Credits to a Reddit Thread.
This guide is 90% similar but with few more instructions to be beginner friendly...
Mullvad VPN comes with a Fedora RPM package. However, there might be dependencies issues when using it directly on OpenSUSE.
Hence, a good solution is to rebuild the RPM package for OpenSUSE.
- Open a Terminal/Console. (If you like a cleaner workspace, make a new directory, and
cdinto it) - On the Mullvad VPN's website, find the current version of the linux package.
It should be stated as something similar to "Latest version: 2024.2" - Replacing
{VERSION}with the actual version numbers found, dowget https://mullvad.net/media/app/MullvadVPN-{VERSION}_x86_64.rpm - Done, check if your current directory has a new file called
MullvadVPN-{VERSION}_x86_64.rpm.
(Uselsin command line)
This step is optional, but its good for future-proofing purposes, as one can use this step as a way to figure out missing/incompatible packages.
With a terminal in the same directory as the downloaded RPM from step 1, run:
sudo rpm -ivh --test MullvadVPN-{VERSION}_x86_64.rpm
The result will display a similar error message on Tumbleweed or Leap:
error : Dependencies required:
dbus-libs needed by mullvad-vpn-2024.2-1.x86_64
However, as original RPM is build only to be compatible with Fedora, dbus-libs package must be renamed libdbus-1-3 on
Tumbleweed & Leap, otherwise it will cause the installation to fail. If you force installation by ignoring dependencies,
Mullvad VPN will work but annoying dependencies errors will always be reported later. Is not the recommended method!
Rebuild the RPM for Tumbleweed or Leap with RPMRebuild utility is a much better solution.
For this guide, it will only assume
dbus-libsis failing, and is replacable withlibdbus-1-3.
But as more dependecies fail in future versions, you will have to either install them manually, or find alternative dependencies for those...
sudo zypper install rpmrebuild
sudo rpmrebuild -enp MullvadVPN-{VERSION}_x86_64.rpm
This will initiate an editing the RPM package in VIM.
All packages name will be listed in alphabetic order.
With RPMRebuild you'll have just to rename dbus-libs package (Fedora/CentOS) to libdbus-1-3 (Tumbleweed/Leap equivalence).
- Use arrow keys to go to line #56, search for a line that says
Requires: dbus-libs - Replace
dbus-libsin the line, withlibdbus-1-3 - Optionally, you can find a
Requires: libnotify, and replace it withRequires: libnotify4. - After modifications are done. Press
ESC, then:,w,q. Then pressEnter - You will be back at the RPM package editor, accept the prompt (
y).
It should display that it has created the package in /usr/src/packages/RPMS/x86_64/ folder.<br>The new RPM filename will be mullvad-vpn-{VERSION}-1.x86_64.rpm` as well.
cd/usr/src/packages/RPMS/x86_64/`
(Or whatever other folder the package was created into)sudo rpm -ivh --test mullvad-vpn-2024.{VERSION}.x86_64.rpm
Ideally, it should display:
Verifying... ################################# [100%]
Preparation... ################################# [100%]
However, if there are any uninstalled required dependencies, you can install them with:
sudo zypper install {MISSING_DEPENDENCY_NAME}
Or you can ask your local AI Chatbot on how to install the state dependency for OpenSUSE.
sudo zypper install -f --allow-unsigned-rpm mullvad-vpn-{VERSION}-1.x86_64.rpm
And enjoy!
Nice job Yeo Wen Qin! It's good to see people taking an interest to openSUSE, MullvadVPN, and helping to simplify their use. I'm a Leap and Tumbleweed user for several years. I became interested in Mullvad VPN after proposing my rebuild of Windscribe VPN in 2023 when it suddenly became incompatible with Leap & Tumbleweed. The problem was simpler with Mullvad VPN (just one package name to change). In 2025, I noticed that after a new update to RpmRebuild (v2.18) on Tumbleweed I can't rebuilding any RPM package from Fedora. On Leap, it's still possible with version 2.17. The solution is to update RpmRebuild to v2.20 and then everything will work as before! Here's how I updated RpmRebuild to version 2.21 on Tumbleweed:
Get the official RpmRebuild GPG signing key with the command:
sudo rpm --import https://rpmrebuild.sourceforge.net/gpg.ascDownload official RpmRebuild from https://sourceforge.net/projects/rpmrebuild/files/latest/download
or use a direct download like this:
wget https://deac-riga.dl.sourceforge.net/project/rpmrebuild/rpmrebuild/2.21/rpmrebuild-2.21-1.noarch.rpmInstallation of new version 2.21:
sudo zypper in rpmrebuild-2.21-1.noarch.rpmYou can add a lock to this package to avoid problem when system update want reinstall older version:
sudo zypper al rpmrebuildYou can find community packages in https://software.opensuse.org/package/rpmrebuild?search_term=rpmrebuild but I've not tested.
Although on Leap 15.6 it's still necessary to rebuild the Fedora package of Mullvad VPN to adapt it to openSUSE, with Tumbleweed it's different! Now you can add the Mullvad repository intended for Fedora and install it directly without rebuilding anything, after adding the official GPG signature key. Here's how to do it:
import the GPG signing key with the command:
sudo rpm --import https://mullvad.net/media/mullvad-code-signing.ascadd official Mullvad VPN (Fedora) repository to Tumbleweed:
sudo zypper ar -f https://repository.mullvad.net/rpm/stable/x86_64/ MullvadVPNsudo zypper ar -f https://repository.mullvad.net/rpm/beta/x86_64/ MullvadVPN_betasudo zypper in mullvad-vpn