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Steam Deck VPN

SteamOS 3 is a Linux system, so Steam Deck runs the same Bebra VPN AppImage as a Linux PC does. You set it up and use it in Desktop Mode.

Updated

Before you start

What you need

A Steam Deck on SteamOS 3, either LCD or OLED. Both use an x86-64 processor, which is what the AppImage is built for.

The deck user’s password. If you’ve never set one, that’s step one below.

The DEB package won’t do here. It’s made for Ubuntu and Debian, and SteamOS is based on Arch.

Getting around the desktop

The right trackpad moves the pointer. Clicking it is a left click, and clicking the left trackpad is a right click.

STEAM + X opens the on-screen keyboard while Steam is running.

The Return to Gaming Mode shortcut on the desktop takes you back.

Install and connect

  1. Set a password in Desktop Mode

    Press the STEAM button and choose Power → Switch to Desktop. Open Konsole from the app launcher, run passwd and type a new password twice. Bebra will ask for it when it installs its adapter. If you set one earlier, go on to step two.

  2. Start the AppImage from Konsole

    Open this page in a browser on the Deck (Discover has several to choose from) and tap Download the AppImage. Then run these three lines in Konsole. They make the file executable and detach Bebra from the terminal, so you can close Konsole afterwards. cd ~/Downloads chmod +x Bebra.AppImage setsid -f ./Bebra.AppImage >/dev/null 2>&1

  3. Tap a country and enter the password

    If the account has no subscription yet, Buy Bebra VPN opens first so you can pick the trial or a plan. With a subscription in place, Bebra asks to install its adapter. Agree and type the password from step one. Setup takes up to 30 seconds, and the connection then completes without another tap. You don’t have to turn off SteamOS’s read-only mode for any of this.

Day to day

To skip Konsole next time, turn on Account → Settings → Launch the app on system startup. Bebra then starts by itself, minimized to the tray, each time you switch to Desktop Mode.

The window’s close button leaves the connection up. Bebra stays in the system tray, and all Desktop Mode traffic goes through the tunnel except the addresses you exclude under Tunnel.

You can also play without leaving the desktop. The Steam client runs here too, and games started from it get the Deck’s buttons and sticks.

Subscribe to Bebra VPN

Try Bebra for 10 ₽

3 days of full access, then 500 ₽ per month. The subscription renews automatically.

Troubleshooting

The on-screen keyboard won’t come up

STEAM + X only works while Steam is running. Start the Steam client on the desktop, or plug a regular keyboard into the Deck.

Bebra isn’t in Discover

That’s expected. Discover installs apps as Flatpaks, and Bebra VPN has no Flatpak build. On the Deck it runs as the AppImage you download from this page.

Bebra disconnected when I closed Konsole

It was probably started from the terminal without setsid. When Konsole closes, it ends everything it launched, and Bebra shuts its tunnel on the way out. Start it again with the lines from step two.

Bebra asks to install the adapter again

Bebra couldn’t find its connection service and offers to set it up again. Agree and enter the deck password. You don’t need to download the file a second time.