qBittorrent with WebUI and OpenVPN

Docker container which runs qBittorrent torrent client with WebUI while connecting to OpenVPN.

Run container from Docker registry

The container is available from the Docker registry and this is the simplest way to get it. To run the container use this command:

$ docker run --privileged  -d \
              -v /your/docker/config/path/:/config \
              -v /your/downloads/path/:/downloads \
              -e "OPENVPN_USERNAME=user" \
              -e "OPENVPN_PASSWORD=pass" \
              -p 8080:8080 \
              markusmcnugen/qbittorrentvpn

You must set the environment variables OPENVPN_USERNAME and OPENVPN_PASSWORD to provide basic connection details.

As you can see, the container also expects a downloads volume to be mounted. This is where qBittorrent will store your downloads, incomplete downloads and look for a watch directory for new .torrent files.

Required environment options

Variable	Function	Example
OPENVPN_PROVIDER	Sets the OpenVPN provider to use.	OPENVPN_PROVIDER=provider. Supported providers are PIA, BTGUARD, TIGER, FROOT, TORGUARD, NORDVPN, USENETSERVER, IPVANISH, ANONINE, HIDEME and PUREVPN
OPENVPN_USERNAME	Your OpenVPN username	OPENVPN_USERNAME=asdf
OPENVPN_PASSWORD	Your OpenVPN password	OPENVPN_PASSWORD=asdf

Network configuration options

Variable	Function	Example
OPENVPN_CONFIG	Sets the OpenVPN endpoint to connect to.	OPENVPN_CONFIG=UK Southampton

Access the WebUI

But what's going on? My http://my-host:9091 isn't responding? This is because the VPN is active, and since docker is running in a different ip range than your client the response to your request will be treated as "non-local" traffic and therefore be routed out through the VPN interface.

Known issues

Some have encountered problems with DNS resolving inside the docker container. This causes trouble because OpenVPN will not be able to resolve the host to connect to. If you have this problem use dockers --dns flag to override the resolv.conf of the container. For example use googles dns servers by adding --dns 8.8.8.8 --dns 8.8.4.4 as parameters to the usual run command.

If you are having issues with this container please submit an issue on GitHub. Please provide logs, docker version and other information that can simplify reproducing the issue. Using the latest stable verison of Docker is always recommended. Support for older version is on a best-effort basis.

Building the container yourself

To build this container, clone the repository and cd into it.

Build it:

$ cd /repo/location/docker-transmission-openvpn
$ docker build -t transmission-openvpn .

Run it:

$ docker run --privileged  -d \
              -v /your/storage/path/:/data \
              -e "OPENVPN_PROVIDER=PIA" \
              -e "OPENVPN_CONFIG=Netherlands" \
              -e "OPENVPN_USERNAME=user" \
              -e "OPENVPN_PASSWORD=pass" \
              -p 9091:9091 \
              transmission-openvpn

This will start a container as described in the "Run container from Docker registry" section.

Controlling Transmission remotely

The container exposes /config as a volume. This is the directory where the supplied transmission and OpenVPN credentials will be stored. If you have transmission authentication enabled and want scripts in another container to access and control the transmission-daemon, this can be a handy way to access the credentials. For example, another container may pause or restrict transmission speeds while the server is streaming video.