Installing the emergency client
Where to get Ghostlane for iPhone, Android, Windows, macOS and Linux, how to import the connection link from your cabinet or email, and why to install it in advance, before blocks arrive.
Your emergency connection is a link starting with olcrtc://: you get it in your cabinet right after requesting it (and by email if you requested it by email). To use that link you need an app: Ghostlane. It is a free open-source client for iPhone, Android, Windows, macOS and Linux.
How emergency access works and what to do during a block is on the Emergency access page. This page is only about the app: where to get it and how to install it.
Install it in advance, while the internet still works normally. Once the network switches to allow-lists there will be nowhere to download it from: app stores and download sites will most likely be unreachable. The app does nothing until you launch it.
Used olcbox before? Switch to Ghostlane. olcbox is no longer updated and isn't supported: it doesn't know SaluteJazz and VK Calls, and its older versions also lack the new encryption. Install Ghostlane and import a fresh link there.
Download
Pick your system.
If Google Play isn't available, install the app file directly: download for Android. For very old (32-bit) devices there is a smaller build; use it only if the regular one refuses to install.
The file is an .apk installed bypassing Google Play. Android will ask for permission to install apps from this source. That's normal for this method: allow it for the browser or file manager you open the file from.
Free, requires iOS 15 or newer. On the first connection iOS asks to add a VPN configuration: allow it, this is how the app sends traffic through the emergency connection.
If the App Store doesn't show the app, it may be unavailable in your Apple ID's region.
Also available: an MSI package for managed installs and a portable ZIP build that runs without installing.
If Windows shows a SmartScreen warning about an unknown publisher, click "More info", then "Run anyway". In tunnel mode Windows asks for administrator rights when the connection starts.
For Apple Silicon Macs (M1 and newer): download
For Intel Macs: download
Not sure which one you have? Open the Apple menu and choose "About This Mac": if the "Chip" line says Apple M (M1 and newer), take the first option.
The app is signed and notarized by Apple, so it opens like any other. In tunnel mode macOS may ask you to allow the app's background helper in System Settings: allow it.
Runs without installing. After downloading, make it executable:
chmod +x Ghostlane-*-linux-amd64.AppImage
./Ghostlane-*-linux-amd64.AppImageOn Linux the emergency connection runs with administrator rights, so the app asks for your password each time you connect. The tunnel also needs iproute2 and access to /dev/net/tun.
The links always lead to the current version. If a download fails, try again a little later or open the Ghostlane releases page.
Connecting with the link you received
Get the link starting with olcrtc://: in the Emergency access block of your cabinet, or in the reply email if you requested it by email.
Add it to Ghostlane in whichever way is easier:
- on an iPhone, Android device or Mac with Ghostlane installed, press Open in Ghostlane in the cabinet;
- on a phone, open Ghostlane, tap +, choose "Scan QR code" and scan the code from the cabinet or the email;
- or copy the link, open Ghostlane, tap + and choose "Paste link or URI".
Select the new connection and press "Connect".
The link is tied to the call you created and stays valid for the whole session: you can import it again if you reinstall the app. While the session runs, the cabinet keeps showing it, so it can be copied again; the email, however, is sent once. Once the session ends, you need a new call and a new request.
If something doesn't work
The app won't install on Android. Install it from Google Play. If you install the file directly, check that installing from this source is allowed, and try the smaller build.
The olcrtc:// link isn't accepted. Make sure you copied all of it, including the olcrtc:// prefix. Links are easily truncated when copying from mail apps.
olcbox doesn't connect. olcbox is no longer updated: it doesn't know SaluteJazz and VK Calls, and its older versions lack the new encryption. Install Ghostlane and import the link there.
A SaluteJazz or VK Calls connection doesn't work. Update Ghostlane to the latest version: older versions don't know these services and swap them for WB Stream, so the connection never comes up. If you can't update right now, request a connection through WB Stream or Jitsi Meet.
The connection doesn't come up. The session may have expired: create a new call and request a new connection. If that doesn't help, try a call in another service from the list, because services get through differently on different networks. If none of them works on your network, emergency access won't work there.
Internet speed is lower than on a connection over Xray. That's expected: the traffic travels inside a video call, and the video service limits its bandwidth. Emergency access is meant for messengers, mail and important sites, not for video or large downloads. Once the main connection works again, switch back to it.