Desktop-App

Windscribe Desktop Application

The Windscribe VPN desktop application hides your physical location, blocks ads and trackers, and keeps you safe online. Features available in the application are:

• Offers 6 different protocols to choose from, along with over 20 different connection ports:
  • WireGuard® - Now with Post-Quantum Encryption
  • OpenVPN UDP/TCP
  • IKEv2
  • Stealth
  • WSTunnel
• Proactive firewall eliminates the chance of any kind of leak.
• Network and per-app split tunneling.
• Appear as a brand new user, every time you connect using MAC address spoofing.
• Network rules allowing you to connect or disconnect automatically.
• Custom config support for importing any VPN config into Windscribe.
• Create a secure HTTP or SOCKS5 proxy server on your computer, allowing any device on your network to use this proxy server in order to make requests over the VPN tunnel.
• Content filtering with our integrated DNS-based blocker (R.O.B.E.R.T.) for ads, trackers, malware, and custom domains.
• Custom DNS support for using any 3rd party DNS server, including our sister product ctrld.
• CLI support on all platforms, including a pure CLI environment for Linux.
• No per-device or simultaneous connection restrictions. Use one account across all your personal systems.

OS Support

• Windows 10/11 amd64 (minimum build 17763)
• Windows 11 arm64
• Windows Server 2022 amd64
• macOS 14.4+ (amd64, arm64)
• Ubuntu 22.04+ (amd64, arm64)
• Fedora 36+ (amd64, arm64)
• openSUSE Leap 15.6 amd64
• Arch amd64 (with a minimum glibc version of 2.35)
• Immutable distros (e.g. Fedora Silverblue 40, openSUSE Aeon/MicroOS)

Windows Build Process

Prerequisites

• Windows 10/11 x86_64, or Windows 11 arm64. On arm64 hardware the build is native and targets arm64. Pass --arm64 only to cross-compile an arm64 target from x86_64 hardware.
• Install git. When installing Git, you can stick with all the default options presented to you by the installer.
• Clone the repository.
• Install Visual Studio Community Edition 2022.
• Install Python 3 via either the Microsoft Store or from here. Minimum tested version is 3.6.8.
• Install CMake v3.28.x or newer from here. The project will build with older versions of CMake, but you may encounter some warnings.
• Install Ninja v1.10.2 from here
• Install Windows 11 SDK (10.0.22000) from here. Newer versions may work as well.
• Clone the ws-vcpkg-registry and run its installation script to set up vcpkg. Then set the VCPKG_ROOT environment variable to the path you chose:

git clone https://github.com/Windscribe/ws-vcpkg-registry.git
ws-vcpkg-registry\install-vcpkg\vcpkg_install.bat C:\path\to\vcpkg

• Verify the following entries are in your System PATH environment variable. If they are not, add them to the System PATH environment variable and reboot.
  • C:\Program Files\Git\cmd
  • C:\[folder containing ninja.exe]
  • C:\[folder containing cmake.exe]
• Verify that python3 is available in your System PATH environment variable.
  • If you installed Python from the Microsoft Store, enable the python3.exe execution alias in System Settings Manage App Execution Aliases.
  • If you installed Python from python.org, you can mklink /path/to/your/python3.exe /path/to/your/python.exe
• If you plan to build the wstunnel dependency listed in the Build libraries section:
  • Install golang (minimum version 1.23) following the instructions from https://go.dev/doc/install
  • Download the latest llvm-mingw msvcrt x86_64 package from https://github.com/mstorsjo/llvm-mingw/releases.
  • Extract the bin and include folders to a folder of your choosing.
  • Before running install_wstunnel, set the environment variable LLVM_MINGW_ROOT to the folder you created in the previous step.

Install build script dependencies

• You will have to go to Manage App Execution Aliases in System Settings and disable app installer for python.exe and python3.exe

  python3 -m pip install -r tools/requirements.txt

In case of pyyaml building issue on Windows, execute the following and then re-execute the above python step:

pip install setuptools wheel
pip install "cython<3.0.0" && pip install --no-build-isolation pyyaml==6.0

Install signing certificate (optional)

• Copy your PFX code signing file to installer/windows/signing/code_signing.pfx.
• Edit (create) tools/notarize.yml and add the following line:

  windows-signing-cert-password: password-for-code-signing-pfx

• Edit client/common/utils/executable_signature/executable_signature_defs.h and set the WINDOWS_CERT_SUBJECT_NAME entry to match your certficate’s name of signer field.

Build libraries

Go to subfolder tools/deps and run the following scripts in order. Append --arm64 to the command to build a library for Windows arm64. Libraries will be placed in build-libs[-arm64].

install_openvpn_dco
install_wintun
install_wstunnel

Build the Windscribe 2.0 app

Go to subfolder tools and run build_all --dev-mode. Assuming all goes well with the build, the installer will be placed in build-exe. The --dev-mode flag disables run-time signature verification and relaxes the security checks, which is what you want for local development and debugging. Omitting --dev-mode produces a build that performs run-time signature verification on its executables; that build must be code-signed with --sign-app (and --sign-installer / --sign-bootstrap as needed), using the certificate from the Install signing certificate section above, otherwise it will reject its own unsigned executables at run time. On x86_64 hardware, append --arm64 to cross-compile for Windows arm64. On arm64 hardware that is the default, and the compiler, linker, and vcpkg host tools are the native arm64 tools.

See build_all --help for other build options.

Logs

• Client app, OpenVPN log, location pings and installer helper: C:/Users/<user_name>/AppData/Local/Windscribe/Windscribe2
• Service: <Windscribe_installation_path>/windscribeservice.log
• Installer: C:/ProgramData/Windscribe/installer.log (previous attempt in installer.log.1)
• Uninstaller: C:/ProgramData/Windscribe/uninstaller.log (previous run in uninstaller.log.1)
• <Windscribe_installation_path> defaults to C:/Program Files/Windscribe

macOS Build Process

Prerequisites

• macOS Sonoma (14.4) or newer.
• Install Xcode 15 or newer.
  • You must agree to the Xcode license (sudo xcodebuild -license)
  • You may need to run xcodebuild -runFirstLaunch or the Xcode GUI once if CMake complains that it can’t find the compiler when building using the Xcode generator.
  • Note: these downloads will require you to first login to your Apple account.
    • https://xcodereleases.com
• Install brew (brew.sh)

  /bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

• Install git. This step is optional, as git is bundled with Xcode.

  brew install git

• Install Auto-Tools:

  brew install libtool
  brew install automake

• Install Python 3:
  • Minimum tested version is Python 3.6.8. 3.12.0 seems to have some issues with the python deps, so 3.11.6 is the latest recommended version. You may do this however you like, however pyenv is recommended:

  brew install pyenv
  echo 'if command -v pyenv 1>/dev/null 2>&1; then eval "$(pyenv init --path)"; fi"' >> ~/.zshrc
  pyenv install 3.11.6
  pyenv global 3.11.6

• Install CMake v3.28.x or newer from here and make sure that the cmake executable is in the path and available for execution. The project will build with older versions of CMake, but you may encounter some warnings.
• Clone the ws-vcpkg-registry and run its installation script to set up vcpkg. Then set the VCPKG_ROOT environment variable to the path you chose:

git clone https://github.com/Windscribe/ws-vcpkg-registry.git
./ws-vcpkg-registry/install-vcpkg/vcpkg_install.sh /path/to/vcpkg

• Clone the repository.
• Install python deps:

  python3 -m pip install -r tools/requirements.txt

• Install golang (minimum version 1.23): follow instructions from https://go.dev/doc/install

Install signing certificate (required)

• Install your Developer ID Application signing certificate from your Apple Developer account in Keychain Access.
• Edit client/common/utils/executable_signature/executable_signature_defs.h and set the MACOS_CERT_TEAM_ID entry to match your Developer ID Application signing certificate’s team ID.

Build libraries

Go to subfolder tools/deps and run the following scripts in order. Libraries will be placed in build-libs.

install_wstunnel

Build the Windscribe 2.0 app

Go to subfolder tools and run build_all --dev-mode. Assuming all goes well with the build, the installer will be placed in build-exe.

See build_all --help for other build options.

Platform Notes:

• If you make any changes to the helper source code src/helper/macos, you must increase the CFBundleVersion in src/helper/macos/helper-info.plist. The installer only updates the helper if this bundle version number has changed.
• The IKEv2 protocol will only function in builds produced by Windscribe. Its implementation on macOS utilizes the NEVPNManager API, which requires the ‘Personal VPN’ entitlement (com.apple.developer.networking.vpn.api) and an embedded provisioning profile file. If you wish to enable IKEv2 functionality, you will have to create an embedded provisioning file in your Apple Developer account and use it in the client project (Search for embedded.provisionprofile in client/CMakeLists.txt for details on where to place the embedded provisioning profile).

Logs

• Client app and location pings: /Users/<user_name>/Library/Application Support/Windscribe/Windscribe2
• Installer: /Users/<user_name>/Library/Application Support/Windscribe/Windscribe/log_installer.txt
• Helper: /Library/Logs/com.windscribe.helper.macos/helper_log.txt
• OpenVPN: /etc/windscribe/openvpn.log

Linux Build Process

Build with Docker

The repository contains Dockerfile to simplify building process. Skip all the other sections of this manual if you decide to use Docker.

• Generate builder image:

  sudo docker build -t ws-builder .

• Install vcpkg via ws-vcpkg-registry:

  sudo docker run --rm -v .:/w ws-builder /bin/bash -c "git clone https://github.com/Windscribe/ws-vcpkg-registry.git /tmp/ws-vcpkg-registry && /tmp/ws-vcpkg-registry/install-vcpkg/vcpkg_install.sh /w/vcpkg"

• Build all the dependencies:

  for i in qt wstunnel; do sudo docker run --rm -v .:/w ws-builder /bin/bash -c "cd /w/tools/deps/ && ./install_$i"; done

• Build the application:

  sudo docker run --rm -v .:/w ws-builder /bin/bash -c "export VCPKG_ROOT=/w/vcpkg  && cd /w/tools/ && ./build_all --dev-mode"

Prerequisites

Build process tested on Ubuntu 22.04/24.04.

• Install build requirements:

  sudo apt-get update
  sudo apt-get install build-essential git curl patchelf libpam0g-dev software-properties-common libgl1-mesa-dev fakeroot python3-pip zip unzip libnl-genl-3-dev pkg-config libcap-ng-dev libnftables-dev wget autoconf libtool libfontconfig1-dev libfreetype6-dev libx11-dev libx11-xcb-dev libxext-dev libxfixes-dev libxi-dev libxrender-dev libxcb1-dev libxcb-cursor-dev libxcb-glx0-dev libxcb-keysyms1-dev libxcb-image0-dev libxcb-shm0-dev libxcb-icccm4-dev libxcb-sync-dev libxcb-xfixes0-dev libxcb-shape0-dev libxcb-randr0-dev libxcb-render-util0-dev libxcb-util-dev libxcb-xinerama0-dev libxcb-xkb-dev libxkbcommon-dev libxkbcommon-x11-dev libwayland-dev libacl1-dev

  # install CMake 3.28.x or newer.  Issues were encountered with cmake 4.x building some of the dependencies via vcpkg (e.g. lzo).  We recommend rolling back to the latest cmake 3.x stable if you encounter build issues.
  # Make sure that the cmake executable is in the path and available for execution.
  sudo snap install cmake --classic

• Clone the ws-vcpkg-registry and run its installation script to set up vcpkg. Then set the VCPKG_ROOT environment variable to the path you chose:

git clone https://github.com/Windscribe/ws-vcpkg-registry.git
./ws-vcpkg-registry/install-vcpkg/vcpkg_install.sh /path/to/vcpkg

• Install golang (minimum version 1.23): follow instructions from https://go.dev/doc/install
• Clone the repository.
• Install Python (if necessary) and Python deps. You may want to use a virtual environment for Python (e.g. with pyenv), but this is up to you (and possibly your distribution). We recommend 3.11 or later.

  python3 -m pip install -r tools/requirements.txt

Build libraries

Go to subfolder tools/deps and run the following scripts in order. Libraries will be placed in build-libs.

install_wstunnel

Build the Windscribe 2.0 app

Go to subfolder tools and run build_all --dev-mode. Assuming all goes well with the build, the installer will be placed in build-exe.

See build_all --help for other build options.

The application installs to /opt/windscribe.

Logs

• Client app and location pings: ~/.local/share/Windscribe/Windscribe2
• Helper: /var/log/windscribe/helper_log.txt
• OpenVPN: /var/run/windscribe/openvpn.log

Contributing

Please see our Contributing Guidelines

License

The Windscribe Desktop Client app License

“WireGuard” is a registered trademark of Jason A. Donenfeld. Open Source Software Attributions