Install on Linux

1. Installers
2. Compatibility
3. Requirements
4. Manual Install and Launching
5. Arch Linux
6. Uninstall

This page covers how to install and uninstall the Portmaster on Linux.

Installers

We provide package installers for supported systems:

• .deb for Debian/Ubuntu (how to)
• PKGBUILD for Arch
• .pkg.tar.xz for Arch (Testing, CI Build / how to)

Please note that we only support the latest stable and LTS versions. We may be able to help out with other systems, but will not be able to invest a lot of time in order to keep focus.

The installers should take care of any needed dependencies. Please report back if they do not!

Please note that the Portmaster updates itself and that the provided packages are only meant for an initial install. Uninstalling the package from your system will properly uninstall and remove the Portmaster.

Compatibility

Requirements

The Portmaster Core Service is compatible with the Linux Kernel as of version 2.4, but due to a breaking bug in at least v5.6, we recommend to use v5.7+.

Dependencies:

• libnetfilter_queue - for network stack integration
• libappindicator3 - for sending desktop notifications (optional, but recommended)
• Network Manager - for better integration (optional, but recommended)

Debian/Ubuntu

sudo apt install libnetfilter-queue1 libappindicator3-1

You may need to enable the universe or multiverse repositories sources on Ubuntu.

Fedora

sudo yum install libnetfilter_queue

Arch

sudo pacman -S libnetfilter_queue libappindicator-gtk3

Manual Install and Launching

0. Install dependencies.

1. Download the latest portmaster-start utility and initialize all resources:

# Download portmaster-start utility
wget -O /tmp/portmaster-start https://updates.safing.io/latest/linux_amd64/start/portmaster-start
sudo mv /tmp/portmaster-start /var/lib/portmaster/portmaster-start
sudo chmod a+x /var/lib/portmaster/portmaster-start

# Download resources
sudo /var/lib/portmaster/portmaster-start --data /var/lib/portmaster update

All data is saved in /var/lib/portmaster. The portmaster-start utility always needs to know where this data directory is.

2. Start the Portmaster Core Service

sudo /var/lib/portmaster/portmaster-start core

3. Start the Portmaster UI

/var/lib/portmaster/portmaster-start app

4. Start the Portmaster Notifier

/var/lib/portmaster/portmaster-start notifier

Your Desktop environment may not (yet) be compatible.

5. Start it on boot

In order to get the Portmaster Core Service to automatically start when booting, you need to create a systemd service unit at /etc/systemd/system/portmaster.service. The following unit file works but excludes most of the security relevant settings. For a more restricted version use this portmaster.service file.

[Unit]
Description=Portmaster Privacy App

[Service]
Type=simple
ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/portmaster-start core --data=/var/lib/portmaster/
ExecStopPost=-/sbin/iptables -F C17
ExecStopPost=-/sbin/iptables -t mangle -F C170
ExecStopPost=-/sbin/iptables -t mangle -F C171
ExecStopPost=-/sbin/ip6tables -F C17
ExecStopPost=-/sbin/ip6tables -t mangle -F C170
ExecStopPost=-/sbin/ip6tables -t mangle -F C171

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Finally, reload the systemd daemon and enable/start the Portmaster:

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable --now portmaster

6. Enjoy!

Arch Linux

For Arch users we provide a PKGBUILD file in the portmaster-packaging repository. It is not yet submitted to AUR as we want to collect some feedback first.

To install the Portmaster using the PKGBUILD, follow these steps:

# Install build-dependencies, you can remove them later:
sudo pacman -S imagemagick # required to convert the Portmaster logo to different resolutions

# Install runtime dependencies:
sudo pacman -S libnetfilter_queue webkit2gtk

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/safing/portmaster-packaging

# Enter the repo and build/install the package (it's under linux/)
cd portmaster-packaging/linux
makepkg -i

# Start the Portmaster and enable autostart
systemctl daemon-reload
systemctl enable --now portmaster

Uninstall

Uninstalling the package from your system will properly uninstall and remove the Portmaster.