Install & Configure OpenVPN for Trust.Zone VPN on 4K Amazon Fire TV Stick

I use Trust.Zone when I want to VPN in to various other countries and wanted to add this functionality to my Fire TV Stick so that when I’m travelling, I can take it with me and still watch UK TV.  Unfortunately, I had a lot of trouble with the Trust.Zone VPN application on an Amazon Fire TV Stick – to be fair I have to applaud Trust.Zone for even attempting to support it.

In the end, I decided to simply use OpenVPN itself (as I believe the Trust Zone app is just a wrapper for OpenVPN anyway).

So to get started, download the latest OpenVPN client, for consistency I’ve hosted the version I used and you can download that from here: http://bobmckay.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/openvpn_3.2.5.zip

Install the Android SDK Platform Tools (on your PC)

In order to sideload the OpenVPN you will need to install the Android SDK Platform tools, available for free from Google here or I have the version used in this tutorial here.

For the purposes of this tutorial, I will assume you are using Windows and have installed them in to a folder on your C drive called ADB (so at the c:\adb location).

Download your OpenVPN and/or Trust.Zone Configuration FIles

Login to your Trust.Zone account and locate the OVPN files for the countries you want to connect your Fire TV Stick too, save them in the same folder as your Android SDK Platform Tools for simplicity (c:/adb)

Determine the IP Address of your Fire TV Stick

In your Fire TV Stick:

Go to settings

Select My FIre TV

Select About

Select Network

Enable Developer Options

In order to sideload apps on a Fire TV Stick:

Go to settings

Select My Fire TV

Select Developer Options

Turn ADB Debugging to On

Turn Apps from Unknown Sources to On

Take note of the IP Address displayed, it will be something like 192.168.1.123

Install the OpenVPN Client on your Fire TV Stick

Download the OpenVPN client, the tutorial below uses the version hosted on my blog named openvpn_3.2.5.zip, if you’re using a different version you’ll have to change the commands to match your file name.

Make sure the the APK is in your ADB folder

Open a command prompt by pressing the Windows key on your computer, type CMD and press enter

Navigate to the ADB folder

cd /adb

Connect to your firestick (using the IP address noted earlier):

adb connect 192.168.1.123

Install the OpenVPN APK:

adb install openvpn_3.2.5.apk

Copy your OpenVPN configuration files

To copy the configuration files for OpenVPN to your Fire TV Stick, use the push command, changing the filename to match each configuration file you wish to copy.  In this example, we’ll copy the configuration file for the Spain VPN connection for Trust.Zone:

adb push Trust.Zone-Spain.ovpn /sdcard/download

Import Profiles

When you launch OpenVPN for the first time, you’ll be asked to accept terms and conditions – this is where I recommend pairing a bluetooth mouse with your firestick (simply go to Settings and pair as you would any other device).

If you’re looking for an affordable bluetooth mouse, I highly recommend the very affordable Microsoft Bluetooth Mouse (I have several – different colours for different devices).

When OpenVPN first loads, select Import Profile from the main menu,

On the import profile page, click the File tab on the right.

When asked “Allow OpenVPN Connect to access photos, media and files on your device?” click Allow:

Browse to the Downloads folder and select the OpenVPN profile you want to import.

Once the import is completed, you’ll be asked to enter your credentials, I’d recommend saving your password for ease-of-use in the future:

You can import multiple profiles and then simply select which one you wish to connect to.

Once connected, you’ll see a message like the one below:

Important: disconnect while you still have a mouse connected, select Do not ask again when you confirm you wish to disconnect.  This is important as its impossible to confirm the disconnection with just the Amazon Fire TV Stick remote.