What's the best way to update NordVPN?

[akbrian]

This is probably something simple. I installed NordVPN awhile back, and it works fine now. But there is an update available, and I'm not sure the best way to update. Although they do have RPM packages, most all the instructions are targeted at the *buntu.

The NordVPN RPMs are available here: https://repo.nordvpn.com/yum/nordvpn/centos/x86_64/Packages/n/

Their Linux update instructions are here: https://support.nordvpn.com/hc/en-us/articles/19599549948945-How-to-update-NordVPN-applications

a snippet from that page;

If you’re wondering how to update NordVPN for Linux, simply run these commands:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade
sudo apt-get install nordvpn

How would I do this with our package manager?

Thanks in advance. BTW, I'm on Mageia 9 x64

[doktor5000]

You should be able to directly add that as a repo, as root like so

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dnf-config-manager --add-repo=https://repo.nordvpn.com/yum/nordvpn/centos/x86_64/

Then simply update it via dnf

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dnf update nordvpn

[akbrian]

Thanks for the response, but I'm having problems with dnf. It's installed, but I've never used it before.

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# dnf-config-manager --add-repo=https://repo.nordvpn.com/yum/nordvpn/centos/x86_64/
bash: dnf-config-manager: command not found
# dnf --version
4.14.0
  Installed: dnf-0:4.14.0-1.mga9.noarch at Fri 06 Oct 2023 03:07:03 PM GMT
  Built    : luigiwalser <luigiwalser> at Tue 13 Sep 2022 10:04:44 PM GMT

  Installed: rpm-1:4.18.2-1.mga9.x86_64 at Thu 14 Dec 2023 08:49:53 PM GMT
  Built    : tv <tv> at Thu 30 Nov 2023 08:30:45 PM GMT
# dnf provides dnf-config-manager
Last metadata expiration check: 3:29:54 ago on Thu 20 Feb 2025 09:23:25 AM AKST.
Error: No matches found. If searching for a file, try specifying the full path or using a wildcard prefix ("*/") at the beginning.
# dnf provides dnf-plugins-core
Last metadata expiration check: 3:34:00 ago on Thu 20 Feb 2025 09:23:25 AM AKST.
dnf-plugins-core-4.3.1-1.mga9.noarch : Core Plugins for DNF
Repo        : @System
Matched from:
Provide    : dnf-plugins-core = 4.3.1-1.mga9
(this same  response repeats 3 times for some reason)


I get "command not found" when I try dnf-config-manager as root, as shown. I searched for it in MCC for it, and it is supposedly provided by "dnf-plugins-core", which is shown as already installed. I see there is an enableplugins command, but I haven't been able to successfully use it. I edited /etc/dnf/dnf.conf to add "plugins=True", as suggested from a web search.

Any suggestions?

[morgano]

You wrote you tried the command "dnf-config-manager" - try that with a space instead of the first dash

BTW have you read https://wiki.mageia.org/en/Using_DNF ?

[doktor5000]

Yeah sorry was mislead by the man-page as that is called dnf-config-manager, command should be dnf config-manager ...
For yum this was a dedicated command not only a plugin.

[akbrian]

Thanks again for the response. I will read that dnf link you mentioned. This part was successful;

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# dnf config-manager --add-repo=https://repo.nordvpn.com/yum/nordvpn/centos/x86_64/
Adding repo from: https://repo.nordvpn.com/yum/nordvpn/centos/x86_64/

Then this was partly successful;

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# dnf update nordvpn
created by dnf config-manager from https://repo.nordvpn.com/yum/nordvpn/centos/x86_64/                                                     5.1 kB/s | 4.0 kB     00:00   
Dependencies resolved.

 Problem: cannot install the best update candidate for package nordvpn-3.19.0-1.x86_64
  - nothing provides (libnl3 or libnl3-200) needed by nordvpn-3.20.0-1.x86_64 from repo.nordvpn.com_yum_nordvpn_centos_x86_64_


I then installed the noarch and x64 libnl3 packages through MCC, oddly the i586 libnl3-devel shows up in "names", but the x64 lib3-devel only shows up when you use "file names" search option. Unfortunately, rerunning the same dnf command yields the same result.

I also received the "GPG check FAILED" because I don't have the Public Nordvpn GPG key. I used the "--nogpgcheck" switch to address that. I would like to import their GPG key, which I'm guessing is something from here;
https://repo.nordvpn.com/yum/nordvpn/centos/x86_64/repodata/
but I'm not quite sure how to do it.

[morgano]

Have you added the Mageia repos to the DNF configuration? (see our wiki page)

[doktor5000]

I also received the "GPG check FAILED" because I don't have the Public Nordvpn GPG key. I used the "--nogpgcheck" switch to address that. I would like to import their GPG key, which I'm guessing is something from here;
https://repo.nordvpn.com/yum/nordvpn/centos/x86_64/repodata/
but I'm not quite sure how to do it.

Usually if their repo is setup correctly the key should be imported automatically. Key is located here: https://repo.nordvpn.com/gpg/
and you should be able to import it with

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rpm --import https://repo.nordvpn.com/gpg/nordvpn_public.asc

[akbrian]

Thanks again for your patience. I started by making sure the rest of my install was up to date with urpm, as usual.
I took care of the gpg key as shown in your post above.

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# rpm --import https://repo.nordvpn.com/gpg/nordvpn_public.asc

Then following the instructions on the page you linked,
https://wiki.mageia.org/en/Using_DNF
I added non-free,

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# dnf config-manager --set-enabled mageia-x86_64-nonfree updates-x86_64-nonfree

and tainted,

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# dnf config-manager --set-enabled mageia-x86_64-tainted updates-x86_64-tainted

Then I listed the dnf repos,

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# dnf repolist all

Which showed for some reason cauldron was enabled. Everything else looked right, Google, nordvpn, the normal Mageia stuff. I disabled cauldron,

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# dnf config-manager --disable cauldron-x86_64 cauldron-updates-x86_64

which I double checked by rerunning repolist. Everything looked correct. I tried to update nordvpn again,

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# dnf update nordvpn
Last metadata expiration check: 0:02:21 ago on Sat 22 Feb 2025 01:57:25 PM AKST.
Dependencies resolved.

 Problem: cannot install the best update candidate for package nordvpn-3.19.1-1.x86_64
  - nothing provides (libnl3 or libnl3-200) needed by nordvpn-3.20.0-1.x86_64 from repo.nordvpn.com_yum_nordvpn_centos_x86_64_
===========================================================================================================================================================================
 Package                         Architecture                   Version                          Repository                                                           Size
===========================================================================================================================================================================
Skipping packages with broken dependencies:
 nordvpn                         x86_64                         3.20.0-1                         repo.nordvpn.com_yum_nordvpn_centos_x86_64_                          37 M

Transaction Summary
===========================================================================================================================================================================
Skip  1 Package

Nothing to do.
Complete!

The dreaded "nothing provides (libnl3 or libnl3-200)" . Any ideas?

[morgano]

Do you have the core release and updates repos enabled?
- what is the output of "dnf repolist"?

[doktor5000]

Yes. dnf shows the following repos as enabled;

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google-chrome                                                   google-chrome
google-earth-pro                                                google-earth-pro
mageia-x86_64                                                   Mageia 9 - x86_64
mageia-x86_64-nonfree                                      Mageia 9 - x86_64 - Nonfree
mageia-x86_64-tainted                                       Mageia 9 - x86_64 - Tainted
repo.nordvpn.com_yum_nordvpn_centos_x86_64_   created by dnf config-manager from https://repo.nordvpn.com/yum/nordvpn/centos/x86_64/
updates-x86_64                                                  Mageia 9 - x86_64 - Updates
updates-x86_64-nonfree                                     Mageia 9 - x86_64 - Nonfree - Updates
updates-x86_64-nonfree                                     Mageia 9 - x86_64 - Nonfree - Updates
updates-x86_64-tainted                                      Mageia 9 - x86_64 - Tainted - Updates

edit to add: The command output format doesn't lend itself to copy and pasting.

[akbrian]

All the above are on my desktop. While updating a laptop that I don't normally use at home for a trip tomorrow, I basically did the same things. However though I used the same commands, it added two additional "enabled" repo lines;

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nordvpn                                                              NordVPN YUM repository - x86_64                                                                                 enabled
nordvpn-noarch                                                       NordVPN YUM repository - noarch                                                                                 enabled
repo.nordvpn.com_yum_nordvpn_centos_x86_64_                          created by dnf config-manager from https://repo.nordvpn.com/yum/nordvpn/centos/x86_64/                          enabled

However the result was the same dependency error.

[doktor5000]

Problem: cannot install the best update candidate for package nordvpn-3.19.1-1.x86_64
- nothing provides (libnl3 or libnl3-200) needed by nordvpn-3.20.0-1.x86_64 from repo.nordvpn.com_yum_nordvpn_centos_x86_64_

You could only report that to nordvpn that they add a more generic library dependency for that.
Also this is for a 32bit library, and our package does not provide that, it only provides libnl3_200
https://madb.mageialinux-online.org/rpm ... re-release under Provides at the bottom you can see what this package provides

You could only install/update it via urpmi as dnf does not allow to skip unfulfilled dependencies.
It should be possible to mirror that repo to your box and create urpmi metadata for it.
With something like wget or reposync download everything under https://repo.nordvpn.com/yum/nordvpn/ce ... ackages/n/
and then run genhdlist2 on that directory and add it as urpmi repository. Then update via

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urpmi --allow-nodeps nordvpn

Or simply write a short one-liner to check the newest package under https://repo.nordvpn.com/yum/nordvpn/ce ... ackages/n/ and directly update that via urpmi.

[akbrian]

This might explains something;

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# urpmi -q lib64nl3_200
Package lib64nl3_200-3.7.0-1.mga9.x86_64 is already installed

Even though nordvpn is a 64 bit package, they seem to be calling for libnl3-200 (or libnl3), according to the error.

Unfortunately, I've run out of time to work on it right now, as I going to leave on vacation this evening and I'll be gone for week and half. I'm not sure I'll be able to work on this till I get back. Thank you so much for all your help.

[akbrian]

I'll quickly post this response from Nord support, even though I should be packing;

Hello,

Thank you for your letter.

To address the dependency issue you're encountering while updating NordVPN on Mageia 9, here are some troubleshooting steps:

Verify the Repository Configuration: Ensure that the NordVPN repository is correctly configured for your system. You can check the repository file in /etc/yum.repos.d/ and confirm that it points to the correct CentOS-based repository for NordVPN.

Manually Install Dependencies: Even though lib64nl3_200 is installed, the package manager might not recognize it as satisfying the dependency. Try creating a symbolic link to match the expected library name:
bash
sudo ln -s /usr/lib64/libnl-3.so.200 /usr/lib64/libnl3.so

Then, retry the update command.

Force the Installation: If the above steps don't resolve the issue, you can try forcing the installation of the NordVPN package:
bash
sudo dnf install nordvpn-3.20.0-1.x86_64.rpm --skip-broken

However, proceed with caution, as skipping dependencies might lead to functionality issues.

If the problem persists, you may need to contact NordVPN support for further assistance.

*The content of this email is generated by AI system, which is still in training phase.

I quickly tried the sym link approach, but it didn't fix the problem.

[doktor5000]

This might explains something;

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# urpmi -q lib64nl3_200
Package lib64nl3_200-3.7.0-1.mga9.x86_64 is already installed

Even though nordvpn is a 64 bit package, they seem to be calling for libnl3-200 (or libnl3), according to the error.

For Fedora as they dropped 32bit packages ( see https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Changes/ ... positories ) that is understandable,
but this is not something we can add to our 64bit package as we still have normal 32bit packages and this would cause breakage.

Manually Install Dependencies: Even though lib64nl3_200 is installed, the package manager might not recognize it as satisfying the dependency. Try creating a symbolic link to match the expected library name:
bash
sudo ln -s /usr/lib64/libnl-3.so.200 /usr/lib64/libnl3.so

For reference, there is no relation at all what symlink you create or not, the package manager only parses what the RPM packages contain including their Requires/Provides.
Adding that symlink won't influence dependency resolution at all.

[akbrian]

I back from traveling and ready to try this again. I'm corresponding with Nord. I want to hold off on going the local mirror route for awhile because the older version does work, and they do seem responsive. If I grasp the situation correctly, Red Hat renamed their "lib64(whatever) to simply lib(whatever) because they don't have an 32 bit packages anymore? I do see in the dependency list that nl3 (or nl3-200) is the only library specifically required;

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$ sudo dnf deplist nordvpn-3.20.1-1.x86_64.rpm
Last metadata expiration check: 2:24:04 ago on Sat 22 Mar 2025 11:12:27 AM AKDT.
package: nordvpn-3.20.1-1.x86_64
  dependency: (libnl3 or libnl3-200)
  dependency: ca-certificates
   provider: rootcerts-1:20250130.00-1.mga9.noarch
  dependency: glibc >= 2.29
   provider: glibc-6:2.36-55.mga9.x86_64
  dependency: iproute
   provider: iproute2-6.6.0-1.mga9.x86_64
  dependency: iptables
   provider: iptables-1.8.9-2.3.mga9.x86_64
  dependency: libidn2
   provider: lib64idn2_0-2.3.4-3.1.mga9.x86_64
  dependency: libxml2
   provider: lib64xml2_2-2.10.4-1.6.mga9.x86_64
  dependency: procps
   provider: procps-ng-3.3.17-2.2.mga9.x86_64
  dependency: zlib
   provider: lib64zlib1-1.2.13-1.2.mga9.x86_64
$


[doktor5000]

If I grasp the situation correctly, Red Hat renamed their "lib64(whatever) to simply lib(whatever) because they don't have an 32 bit packages anymore?

Yes. Although they did not really rename packages but they changed the provide tag generation AFAICT.

I do see in the dependency list that nl3 (or nl3-200) is the only library specifically required;

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$ sudo dnf deplist nordvpn-3.20.1-1.x86_64.rpm
Last metadata expiration check: 2:24:04 ago on Sat 22 Mar 2025 11:12:27 AM AKDT.
package: nordvpn-3.20.1-1.x86_64
  dependency: (libnl3 or libnl3-200)
  dependency: libidn2
   provider: lib64idn2_0-2.3.4-3.1.mga9.x86_64
  dependency: libxml2
   provider: lib64xml2_2-2.10.4-1.6.mga9.x86_64
  dependency: zlib
   provider: lib64zlib1-1.2.13-1.2.mga9.x86_64
$


Well there are a few more libraries that are required overall.

You could ask nordvpn to add a boolean requires on lib64nl3_200 as described e.g. here: https://rpm-software-management.github. ... ncies.html

[akbrian]

Yes, I see that I failed to notice the other lib packages. Oops. This is my latest correspondence with Nord;

I believe the problem is that because Mageia still provides 32 bit libraries in addition to current 64 bit ones, Mageia still uses lib64(whatever) instead of the current (as I understand it) Fedora style lib(whatever). If you look at the dependency listing shown previously in this email you will see, for example,
(snip)
dependency: zlib
provider: lib64zlib1-1.2.13-1.2.mga9.x86_64
(snip)

So for "zlib", it understands to use "zlib64..."
yet for libnl3;
(snip)
dependency: (libnl3 or libnl3-200)
(snip)
It fails to accept the verified as installed lib64nl3-200

I note that nl3-200 is not shown as required by nordvpn-3.19.1-1.x86_64.rpm , which functions correctly. Perhaps the "lib64" style nomenclature wasn't addressed when that dependency was added?

Hopefully I got that right.

[doktor5000]

Well, the Requires on libraries are generated automatically, see http://ftp.rpm.org/max-rpm/s1-rpm-depen ... epend.html

Although they already have a boolean dependency so it should be easily possible to tweak
Requires (libnl3 or libnl3-200)
to
Requires (libnl3 or libnl3-200 or lib64nl3_200)

If it's an automatically generated dependency then there's no clean solution. They could only drop Requires generation via the __requires_exclude macro on libnl3 completely and manually add Requires which would be pretty ugly.

[akbrian]

Nord is trying to send me back through link this and that rabbit hole again, but I'm noticing that they require
*nl3-200 yet the library is *nl3_200 (dash vs underscore)

Could it be that simple?

[doktor5000]

Simple as in ?

rpm does not care about symlinks, it only cares about the actual Requires and Provides tags.
If a given package say "Requires: A" but you only have a package installed that says "Provides: B" then that Requires is not fulfilled.
Doesn't matter if it looks like *nl3-200 vs *nl3_200 (dash vs underscore) - those are two totally different packages to rpm.
There's nothing you can change about that.

Either the package is changed on NordVPNs side.
Or our library is changed to also provide "libnl3-200" which could be a problem for our i586 packages.
Or you install via urpmi --allow-nodeps.

[akbrian]

What I meant was that on their side, could they have made an - vs _ error.

However, after doing some searching on rpmfind.net, I see the following different names by distro for 64 bit nl3;

libnl3 Fedora, CentOS, AlmaLinux
libnl3-200 OpenSuSE*
lib64nl3_200 Mageia, OpenMandriva

I'll just stay on the functional nordvpn 3.19.1 and hope they address the issue in the point release. I understand the point you make on linking. I was just passing on that was their comment. Thanks again for the help and patience.

*OpenSuSE does also have this odd to me package; libnl3-200-32bit-3.11.0-1.3.x86_64
---------------------
Edit to Update: I pointed out the dash vs underscore thing to Nord, this is the response I got;

Thank you for your reply.

It is to inform that officially, it is supposed to be lib64nl3_200. Please refer to the link below:
https://pkgs.org/download/libnl-3.so.200(libnl_3)(64bit)

[doktor5000]

Name of the package is not necessarily the same as the Provide. Although every package will have a Provides for the name.

Also if it would require lib64nl3_200 then that is already satisfied by the Mageia package, you'll see that in the listing at pkgs.org.

[akbrian]

They seem to understand the problem. Although I'm perfectly happy to stay on my functional nordvpn release until a future nord point release addresses the issue, they are suggesting I try to use their snap package. They do not offer flatpak.

My understanding is that snap isn't compatible with Mageia, however I would appreciate it if you could confirm that my understanding is correct before I respond to Nord.