# Importing Pritunl VPN profile at pritunl-client on Linux CLI
**URL:** https://forum.pritunl.com/t/importing-pritunl-vpn-profile-at-pritunl-client-on-linux-cli/3768
**Category:** Pritunl VPN
**Tags:** pritunl-client
**Created:** [April 7, 2026, 1:16pm UTC](https://forum.pritunl.com/t/importing-pritunl-vpn-profile-at-pritunl-client-on-linux-cli/3768 "2026-04-07T13:16:12Z")
**Posts on this page:** 4
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Vojcik](https://forum.pritunl.com/u/Vojcik)
#### Post date: [April 7, 2026, 1:16pm UTC](https://forum.pritunl.com/t/importing-pritunl-vpn-profile-at-pritunl-client-on-linux-cli/3768/1 "2026-04-07T13:16:12Z")
> **[Command Line Interface | Pritunl VPN | Pritunl Documentation](https://docs.pritunl.com/kb/vpn/client/cli-interface)**
>
> Pritunl command line interface usage
The instructions provided here are lacking information about **activating** a Pritunl VPN profile **from a file, bypassing the URI method**.
In many secure environments, only the UDP port for direct client-server VPN communication is open, without access to the WebUI. In such cases, importing the profile via a file is the only reliable way to establish a connection.
You can add profile by file using:
**`pritunl-client add example_profile.tar`**
\*Please note: The client does not support direct `.ovpn` file activation; the profile must be in the `.tar` format exported from the Pritunl server.
---
### Author:  [@zach](https://forum.pritunl.com/u/zach)
#### Post date: [April 7, 2026, 10:31pm UTC](https://forum.pritunl.com/t/importing-pritunl-vpn-profile-at-pritunl-client-on-linux-cli/3768/2 "2026-04-07T22:31:35Z")
The add command supports either a tar file or profile URI link.
---
### Author:  [@Vojcik](https://forum.pritunl.com/u/Vojcik)
#### Post date: [April 8, 2026, 7:29am UTC](https://forum.pritunl.com/t/importing-pritunl-vpn-profile-at-pritunl-client-on-linux-cli/3768/3 "2026-04-08T07:29:00Z")
Exactly, that is my point. While the command supports it, this information is missing from the official documentation page I linked above. It only mentions the URI method, which can be misleading for users in restricted network environments.
Please consider updating the docs to include the tar file usage for better clarity.
---
### Author:  [@zach](https://forum.pritunl.com/u/zach)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2026, 6:20am UTC](https://forum.pritunl.com/t/importing-pritunl-vpn-profile-at-pritunl-client-on-linux-cli/3768/4 "2026-04-10T06:20:52Z")
The documentation has been updated to included this command.