How to choose, use and configure a VPN in Raspberry Digital Signage (Tutorial)

Optimising VPN Choices for Raspberry Digital Signage

Raspberry Digital Signage is a Debian Buster–based distribution tailored for headless digital displays on Raspberry Pi devices. It uses APT (apt-get) as its package manager, boots straight into a kiosk-mode Chromium session under X11 or Openbox, and exposes all configuration via simple shell scripts and config files in /etc/rpi-digital-signage. Administrators working with this distro are typically comfortable with SSH, lightweight CLI utilities and systemd services rather than full desktop environments like LXDE or XFCE. The ideal VPN solution must therefore provide native ARMv7/ARMv8 support, a command‐line interface or Debian repo, minimal overhead and reliable auto-reconnect so that the signage panels stay online securely without manual intervention.

Why These VPNs Are Best Suited

Mullvad VPN – Offers an official ARM-compatible Debian repo, a dedicated CLI tool and WireGuard/OpenVPN support. It installs via apt-get, integrates with systemd, and uses minimal resources.
Proton VPN – Provides a CLI client (protonvpn-cli) installable through APT or pip, supports WireGuard and OpenVPN, and features DNS leak protection configurable via CLI flags.
NordVPN – Maintains an official Debian repo with ARM builds, its nordvpn CLI tool can be managed through APT, and it integrates with systemd for auto-connect.

Comparison Table

VPN Service	Protocols	CLI Tool	Debian Repo	DNS Leak Protection
Mullvad VPN	WireGuard, OpenVPN	`mullvad` CLI	Yes	Built-in
Proton VPN	WireGuard, OpenVPN	`protonvpn-cli`	Yes	CLI-configurable
NordVPN	WireGuard (NordLynx), OpenVPN	`nordvpn` CLI	Yes	Built-in

Installation Configuration Guides

Mullvad VPN

This guide installs the official Mullvad Debian package on Raspberry Digital Signage, sets up WireGuard by default and enables auto-connect at boot.

1. Add the Mullvad repository, import its GPG key and update APT:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y apt-transport-https gnupg
curl -fsSL https://packages.mullvad.net/mullvad-debian-public.gpg  sudo gpg --dearmour -o /usr/share/keyrings/mullvad-archive-keyring.gpg
echo deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/mullvad-archive-keyring.gpg] https://packages.mullvad.net/debian bullseye main  sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mullvad.list
sudo apt-get update

2. Install the Mullvad CLI and WireGuard support:

sudo apt-get install -y mullvad-vpn wireguard

3. Log in and connect:

mullvad account login YOUR-ACCOUNT-NUMBER
mullvad connect wireguard

4. Enable automatic connection on boot via systemd:

sudo systemctl enable mullvad-daemon
sudo systemctl start mullvad-daemon

Proton VPN

Proton VPN’s official CLI (protonvpn-cli) can be installed via APT. This example uses the Proton repo to install the Python-based client and configure DNS leak protection.

1. Add the Proton VPN APT repository:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y wget gnupg
wget -qO - https://repo.protonvpn.com/debian/public_key.asc  sudo apt-key add -
echo deb https://repo.protonvpn.com/debian stable main  sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/protonvpn.list
sudo apt-get update

2. Install the Proton VPN CLI:

sudo apt-get install -y protonvpn-cli

3. Initialize and log in:

protonvpn-cli login your-proton-username

4. Connect using WireGuard and enforce DNS leak protection:

protonvpn-cli c --protocol wireguard --secure-dns

5. (Optional) Create a systemd service for auto-reconnect:

sudo tee /etc/systemd/system/protonvpn.service ltltEOF
[Unit]
Description=ProtonVPN Auto-Connect
After=network-online.target
Wants=network-online.target

[Service]
Type=idle
ExecStart=/usr/bin/protonvpn-cli c --protocol wireguard --secure-dns
Restart=on-failure
RestartSec=10

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
EOF

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable protonvpn.service
sudo systemctl start protonvpn.service

NordVPN

NordVPN provides an ARM-compatible Debian repo and a straightforward nordvpn CLI. Here’s how to get it up and running.

# Add NordVPN repo and key
curl -fsSL https://downloads.nordcdn.com/apps/linux/gpg  sudo gpg --dearmour -o /usr/share/keyrings/nordvpn-keyring.gpg
echo deb [arch=armhf signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/nordvpn-keyring.gpg] https://repo.nordvpn.com/deb/nordvpn/debian stable main  sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/nordvpn.list
sudo apt-get update

# Install the NordVPN client
sudo apt-get install -y nordvpn

# Log in and connect
nordvpn login your-email@example.com
nordvpn set technology nordlynx
nordvpn connect

# Enable auto-connect on boot
sudo nordvpn set autoconnect on

Each of these VPN solutions integrates cleanly with Raspberry Digital Signage’s minimal architecture. By choosing one of the above, you’ll ensure your digital panels maintain secure, private connections without interfering with the Chromium kiosk workflow.

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