Hotkey to connect/disconnect

dihard

I would really like to see a hotkey/keyboard shortcut to be able to quickly connect and disconnect from my VPN. I have to connect and disconnect many times a day and a quick keyboard shortcut would make this much easier. Also, the shortcut should be modifiable by the user. 

Osborne_Cox

If you're using Windows you could create a keyboard shortcut with AutoHotkey.

dihard

I'm on Mac. I tried creating a shortcut for Private Internet Access.app to Disconnect but it doesn't seem to work. Any ideas? 

Osborne_Cox

On OSX you can make shortcuts through the System Preferences > Keyboard dialog (select Application Shortcuts and add PIA client):



 

dihard

Yes, that's what I meant when I said I created a shortcut on my mac. Did you try it? I just get the standard Mac error sound when I use the custom shortcut. For some reason the mac OS can't communicate with PIA through the shortcut, I'm not sure if the PIA software is blocking this somehow? I've done this for other applications' menu items and it works. PIA enabling the system shortcut system to access its items would be the easiest way to allow shortcuts. 

Osborne_Cox

I just tried it and get the same error sound. ;_;

You could try AppleScript, though this guide is for Mavericks (I couldn't get it to work with PIA on Lion):
https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/118078/select-a-menu-item-in-applescript-without-using-system-events-in-10-9-maverick

Thatguy2015

I am bumping this because i need this in Windows, and quick way to disconnected / Connect.

Either Via command line, batch file or shortcut. Task-kill (ending PIA from task manager) does not work as it just restarts.

johnnyzero

Thatguy2015 said:

I am bumping this because i need this in Windows, and quick way to disconnected / Connect.

Either Via command line, batch file or shortcut. Task-kill (ending PIA from task manager) does not work as it just restarts.

Obviously, connecting PIA via a keyboard shortcut is simple: simply copy the Private Internet Access shortcut to your Desktop, and then assign it a keyboard shortcut using the standard Windows method.

Disconnecting PIA is a bit tricker. I created a little utility that will gracefully disconnect PIA. You can get it here:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/i12eagfk7t7sasc/PIA Killer.zip?dl=0

Extract the files to a new folder. Then create a Desktop shortcut to Kill_PIA.exe, and assign it a keyboard shortcut using the standard Windows method.

Note: the Zip file contains a second program called "SystemTrayRefresh.exe", which must reside in the same folder. The main .exe uses it to force-clear the "green guy" PIA Tray icon from the notification area.

I started with a very simple 2-line batch file, which I then compiled into a standalone EXE. Here's all it does:

taskkill /f /im rubyw.exe /t
SystemTrayRefresh.exe

If anyone wants to fool around with it, here's another Zip file which also includes the original batch file, icon file, and a link to the Bat2Exe compiler I used:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/xlcbh7m9khg3sam/PIA%20Killer_src.zip?dl=0

Note: If you re-compile, I recommend enabling the "Add administrator manifest" option. Taskkill requires admin privileges.

tomeworm

dihard said:

Yes, that's what I meant when I said I created a shortcut on my mac. Did you try it? I just get the standard Mac error sound when I use the custom shortcut. For some reason the mac OS can't communicate with PIA through the shortcut, I'm not sure if the PIA software is blocking this somehow? I've done this for other applications' menu items and it works. PIA enabling the system shortcut system to access its items would be the easiest way to allow shortcuts. 

Same here. It's disappointing how long this request has been here and PIA has yet to so much as even acknowledge the request.