Docker container which runs Transmission torrent client with WebUI while connecting to OpenVPN. It bundles certificates and configurations for the following VPN providers:
- Private Internet Access
- BTGuard
- TigerVPN
- FrootVPN
- TorGuard
- NordVPN
- UsenetServerVPN
- IPVanish
- Anonine
- HideMe
- PureVPN
- HideMyAss
- PrivateVPN
When using PIA as provider it will update Transmission hourly with assigned open port. Please read the instructions below.
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/storage/path/:/data \
-e "OPENVPN_PROVIDER=PIA" \
-e "OPENVPN_CONFIG=Netherlands" \
-e "OPENVPN_USERNAME=user" \
-e "OPENVPN_PASSWORD=pass" \
-p 9091:9091 \
haugene/transmission-openvpn
You must set the environment variables OPENVPN_PROVIDER, OPENVPN_USERNAME and OPENVPN_PASSWORD to provide basic connection details.
The OPENVPN_CONFIG is an optional variable. If no config is given, a default config will be selected for the provider you have chosen.
Find available OpenVPN configurations by looking in the openvpn folder of the GitHub repository.
As you can see, the container also expects a data volume to be mounted. This is where Transmission will store your downloads, incomplete downloads and look for a watch directory for new .torrent files. By default a folder named transmission-home will also be created under /data, this is where Transmission stores its state.
| 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, PUREVPN, HIDEMYASS and PRIVATEVPN |
OPENVPN_USERNAME |
Your OpenVPN username | OPENVPN_USERNAME=asdf |
OPENVPN_PASSWORD |
Your OpenVPN password | OPENVPN_PASSWORD=asdf |
| Variable | Function | Example |
|---|---|---|
OPENVPN_CONFIG |
Sets the OpenVPN endpoint to connect to. | OPENVPN_CONFIG=UK Southampton |
OPENVPN_OPTS |
Will be passed to OpenVPN on startup | See OpenVPN doc |
You may override transmission options by setting the appropriate environment variable.
The environment variables are the same name as used in the transmission settings.json file and follow the format given in these examples:
| Transmission variable name | Environment variable name |
|---|---|
speed-limit-up |
TRANSMISSION_SPEED_LIMIT_UP |
speed-limit-up-enabled |
TRANSMISSION_SPEED_LIMIT_UP_ENABLED |
ratio-limit |
TRANSMISSION_RATIO_LIMIT |
ratio-limit-enabled |
TRANSMISSION_RATIO_LIMIT_ENABLED |
As you can see the variables are prefixed with TRANSMISSION_, the variable is capitalized, and - is converted to _.
PS: TRANSMISSION_BIND_ADDRESS_IPV4 will be overridden to the IP assigned to your OpenVPN tunnel interface.
This is to prevent leaking the host IP.
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.
There are several ways to fix this. You can pipe and do fancy iptables or ip route configurations on the host and in the container. But I found that the simplest solution is just to proxy my traffic. Start an nginx container like this:
$ docker run -d \
-v /path/to/nginx.conf:/etc/nginx/nginx.conf:ro \
-p 8080:8080 \
nginx
Where /path/to/nginx.conf has this content:
events {
worker_connections 1024;
}
http {
server {
listen 8080;
location / {
proxy_pass http://host.ip.address.here:9091;
}
}
}
Your Transmission WebUI should now be avaliable at "your.host.ip.addr:8080/transmission/web/". Change the port in the docker run command if 8080 is not suitable for you. Alternatively if you use container linking, either directly or via docker-compose, you can replace "your.host.ip.addr" with the name or alias of the openvpn container.
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.
If your VPN provider is not in the list of supported providers you could always create an issue on GitHub and see if someone could add it for you. But if you're feeling up for doing it yourself, here's a couple of pointers.
You clone this repository and create a new folder under "openvpn" where you put the .ovpn files your provider gives you. Depending on the structure of these files you need to make some adjustments. For example if they come with a ca.crt file that is referenced in the config you need to update this reference to the path it will have inside the container (which is /etc/openvpn/...). You also have to set where to look for your username/password and what to do when a connection is created (namely starting Transmission). In this commit you can see the changes done when adding IPVanish as provider. In general, it's all been done before so look around the commits and you should find what you're looking for.
There is also a script called adjustConfigs.sh that could help you. After putting your .ovpn files in a folder, run that script with your folder name as parameter and it will try to do the changes descibed above. If you use it or not, reading it might give you some help in what you're looking to change in the .ovpn files.
Once you've finished modifying configs, you build the container and run it with OPENVPN_PROVIDER set to the name of the folder of configs you just created (it will be lowercased to match the folder names). And that should be it!
So, you've just added your own provider and you're feeling pretty good about it! Why don't you fork this repository, commit and push your changes and submit a pull request? Share your provider with the rest of us! :) Please submit your PR to the dev branch in that case.
If you want to run the image with your own provider without building a new image, that is also possible. For some providers, like AirVPN, the .ovpn files are generated per user and contains credentials. They should not be added to a public image. This is what you do:
Add a new volume mount to your docker run command that mounts your config file:
-v /path/to/your/config.ovpn:/etc/openvpn/custom/default.ovpn
Then you can set OPENVPN_PROVIDER=CUSTOMand the container will use the config you provided. If you are using AirVPN or other provider with credentials in the config file, you still need to set OPENVPN_USERNAME and OPENVPN_PASSWORD as this is required by the startup script. They will not be read by the .ovpn file, so you can set them to whatever.
Note that you still need to modify your .ovpn file to include the up/down statements for Transmission etc, described in the previous section. If you have an separate ca.crt file your volume mount should be a folder containing both the ca.crt and the .ovpn config.
To build this container, clone the repository and cd into it.
$ cd /repo/location/docker-transmission-openvpn
$ docker build -t transmission-openvpn .
$ 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.
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.
Here are the steps to run it on a Synology NAS (Tested on DSM 6) :
- Connect as admin to your Synology SSH
- Switch to root with command
sudo su - - Enter your admin password when prompted
- Create a TUN.sh file anywhere in your synology file system by typing
vim /volume1/foldername/TUN.shreplacing foldername with any folder you created on your Synology - Paste @timkelty 's script :
#!/bin/sh
# Create the necessary file structure for /dev/net/tun
if ( [ ! -c /dev/net/tun ] ); then
if ( [ ! -d /dev/net ] ); then
mkdir -m 755 /dev/net
fi
mknod /dev/net/tun c 10 200
fi
# Load the tun module if not already loaded
if ( !(lsmod | grep -q "^tun\s") ); then
insmod /lib/modules/tun.ko
fi
- Save the file with [escape] +
:wq! - Go in the folder containing your script :
cd /volume1/foldername/ - Check permission with
chmod 0755 TUN.sh - Run it with
./TUN.sh - Return to initial directory typing
cd - Create the DNS config file by typing
vim /volume1/foldername/resolv.conf - Paste the following lines :
nameserver 8.8.8.8
nameserver 8.8.4.4
- Save the file with [escape] +
:wq! - Create your docker container with a classic command like
docker run --privileged -d -v /volume1/foldername/resolv.conf:/etc/resolv.conf -v /volume1/yourpath/:/data -e "OPENVPN_PROVIDER=PIA" -e "OPENVPN_CONFIG=Netherlands" -e "OPENVPN_USERNAME=XXXXX" -e "OPENVPN_PASSWORD=XXXXX" -p 9091:9091 haugene/transmission-openvpn -name TransmissionVPN - To make it work after a nas restart, create an automated task in your synology web interface : go to **Settings Panel > Task Scheduler ** create a new task that run
/volume1/foldername/TUN.shas root (select 'root' in 'user' selectbox). This task will start module that permit the container to run, you can make a task that run on startup. These kind of task doesn't work on my nas so I just made a task that run every minute. - Enjoy