Add incomplete automatic port forwarding

[Anonymous941]

Currently, the user needs to manually start port forwarding with the natpmpc command. This is an incomplete proof-of-concept service that can run this automatically, using the natpmp module

[CrazyWolf13]

@calexandru2018 Any reason this has not yet been merged?

Is there some big update being worked on?
It's a major design flaw, if I pay for a VPN I really don't expect to be writing custom scripts just to get port-forward working!
I really hope Proton will focus more on the linux client.
Kindly waiting for your feedback.

[DuncanTDP]

@calexandru2018 Any reason this has not yet been merged?

Is there some big update being worked on? It's a major design flaw, if I pay for a VPN I really don't expect to be writing custom scripts just to get port-forward working! I really hope Proton will focus more on the linux client. Kindly waiting for your feedback.

This ^^^
I'm not typicly one to speak on these kinds of things but, I have been a long time proton plus paying member and an even longer paying proton VPN customer. I started to have hope with the new Linux client rewrite this aditude would be different towards Linux. But at this point it has been how long since the inital release of this new client and is still horribly incomplete and what feels like being neglected again. And it's not like there are even not any community members willing to volunteer. This merge request has been open for over a month at this point. As a Linux user I am used to being a second class user, but this is just ridiculous. Kindly hoping the best and no hate at all to the team.

Kind regards,
Duncan

[calexandru2018]

Hey @CrazyWolf13 and @DuncanTDP

We're currently pushing to the finish line with the full WireGuard support for the linux client. Also as @Anonymous941 mentions in the MR:

This is an incomplete proof-of-concept service that can run this automatically

There are other things that have to be addressed here for PF to work properly, namely ensuring the incompatibility with other features and that they're handled properly by the app and back-end, between other things. This will eventually get added, though most probably #58 will get merged first as soon as we agree on certain terms internally.

I understand your POV but remember that even if the app (this repo) does not get any updated doesn't mean the project is dead, we have other repos that are directly linked to this project which keep getting updated.

Edit: If you want the latest updates, please check out the beta channel: https://protonvpn.com/support/linux-prerelease/

[CrazyWolf13]

@calexandru2018
Thanks for the quick reply, this cleared up a lot of things.

Well that sounds at least promising, happy to see where this goes.

Definitely yeah, but still for the time this linux client has been up, it's still not anywhere near fully usable as compare to a windows client. (ofc. Linux is always second place, but still for a company valuing security so much linux shouldn't be that far back.)

Yeah already have the beta up and running.

Currently there is a linux desktop app, and there was a proton-cli, wireguard directly is possible but not with public port, for that we'd still need natpmpc, so fo shell-only systems there is currently nothing other than bare natpmpc and wireguard right? or is there anything planned / proton-cli be picked up again?

[Anonymous941]

Yes, it's not actually finished yet (at least to the point where it could be merged), just a foundation that should make it easier for ProtonVPN developers to add the feature once they're ready

[calexandru2018]

@CrazyWolf13

Definitely yeah, but still for the time this linux client has been up, it's still not anywhere near fully usable as compare to a windows client. (ofc. Linux is always second place, but still for a company valuing security so much linux shouldn't be that far back.)

I get ya, the v4 doesn't even have one year since it was launched, but for the most part were understaffed. We've hired a 3rd eng this March so things actually picked up a bit faster. For context:

• 2020 - 2022: 1 eng on linux team (me)
• 2022-2024: 2 engs on linux team (me and Pep)
• 2024-now: 3 engs on linux team (me, Pep and Luke)

So you can be rest assured that we're working on the linux client ;)

Currently there is a linux desktop app, and there was a proton-cli, wireguard directly is possible but not with public port, for that we'd still need natpmpc, so fo shell-only systems there is currently nothing other than bare natpmpc and wireguard right? or is there anything planned / proton-cli be picked up again?

Yes you're right, currently there is nothing but we have a plan to bring back CLI for the new V4 client, we haven't forgotten about it.

[CrazyWolf13]

@calexandru2018

but for the most part were understaffed.

Yeah that was what I was expecting, nothing that is your fault, but higher up.

We've hired a 3rd eng this March so things actually picked up a bit faster

Sounds awesome, then we'll wait and see where this is going :)

Thank you for the insights and sharing this info, such things differ proton from other companies, which makes me believe I chose the right company to trust!

but we have a plan to bring back CLI for the new V4 client

Oh that's awesome!!!!

Because many people including me run torrenclient in a headless server using the webgui, which allows running it on a server, and connect from anywhere via browser to the client and start downloads right to the centralised NAS, so a CLI version would be a life saver!

[Anonymous941]

That's exciting that there are now 3 engineers :)