Private Internet Access App in Gentoo.

Private Internet Access (PIA) is a widely used virtual private network (VPN) service known for its strong focus on privacy, security, and affordability.  Owned by Kape Technologies since 2019, PIA operates under a verified no-logs policy, which has been audited by Deloitte and tested in court. 

For many Openrc init users like myself, PIA does not natively work and there is the need to manually work around in order to lauch the application. I will guide you through this simple trick to get your vpn up and running!

First, head over to the PIA downloads page and get the linux file. As at the writing of this post , the only version which works great is the v3.6.0

Now navigate to the downloaded file path in your terminal and execute this code:

 bash pia-linux-<version>-<revision>.run -- --skip-service

Create the OpenRC Init Script:

sudo nano /etc/init.d/pia-daemon   

Paste the following content:

#!/sbin/openrc-run

name="pia-daemon"
description="Private Internet Access Daemon"

command="/opt/piavpn/bin/pia-daemon"
command_background=true
pidfile="/run/${name}.pid"
directory="/opt/piavpn"
user="pia"
group="pia"

want net
depend() {
    after firewall
    after dns
    after logger
    need localmount
    need sysfs
    need devfs
}

start_pre() {
    if [ ! -d "/run/pia-daemon" ]; then
        mkdir -p /run/pia-daemon
        chown pia:pia /run/pia-daemon
    fi
    return 0
}   

Make it executable:

sudo chmod +x /etc/init.d/pia-daemon   

Ensure Required Dependencies Are Installed

PIA requires libgssapi_krb5.so.2. Install MIT Kerberos:**

sudo emerge --ask app-crypt/mit-krb5   

Enable the Service at Boot

sudo rc-update add pia-daemon default   

Start the Daemon:

sudo rc-service pia-daemon start   

sudo rc-service pia-daemon status   

That's it! You can now launch the PIA app in Gentoo Openrc.