Does anyone know how to run qbittorrent and protonvpn in a VM? When I try to run the qbittorrent setup app I get this message (image below) and I don’t see anything mentioning a VM in the qbittorrent [dot] org forum.
I am new to torrenting, so I don’t really know what to do. I figured/assumed that torrenting/seeding in a VM might be safer as it is another layer deep, and that it may help keep traffic separate (inside the VM: I’d be using a vpn and torrenting, and outside the VM: I’d not be using a vpn and just regular internet surfing). Is this possible?
Thank you.
I prefer containers…
theres one available called gluetun that can run proton vpn…
then I have a deluge (torrent client) running in another container that specifies gluetun as it’s network source.
this way if the VPN drops I don’t bleed my actual ip
these containers are pre-built and public so config is fairly minimal
I use this container with AirVPN; https://github.com/haugene/docker-transmission-openvpn
Port forwarding was incredibly easy to setup with this VPN, and transmission is enough for what I have. As a bonus, this docker container in particular has a shitload of documentation and support tickets behind it, which made troubleshooting a lot easier for me.
Did you manage to set up port forwarding with this setup? I believe there was an issue with the forwarded port from the VPN connection being random and qbit not knowing which port that is
With AirVPN you get a fixed port to use for port forwarding just FYI.
Yup many people had the same issue which is why someone created a docker container mod for LinuxServer’s qbit docker image:
https://github.com/t-anc/GSP-Qbittorent-Gluetun-sync-port-mod
I’ve been using it for over a year now and it works well.
The GSP mod isn’t even needed anymore. There’s an env variable (“VPN_PORT_FOWARDING_UP_COMMAND”) you can set for gluetun that will set the port in qbit provided by Proton. Dr Frankenstein’s guide shows how to configure it in the Proton-specific config section.
Oh, that’s cool.
Eventually™ I will have to change this.
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, yeah?
Don’t run your torrent client in a VM, that doesn’t actually provide you with any additional security.
Use a Docker container instead. Binhex has torrent+vpn containers that will fetch the random open port number from Proton and pipe it into qBittorrent for you, as well as make sure the port is updated if the VPN drops. The container also acts as a killswitch.
Using a docker container provides you with the exact amount of extra protection as using a VM: zilch.
Only advantage is you can use other people’s config easily.
- signed, someone happily using their own VM-based setup
No reason why not
It’d be even better and safer, if you pick Docker containers over VMs. Give them a shot, they’ll require less resources and would be overall much more efficient for a this purpose.
Dumb question: can you run docker containers on your base computer, every guide ive seen about them only talks about using them on servers.
A server is just a PC whose primary purpose is serving apps or files. You can run Docker off of your desktop easily, people just usually segregate stuff like that to an unused PC that they then call a server. Your Docker server could be a laptop, a Raspberry Pi, or in my case a Dell desktop I stole out of a trash can at my last corporate job.
Yes you can! I think about a server as more of a role than a specific piece of hardware. Any computer can act as a server even a phone.
Regardless of where you decide to run your VPN (normal system, VM, or container), just don’t forget to turn killswitch on in the VPN settings. ProtonVPN is very good at this. They have killswitch built-in in all their client apps. And it’s quite a tricky thing to configure manually.
Kill switches aren’t as reliable, binding your VPN to your torrent client is the only sure fire way to ensure you don’t leak traffic through your home IP.
Why? Killswitch is by definition a mechanism to not leak traffic outside VPN. This is exactly the purpose it’s designed for. It is binding all traffic to VPN connection on system level. That is what it does under the hood, at least in ProtonVPN. It’s using iptables or firewalld or whatever else is present in the system. Even when your VPN client app isn’t running, killswitch is still there (and you can’t access internet until you connect to the VPN).
I’m not the only person who thinks Kill switches don’t live up to their name
Bind always. Kill switches don’t work reliably. https://www.reddit.com/r/torrents/comments/1hq8uh4/comment/m4o8n35/
Kill switches can fail. Always bind your client to your vpn adapter. https://www.reddit.com/r/torrents/comments/1hq8uh4/comment/m4u9xod/
While using a kill-switch is a good step, it may not provide complete protection. Combine it with binding your VPN network interface to qBittorrent for added privacy and security https://www.reddit.com/r/surfshark/comments/1jbf8sj/comment/mi1h8bc/
Killswitches aren’t perfect. Binding is. https://www.reddit.com/r/surfshark/comments/1jbf8sj/comment/mhtpc5t/
Yep binding is so much better than killswitch. https://www.reddit.com/r/surfshark/comments/1jbf8sj/comment/mhu9gip/
torrenting with kill switch turned on, leaks? https://www.reddit.com/r/ProtonVPN/comments/1261e5h/torrenting_with_kill_switch_turned_on_leaks/
That’s not a killswitch, that’s binding your connection. It literally says that right in the screenshot. smh, kids these days. Killswitch is managed by your VPN, totally separate thing, and can still leak your IP at times. https://www.reddit.com/r/Piracy/comments/v2d3gp/comment/iatgezx/
I’ve had an occurrence even in windows with kill-switch on where the app closed and downloads continued. https://www.reddit.com/r/unRAID/comments/1hmihfe/comment/m3ubxj8/
Instead of kill switch (which fails a lot on many VPNs) you should bind your VPN to your torrent client. https://www.reddit.com/r/ProtonVPN/comments/1b7b6j3/comment/ktm29z8/
Bind interface. Kill switch is the wrong way to go. https://www.reddit.com/r/Piracy/comments/1937alg/comment/khaey90/
Kill switch is not reliable and can expose your IP. Please search for “how to bind vpn qBitTorrent” and follow the directions to bind the internet adapter to your vpn. That is the only safe way. https://www.reddit.com/r/Piracy/comments/1j4023b/comment/mg4iy2q/
Bind qBit to your VPN. This stops all torrent traffic if your VPN drops it’s connection or you forgot to connect. It’s more reliable than a Kill Switch. https://www.reddit.com/r/qBittorrent/comments/ud2k5m/comment/i6ejaeg/
Kill switches are unreliable, use binding instead https://www.reddit.com/r/torrents/comments/174pwzi/comment/k4aocdo/
Bruh needs to learn how to bind his VPN & Torrent Client… Y’all, kill switches are NOT good enough. https://www.reddit.com/r/Piracy/comments/1b5mpgp/comment/kt6a10y/
Bind your connection. Kill switches are functionally useless. https://www.reddit.com/r/torrents/comments/1c5yt4n/comment/kzxnzce/
These are what I could find in the last 15 minutes, hopefully this is enough.
Any idea if gluetun does this by default? A popular setup is setting the network mode on the application docker to the gluetun service and then gluetun itself says it has a killswitch built in. I assume they did that well since its very popular and this is pretty much the main purpose of the container.
setting the network mode on the application docker to the gluetun service
As long as you do this, you’re good
