My problem started when I tried to get my computer to use Cloudflare's 1.1.1.3 and 1.0.0.3 to prevent my kids from intentionally or unintentionally surfing to inappropriate sites. I have since downloaded Stephen Black app and am just trying to get my machine back to working with the VPN, threat protection lite, and associated firewall enabled. I guess no good deed goes unpunished. Can someone with NordVPN functioning properly on a Zorin machine run nordvpn settings in terminal and post for me the result? I am specifically looking for anything beside DNS:, but I figure all the settings would not hurt.
I was able to get my internet back up and running by enabling systemd-resolved, so I have some information that I can copy and paste.
If you are throwing a brother a bone, please run one more command and show me the output. cat /etc/systemd/resolved.conf. Everything looks to be #'ed out.
This may seem like an overreaction but, truth be told, I would just re-install Zorin OS at this point. Troubleshooting network issues due to VPN providers is not something I enjoy doing.
How VPN clients work is by taking over the entire network stack and making changes to important configuration files. If you start messing with those, you're just asking for trouble. Even if you uninstall it you can leave your computer in a bad state where something doesn't work right, usually internet access.
Remember, make a backup copy of system configuration files before making any changes to them. Keep track of which files you're editing, and in what order, so that you can retrace your steps if something goes wrong.
You can do this at the browser level as well, and likely that's a more effective solution. Unless your kids are savvy enough to work around that (by simply changing the settings or installing a different browser) this will save you many headaches.
Funny thing, I was thinking about that as a serious alternative. I will spend a little more time on it. I might have gotten it working, but it still needs some testing. Unfortunately, it looks like it will be next week before I can get back on this. Stephen Black app appears to do the filtering pretty well. It works system-wide, and I was able to run a script in crontab to update the filter list. Thanks for the help.
You might want to look into Pi-hole as well, to set it up at the router directly. This will apply to all devices that are connected to your wireless network, not just your computer.
Additionally, most routers nowadays supports VPN client and server. Though pi-hole is probably the way to go with all the additional features it offers.
As an update, Grok and I got it back to working without having to reload the OS. Unfortunately, I am too ignorant on the matter to be able to offer any ideas for anyone else with the same problem. Unfortunately, I do not think this thread will be of any help for anyone else looking for a solution. However, I was able to install Steven Black's Host on a PC system-wide level for now. It was just installed on my username as I did not understand that the installation method that I was using was not system-wide on the PC. This will prevent inappropriate sites on my network or on any other network that my PC might be using. I then set up a task using the crontab command to update the site listing weekly. Pi-hole is on my list of things to add for full network protection.