adds a daemon unit to systemctl, which you can then enable and run.

How it works

The script consults the nordvpn client for uptime, and if it has been more than a preconfigured amount of time since it was connected to the current server (defaults to 2 hours), it will reconnect to the same server, thus making sure that the connection never stays open for more than that. The checking is done at intervals of one tenth of the indicated maximum uptime, so, for two hours, that would be every 12 minutes.

Running the script

The script takes a single, optional command line argument which is the maximum runtime it should check for. This can be either a number given in seconds, or a string with the format X days Y hours Z minutes T seconds, such as 4 hours 10 minutes.

There are three environment variables which the script will consult:

• NORDVPN_MAX_UPTIME; indicates the default max uptime if the CLI parameter is not specified; defaults to 2 hours.
• NORDVPN_RECONNECT_NOTIFY; decides if the script should send a notification via notify-send every time it reconnects; defaults to false.
• NORDVPN_KILLER_REQUEST_FILE; tells the script which file the killer script is looking for to kill the nordvpnd daemon for us if needed. The default is /tmp/nordvpnd-killer.ask.

A sample run with notifications (works on Gnome) and 1 hour uptime is:

NORDVPN_RECONNECT_NOTIFY=true ./nordvpn-reconnect.sh "1 hour"

If reconnection requests fail, the script will attempt to kill NordVPNd. If that fails, it will need to either be executed as root, or ask someone else who is to do the dirty work. That's why this script comes with a sister: nordvpnd-killer.sh.

Killing the NordVPN Daemon

If you drop a file at /tmp/nordvpnd-killer.ask it will try to kill the service for you. The idea is that you run the original script as your own user, and the other script as root, to have the least amount of privilege handed to this script. The location of this file can be modified by setting the NORDVPN_KILLER_REQUEST_FILE environment variable.

Using as a daemon

To use as a daemon, you just need to create a unit (see the provided example .service file) and place it within reach of systemctl. The convenience install script is tested to work on Arch Linux and on Ubuntu 20.04, but should work on other distros as well.

To use this as a daemon via the provided scripts, run:

sudo ./install.sh install
sudo ./install.sh enable
sudo ./install.sh start

Or more succinctly:

sudo ./install.sh install enable start

In the same vein, to remove the script and all its traces:

sudo ./install.sh stop disable uninstall

Pausing the Service

If you drop a file at /tmp/nordvpn-reconnect.lock, the service will skip the current iteration. If you keep that file in place, it is going to be the same as never executing this service at all.

Contribution

Feel free to open pull requests. I'm open to widening support if there is enthusiasm.

Disclaimer

I am using this on my personal machine. Use at your own risk.