Why is IVPN agent daemon always running?

The IVPN client software has a client-server architecture. The IVPN agent runs as a daemon and is responsible for establishing connections, spawning OpenVPN processes etc. whilst the client UI that you interact with is a separate component that communicates with the agent.

There are a couple of ways to change this behavior. First, in the app’s Preferences area, go to the General tab and put a check mark beside the Stop IVPN Agent when the application is not running.

The other method has more of an impact on the performance of additional features in the app. In order to implement various security features such as the ‘always on’ firewall, it is important that the agent daemon is always running. This keepalive functionality is configured in the daemons plist file and can be modified to not be persistent by following the instructions below.

1. Quit the IVPN client by clicking on the menu bar icon and selecting Quit IVPN.

2. Stop the agent daemon.

   sudo launchctl unload net.ivpn.client.Helper.plist
   

3. Edit /Library/LaunchDaemons/net.ivpn.client.Helper.plist and change the KeepAlive key to False.

4. Start the agent daemon.

   sudo launchctl load net.ivpn.client.Helper.plist
   

5. Start the IVPN client. When you next quit the IVPN client the IVPN agent daemon will also be killed.

Related Articles

• How do I completely uninstall / remove Tunnelblick?
• macOS - IVPN Helper agent is not starting
• macOS - What credentials are required for the Helper Agent portion of the IVPN App install?
• How to resolve error "IVPN.app is damaged and cannot be opened."
• macOS - Failed to regenerate WireGuard keys. Private key generation error: 133