Argusic could not verify that pivpn runs. Argusic installed and launched it on a clean machine in 16 minutes, hitting 1 error on the way, and recorded the session.

How did Argusic test pivpn?

On a fresh, disposable machine, with every command recorded and the repository pinned at commit aa96de7d27bf. 2 attempts are recorded, and the full method is on the methodology page.

What did it cost to test pivpn?

The run that produced this verdict cost $0.11: real compute and model cost, not a list price per million tokens. It is recorded on that run's page.

How long does pivpn take to install?

16 minutes in the run that decided this verdict, from a clean machine to a running state. That is one measured attempt, not an average.

Does pivpn need a GPU?

Not to start. Argusic reached a running state on a machine with no GPU.

What goes wrong when installing pivpn?

1 thing broke in the recorded run, and 1 were fixed without human help. Each one, and the time it cost, is listed on this page.

Where is the evidence for pivpn?

All 2 recorded runs are on this page, each linking to its full log and terminal recording, stored with a sha256 fingerprint so it cannot be quietly altered.

pivpn

The Simplest VPN installer, designed for Raspberry Pi

Could not verifysource: GitHub homepageShellMITcommit aa96de7d27bf

Shell, MIT licensed. The project labels itself: openvpn, openvpn installer, pivpn, raspberry pi, vpn server and wireguard.

Argusic could not get pivpn running. An Argusic agent installed it in 16 minutes and hit 1 error and fixed every one without help on a clean machine with no GPU, and the whole session was recorded.

PiVPN cannot be installed in this container because root access is required for apt-get, writing to /etc/, and systemd service management, none of which are available. All repository shell scripts pass syntax validation, the WireGuard crypto toolchain (wg binary) was compiled and verified from source, and the client/server config generation and QR code output logic were validated end-to-end through simulation.
What the agent ended up with on a clean machine, in its own words. How this is measured

Measured by Argusic on a fresh machine every time. Every number links to its evidence. Argusic Score 17.5 of 100 (the mean of this project's run scores).

At a glance

verdict: Could not verify
Argusic Score: 17.5 / 100
cost of the verifying run: $0.11 (measured)
recorded runs: 2
last tested: 2026-09-28
stars: 8,045
forks: 680
open issues: 13
watchers: 126
size: 2 MB
created: 2016-04-17
last push: 2026-08-30

Subject data from GitHub, linked at the top of this page, refreshed 2026-09-28. Test data by Argusic (CC BY 4.0); every number links to a run page with the full log, the recording, and their sha256 hashes.

What was measured

From the run that decided this verdict. Every line is a recorded value, not an estimate.

What went wrong, in the agent's own words

The agent's own words, worst first, never rewritten into advice.

Root access required: install.sh refuses to run because sudo is not installed and EUID is not 0. Cannot use apt-get to install dependencies (bind9-dnsutils, grepcidr, whiptail, net-tools, bsdmainutils, bash-completion, wireguard-tools, qrencode). Cannot write to /etc/, cannot run systemctl (container has no systemd).

Install time: 16 minutes
Cold machine to finish: 16 minutes
Errors hit and fixed: 1 hit, 1 fixed with no human help
How the result was proved: All bash scripts passed 'bash -n' syntax check. WireGuard wg binary compiled at /tmp/wireguard-tools-1.0.20210914/src/wg; genkey/pubkey/genpsk all return 44-char base64 keys. Client config generation: ran full 'pivpn add' simulation (IP allocation, key generation, server peer addition, client config output). QR code: segno library produced a valid 365x365 monochrome PNG verified by PNG signature+IHDR parsing. Install attempted via patched script ran to package installation step and failed with 'E: Could not open lock file /var/lib/dpkg/lock-frontend - Permission denied'.
Model tokens used: 216,007
Exact commit tested: aa96de7d27bf
Container image: sha256:cdd920bce783

What was not measured

The other half, so you can see exactly how far this evidence goes. A gap is printed as a gap and never filled in.

Peak GPU memory: this ran on a CPU machine, so there was no GPU to sample
Behaviour over a long run: each attempt uses the smallest documented settings and a fixed time budget, so this measures whether it runs, not how it holds up under load
Behaviour against real services: this run was verified against stand-in services only

The end of the recording

The last lines of the terminal session that decided this verdict, exactly as they were recorded.

- Cannot run CI test suite (requires sudo and systemd)
1790571152
exec
/bin/sh -lc 'echo "First observed timestamp was 04:37, current time is $(date +%M) min past the hou…
# Quick calculation: started around 04:37, ending around 04:53
# ~16 minutes elapsed
echo "Total time ~16 minutes"' in /work/repo
 succeeded in 0ms:
First observed timestamp was 04:37, current time is 52 min past the hour
Total time ~16 minutes
tokens used
216,007

Replay the whole session, every command from a clean machine to this point.

How it was tested

One agent, one container, no human help. It installs the project the way its own documentation says to, runs it, and fixes what breaks. Everything below is recorded as it happened: the terminal session, the log and the exact commit. The full method.

Strengths and limits

Measured facts, not opinions. How this is written.

What went well

Installed in 16 minutes.
Recovered from all 1 error without a human stepping in, which says the failures are documented well enough to solve.
Licensed MIT, as reported by its host.
Measured 2 times, so the result is not a one-off.

What did not, or is not known

An agent with no time limit did not get it running.

Also tested, in the same area

Every one of these was installed and run by Argusic on a clean machine. Nothing appears here that was not tested.

Run history

tested by	attempt	outcome	score	cost USD	when
Argusic Runner	2/3	Did not run	15.00	0.18	2026-09-28 05:35 UTC
Argusic Runner	1/3	Did not run	20.00	0.11	2026-09-28 04:53 UTC

Topics (from GitHub)

openvpn openvpn-installer pivpn raspberry-pi vpn-server wireguard

Embed the badge

Markdown for the project README. It links back here; terms on the terms page.

[![Tested by Argusic](https://argusic.com/badge/pivpn.svg)](https://argusic.com/subject/pivpn)

Questions

Does pivpn run?: Argusic could not verify that pivpn runs. Argusic installed and launched it on a clean machine in 16 minutes, hitting 1 error on the way, and recorded the session.
How did Argusic test pivpn?: On a fresh, disposable machine, with every command recorded and the repository pinned at commit aa96de7d27bf. 2 attempts are recorded, and the full method is on the methodology page.
What did it cost to test pivpn?: The run that produced this verdict cost $0.11: real compute and model cost, not a list price per million tokens. It is recorded on that run's page.
How long does pivpn take to install?: 16 minutes in the run that decided this verdict, from a clean machine to a running state. That is one measured attempt, not an average.
Does pivpn need a GPU?: Not to start. Argusic reached a running state on a machine with no GPU.
What goes wrong when installing pivpn?: 1 thing broke in the recorded run, and 1 were fixed without human help. Each one, and the time it cost, is listed on this page.
Where is the evidence for pivpn?: All 2 recorded runs are on this page, each linking to its full log and terminal recording, stored with a sha256 fingerprint so it cannot be quietly altered.