How to configure an OpenVPN manual connection to NordVPN without root/sudo priviledges (Standard User)?

These are the instructions to connect a non-administrative account (newuser in this example) to the VPN using Linux. The instructions were made using Ubuntu 16.04 LTS and connecting to the US #311 server using the UDP protocol. Before following these instructions, please make sure at least 1-7 steps of our Linux tutorial has already been completed.

1. Login to your admin account:

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2. Create a new file and name it US311_UDP.sh or however you prefer. For the sake of convenience we will create the file in ~/Documents/ folder;

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3. Open the US311_UDP.sh file and enter these two lines:

#!/bin/bash
sudo openvpn /etc/openvpn/ovpn_udp/us311.nordvpn.com.udp.ovpn

Save and close the file;

4. Open Terminal (Ctrl + Alt + T) and run sudovisudo command. Afterwards, you will be prompted your administrator password, please enter it.

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It will open the /etc/sudoers.tmp file as shown below.

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5. Using arrow keys navigate to the #Members of the admin group may gain root privileges and below the %admin ALL=(ALL) ALL entry type these three lines:

newuser ALL=NOPASSWD: /home/blue_mountain/Documents/US311_UDP.sh
newuser ALL=NOPASSWD: /usr/sbin/openvpn
newuser ALL=NOPASSWD: /etc/openvpn/ovpn_udp/us311.nordvpn.com.udp.ovpn

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6. Press Ctrl + X to close the file. Shortly afterwards you will be asked to press Y in order to save changes you have made. You will be required to press Enter to complete the changes;

7. Access your standard user account:

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8. Open Terminal (Ctrl + Alt + T) and run cd /home/blue_mountain/Documents command:

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9. Now you can use sh US311_UDP.sh command to use the previously created script to connect to VPN, though you will be required to enter your NordVPN credentials;

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10. Wait for the VPN connection to be established. It is indicated by the Initialization Sequence Completed message.

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