Installation Size on Debian

[thekief]

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---

I was recently about to install the CLI application on Debian and was a bit wondering about the size of the installation.

I would be running it on a small, headless server and with the dependencies it would have taken about 835MB in size and 1GB, if the suggested packages would have been installed. Is there some way to optimise it and trim it down? I'm fully aware that certain dependencies occupy space but that really feels quite a bit too much for a CLI application.

[thekief]

I reinstalled Debian in a VM, as my server's setup is a bit more minimal, and I get the following output:

sudo apt install --no-install-recommends proton-vpn-cli
Installing:
  proton-vpn-cli

Installing dependencies:
  adwaita-icon-theme         libbpfcc                      libgraphite2-3            libpangocairo-1.0-0   libxrandr2                          python3-gi-cairo
  at-spi2-common             libcairo-gobject2             libgtk-3-0t64             libpangoft2-1.0-0     libxrender1                         python3-gnupg
  binutils                   libcairo-script-interpreter2  libgtk-3-common           libpixman-1-0         libz3-4                             python3-importlib-metadata
  binutils-common            libcairo2                     libgtk-4-1                libpkcs11-helper1t64  linux-headers-6.12.57+deb13-amd64   python3-jaraco.classes
  binutils-x86-64-linux-gnu  libcc1-0                      libgtk-4-common           libquadmath0          linux-headers-6.12.57+deb13-common  python3-jaraco.context
  cpp-14                     libclang-cpp19                libharfbuzz-subset0       librtmp1              linux-headers-amd64                 python3-jaraco.functools
  cpp-14-x86-64-linux-gnu    libcloudproviders0            libharfbuzz0b             libsecret-1-0         linux-kbuild-6.12.57+deb13          python3-jeepney
  dconf-gsettings-backend    libcolord2                    libhwasan0                libsecret-common      network-manager                     python3-jinja2
  dconf-service              libctf-nobfd0                 libisl23                  libsframe1            network-manager-openvpn             python3-keyring
  fontconfig                 libctf0                       libitm1                   libsharpyuv0          network-manager-openvpn-gnome       python3-markupsafe
  fontconfig-config          libcups2t64                   libjbig0                  libsodium23           openvpn                             python3-more-itertools
  fonts-dejavu-core          libcurl3t64-gnutls            libjpeg62-turbo           libssh2-1t64          p11-kit                             python3-multidict
  fonts-dejavu-mono          libdatrie1                    libjs-jquery              libteamdctl0          p11-kit-modules                     python3-nacl
  gcc-14                     libdconf1                     libjs-sphinxdoc           libthai-data          pahole                              python3-openssl
  gcc-14-x86-64-linux-gnu    libdeflate0                   libjs-underscore          libthai0              pinentry-gnome3                     python3-packaging
  gcr                        libepoxy0                     liblcms2-2                libtiff6              proton-vpn-daemon                   python3-propcache
  gcr4                       libfontconfig1                liblerc4                  libtsan2              python3-aiohappyeyeballs            python3-proton-core
  gir1.2-girepository-2.0    libfribidi0                   libllvm19                 libubsan1             python3-aiohttp                     python3-proton-keyring-linux
  gir1.2-glib-2.0            libgcc-14-dev                 liblsan0                  libvulkan1            python3-aiosignal                   python3-proton-vpn-api-core
  gir1.2-nm-1.0              libgck-1-0                    liblzo2-2                 libwayland-client0    python3-async-timeout               python3-proton-vpn-local-agent
  gnome-keyring              libgck-2-2                    libmm-glib0               libwayland-cursor0    python3-attr                        python3-psutil
  gtk-update-icon-cache      libgcr-4-4                    libmpc3                   libwayland-egl1       python3-bcrypt                      python3-secretstorage
  hicolor-icon-theme         libgcr-base-3-1               libmpfr6                  libwebp7              python3-bpfcc                       python3-sentry-sdk
  libasan8                   libgcr-ui-3-1                 libndp0                   libxcb-render0        python3-cairo                       python3-systemd
  libatk-bridge2.0-0t64      libgdk-pixbuf-2.0-0           libnghttp3-9              libxcb-shm0           python3-cffi-backend                python3-yarl
  libatk1.0-0t64             libgdk-pixbuf2.0-common       libngtcp2-16              libxcomposite1        python3-click                       python3-zipp
  libatspi2.0-0t64           libgirepository-1.0-1         libngtcp2-crypto-gnutls8  libxcursor1           python3-cryptography                wireguard-tools
  libavahi-client3           libgles2                      libnm0                    libxdamage1           python3-dbus-fast
  libavahi-common-data       libglvnd0                     libnma-common             libxfixes3            python3-distro
  libavahi-common3           libgomp1                      libnma-gtk4-0             libxi6                python3-fido2
  libbinutils                libgprofng0                   libnma0                   libxinerama1          python3-frozenlist
  libbluetooth3              libgraphene-1.0-0             libpango-1.0-0            libxkbcommon0         python3-gi

Suggested packages:
  adwaita-icon-theme-legacy  gcc-14-locales   colord          libteam-utils     openvpn-systemd-resolved  python3-cryptography-vectors  python3-dbus          python-openssl-doc
  binutils-doc               cpp-14-doc       cups-common     iptables          pinentry-doc              python-jinja2-doc             python3-keyrings.alt  python-secretstorage-doc
  gprofng-gui                gcc-14-multilib  gvfs            resolvconf        python-attr-doc           gir1.2-secret-1               python3-shtab         openresolv
  binutils-gold              gcc-14-doc       liblcms2-utils  openvpn-dco-dkms  python-cryptography-doc   libkf5wallet-bin              python-nacl-doc       | resolvconf

Recommended packages:
  librsvg2-common  gnome-keyring-pkcs11  at-spi2-core          libgtk-3-bin  libgtk-4-media-gstreamer  modemmanager         | vulkan-icd  dnsmasq-base  network-manager-l10n  python3-aiodns
  libc6-dev        libpam-gnome-keyring  libgdk-pixbuf2.0-bin  libgtk-4-bin  javascript-common         mesa-vulkan-drivers  ppp           polkitd       easy-rsa              python3-babel

Summary:
  Upgrading: 0, Installing: 188, Removing: 0, Not Upgrading: 0
  Download size: 155 MB
  Space needed: 678 MB / 17.7 GB available

[Kidlike]

similar on a fresh Fedora 43, it's 441MiB of dependencies, or 58 packages 🤯

Not to mention that installing proton-vpn-cli, brings also NetworkManager-openvpn-gnome. Why does the cli need this dependency? I'm not even running Gnome, I'm on KDE.

(Since Proton is a Rust shop, maybe this should be re-written in Rust? 😄 )

[SanderVeeken]

I can confirm this is still an issue, I'm on Debian 13 and the install took a shocking 858MB. That's just crazy, I hope it gets fixed. Regardless of the size for the end user, I can't believe the devs want to have their functionality depend on THAT many 3rd party projects.

[digaoddc]

I was going to install the proton-vpn-cli on arch and I think this has too many dependencies for a VPN client.

It's different linux distro, but the issue is the same. Why is it trying to install sentry ?

The programming language is not the problem, but the dependencies.

yay -S proton-vpn-cli
Sync Explicit (1): proton-vpn-cli-0.1.3-1
resolving dependencies...
looking for conflicting packages...

Packages (41) bcc-0.35.0-6  clang-21.1.6-1  compiler-rt-21.1.6-1  cython-3.2.4-1  llhttp-9.2.1-2  proton-vpn-daemon-0.13.4-3  python-aiohappyeyeballs-2.6.1-3  python-aiohttp-3.13.2-1  python-aiosignal-1.4.0-2
              python-bcc-0.35.0-6  python-bcrypt-5.0.0-1  python-certifi-2025.11.12-1  python-click-8.2.1-1  python-dbus-fast-3.1.2-1  python-fido2-2.0.0-1  python-frozenlist-1.8.0-1  python-gnupg-0.5.6-1
              python-importlib-metadata-8.7.1-1  python-jaraco.classes-3.4.0-2  python-jaraco.context-6.0.1-1  python-jaraco.functools-4.1.0-1  python-jeepney-0.9.0-2  python-jinja-1:3.1.6-1
              python-keyring-25.7.0-1  python-markupsafe-3.0.2-1  python-more-itertools-10.8.0-1  python-multidict-6.7.0-2  python-propcache-0.4.1-1  python-proton-core-0.7.0-2
              python-proton-keyring-linux-0.2.1-2  python-proton-vpn-api-core-4.14.1-3  python-proton-vpn-local-agent-1.6.0-1  python-psutil-7.1.3-1  python-pynacl-1.6.1-1  python-pyopenssl-25.3.0-1
              python-secretstorage-3.3.3-6  python-sentry_sdk-2.47.0-1  python-yarl-1.22.0-1  python-zipp-3.21.0-2  wireguard-tools-1.0.20250521-1  proton-vpn-cli-0.1.3-1

Total Download Size:    63,41 MiB
Total Installed Size:  316,92 MiB

:: Proceed with installation? [Y/n]

[jllaneras]

Hello! The current CLI is still in v0, and the only reason that it depends on NetworkManager is that this is what the app uses as network backend, due to how ubiquitous it is in desktop distros. We reused the same networking backend in the CLI to be able to ship it and gather feedback ASAP.

That being said, we'll keep improving the CLI. As soon as we have enough demand for running the CLI on headless servers (vs running it from DEs), we can introduce a new networking backend that doesn't rely on NetworkManager. (And we're indeed moving to Rust where we can, so python package dependencies will go down over time.)

Just remember that this is not the only project we are working on for Linux (exciting stuff is coming soon!), so we'll need to be able to prioritize this request over all the others. The more people we have interested in the CLI, the easier it is to prioritize it.

In any case, thanks for your feedback, we hear you!

[fice-t]

As soon as we have enough demand for running the CLI on headless servers (vs running it from DEs)

How does the Proton team determine this?

Personally, my use case for ProtonVPN is primarily for my headless server, and I am currently using a manual Wireguard configuration while waiting for the official CLI to mature (namely for auto port-forwarding, but this issue as well). How should those like me express such demand?

P.S. I appreciate the ongoing work on the CLI.

[a-chacon]

I hope ProtonVpn apps for linux leave the dependencies of Gnome. Not all users using GNU/Linux use Gnome. CLI and Desktop app depends on gnome packages.

[thekief]

@jllaneras could you update the readme (or even rename the project) to reflect your comment better?

While I can follow your reasoning, I think the it needs to be addressed that this isn't a small CLI application but rather an almost 1GB behemoth.

In addition, I was wondering, if you can tell what the future may hold for this project. In general, I would expect the application to do three major things:

• authenticate against the Proton backend to get the Wireguard configurations
• suggest a better Wireguard server, if it's getting too crowded
• interact with the corresponding OS' Wireguard client