I’m trying to figure out how to start Mullvad browser in disposableVM and after closing the browser have VM shutdown automatically.
qvm-run --dispvm debian-11-mullvad-dvm “gnome-terminal --wait & cd /home/user/mullvad-browser && ./start-mullvad-browser.desktop”
The above is best I could come up with. Not great because I still need to close terminal to have VM shutdown automatically.
Any idea?
Create a menu entry for Mullvad browser, add it to the disposable menu, click on it to start the disposable 
That doesn’t work. DispVM will start and immediately shutdown. Same behavior as running from terminal:
qvm-run --dispvm debian-11-mullvad-dvm “cd /home/user/mullvad-browser && ./start-mullvad-browser.desktop”
Can you try to run directly:
… or is that the menu entry? You have to find the binary/executable for that browser.
—> more details:
Your startup script is probably trying to run the browser in the background.
What I mean is that this works (Firefox starts):
qvm-run --dispvm fedora-38-dvm "echo firefox > /tmp/exefire; chmod 755 /tmp/exefire; /tmp/exefire"
… and this does not work (dispVM will start and immediately shut down):
qvm-run --dispvm fedora-38-dvm "echo 'firefox &' > /tmp/exefire; chmod 755 /tmp/exefire; /tmp/exefire"
The difference is the tiny “&” after the “firefox” command.
Running directly like this won’t work because start-mullvad-browser.desktop can’t find the path to other files.
I can just extract everything in home folder and run:
qvm-run --dispvm debian-11-mullvad-dvm “./start-mullvad-browser.desktop”
But this will have the same effect as my first command (dispVM shutdowns immediately after starting).
Even simply starting gnome-terminal in dispVM won’t work correctly unless I add --wait option.
qvm-run --dispvm debian-11-mullvad-dvm “echo ./start-mullvad-browser.desktop > /tmp/exemullvad; chmod 755 /tmp/exemullvad; /tmp/exemullvad”
This also have the same effect (dispVM shutdowns immediately after starting).
Strange. Are you on 4.1 or 4.2?
4.1
I should mention that:
qvm-run debian-11-mullvad-dvm ./start-mullvad-browser.desktop
works in AppVM.
Also firefox in dispVM works with no problem:
qvm-run --dispvm debian-11 firefox
From Qubes OS documentation:
Note that currently only applications whose main process keeps running until you close the application (i.e. do not start a background process instead) will work. One of known examples of incompatible applications is GNOME Terminal (shown on the list as “Terminal”). Choose different terminal emulator (like XTerm) instead.
So with GNOME terminal I can use --wait option to get around this. Any idea how to do that with Mullvad browser?
Edit start-mullvad-browser.desktop and remove --detach.
Trying this on Qubes. 4.2
This actually works? I just get a gnome terminal.
@throwaway5918 : I tried removing all three instances of “–detach” from the .desktop file and nothing changes, disposable vm still starts and shuts down without launching browser.
Make sure to also remove it from …/mullvad-browser/Browser/start-mullvad-browser.desktop not just …/mullvad-browser/start-mullvad-browser.desktop
It works for me like this:
Download and unpack Mullvad browser in Downloads folder then start a disposable terminal and run:
[user@disp989 ~]$ cd Downloads/mullvad-browser
[user@disp989 mullvad-browser]$ ./start-mullvad-browser.desktop
Launching ‘./Browser/start-mullvad-browser --detach’…
[user@disp989 mullvad-browser]$
That’s it. Worked fine in 4.1 and works fine in 4.2.
I’ve done other apps the way @solene said and they work just fine, too.
what’s special about mullvad browser?, have not looked into it yet
thoughts on librewolf?, it’s quite good at spoofing device information, sites can still detect true OS being linux.
Yeah it runs, the original goal was:
I’d add being able to launch the browser in disposable vm without having to go through the steps you mention of launching a terminal and typing commands. Like how disposable Firefox or Tor Browser works.
It’s Tor Browser without Tor - same protections and fingerprinting
Finally got it working, making sure I had removed “–detach” from both files was my main problem, then I just had to start fresh to get it right. Thanks.
could someone please make a tutorial from 0, thank you.
i would also like this
i don’t understand this guide and would like to have a disp vm that starts mullvad browser with an icon in the taskbar in a disp vm and shuts it down the same way.
If you are looking for a packaged solution, take a look here
There’s a package for MullvadVPN, which creates a Mullvad Proxy, and
also creates a disposable template, so you can create disposables ready
to run with the MullvadVPN GUI, and the Mullvad browser.
If you just want the browser, that will work fine as is, without a VPN.
does this work in 4.2 now?
Wait, I can use Mullvad browser for “free” without using the MullvadVPN?!
I was under the impression I had to pay for the whole VPN package just to get the browser …
Yes, the Mullvad Browser is free.