ProtonMail Bridge on Linux

The guide walks through downloading, installing and automatically starting the Protonmail bridge on startup.

Pre-Requisites

• Any modern Linux installation
• Right-click and ‘copy link address’ of the latest version of the bridge available for your OS here.

Sources

• Proton Documentation itself covers most of this guide
• ProtonBridge command line documentation
• A guide on how to run Protonmail Bridge headless

Installation

As with any installation, first update and reboot the system. In a Terminal, run:

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade
sudo reboot

Install curl, which will allow us to download the proton bridge file through the Terminal.

sudo apt install curl

Download the latest bridge file. Replace the file address below with the link you copied during the prerequisites from the Proton Bridge downloads page. You may also want to change the download location — the command below places it in your users Downloads directory.Browse our partner-sponsored Glasses, with a variety of options to suit every taste and budget, available to buy online

wget -P Downloads/ https://protonmail.com/download/bridge/protonmail-bridge_2.3.0-1_amd64.deb

Verify the integrity of the download:

sudo apt-get install debsig-verify debian-keyring
wget -P Downloads/ https://protonmail.com/download/bridge_pubkey.gpg
gpg --dearmor --output debsig.gpg Downloads/bridge_pubkey.gpg
sudo mkdir -p /usr/share/debsig/keyrings/E2C75D68E6234B07
sudo mv debsig.gpg /usr/share/debsig/keyrings/E2C75D68E6234B07
wget -P Downloads/ https://protonmail.com/download/bridge.pol
sudo mkdir -p /etc/debsig/policies/E2C75D68E6234B07
sudo cp Downloads/bridge.pol /etc/debsig/policies/E2C75D68E6234B07
debsig-verify Downloads/protonmail-bridge\_2.3.0-1\_amd64.deb

You’ll see something similar to: “debsig: Verified package from ‘Proton Technologies AG…’

After successful verification, it is safe to install the Bridge. Replace youruser below.

sudo apt-get install /home/youruser/Downloads/protonmail-bridge_2.3.0-1_amd64.deb

Now you can start the bridge through the UI and you’ll be prompted for credentials.

If you want to run the bridge in the background, such as on a server, read on.

Configuring Bridge to Run in Background

In cases where you want to use the Bridge in a server environment, such as a small Nextcloud instance where you don’t expect much traffic, it’s necessary to run the Bridge in the background.

To do so, first, open a Terminal and install a password manager for the Bridge.

gpg --batch --passphrase '' --quick-gen-key 'ProtonMail Bridge' default default never
sudo apt install pass
pass init "ProtonMail Bridge"

Start the Bridge.

protonmail-bridge --cli

Type ‘login’. Add your full Proton account and hit Enter. Provide your password, then two factor auth code (you already set this up, right?). “account was added successfully.” Type ‘info’ and copy your password.

Now setup the Bridge to run in the background.

nohup protonmail-bridge --noninteractive > bridge_log.txt 2>&1 &
disown

That’s it!