Usage¶
How to use ActiveVPN day to day.
In this guide¶
Default scan¶
activevpn
Runs the full scan: interfaces, processes, Tor, public IP, IPv6, and DNS.
Kill active VPNs¶
# Graceful terminate (requires admin/root)
activevpn --kill
# Graceful first, then SIGKILL if a process won't stop
activevpn --kill-force
On Linux/macOS prefix with sudo. On Windows run the terminal as Administrator.
History¶
# Show the last 20 saved scans
activevpn --history
# Delete all saved history
activevpn --clear-history
History is stored in scan_history.json inside your platform's data directory.
Export¶
# JSON (default)
activevpn --export
# CSV
activevpn --export csv
# Plain text
activevpn --export txt
Exports write activevpn_export_<timestamp>.<format> in the current directory.
Watch mode¶
# Rescan every 10 seconds (default)
activevpn --watch
# Custom interval
activevpn --watch 30
Press Ctrl+C to stop.
Debug mode¶
activevpn --debug
Prints extra diagnostics, such as which API endpoints were tried.
Exit codes¶
| Code | Meaning |
|---|---|
0 |
No VPN detected (or clean exit) |
1 |
VPN / Tor / Proxy detected |
2 |
Offline, error, or invalid usage |
Useful for scripting:
if activevpn > /dev/null 2>&1; then
echo "No VPN detected"
elif [ $? -eq 1 ]; then
echo "VPN detected!"
fi
For the full flag reference, see cli.md.