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Private Internet Access Client (qBittorrent+OpenVPN+Iptables+DNS on alpine/ubuntu)

Nextgen (GEN4) Server compatible

latest version Pulls from DockerHub

Lightweight qBittorrent & Private Internet Access VPN client

PIA Docker OpenVPN

Click to show base components

Features

  • Configure everything with environment variables

    • Destination region
    • Internet protocol
    • Level of encryption
    • PIA Username and password
    • DNS Servers

  • Self contained qBittorrent

  • Exposed webUI

  • Downloads & config Volumes

  • The iptables firewall allows traffic only with needed PIA servers (IP addresses, port, protocol) combinations

  • OpenVPN reconnects automatically on failure

  • Port forwarding for seeding

Setup

  1. Requirements

    • A Private Internet Access username and password - Sign up referral link
    • Advanced firewall requirements, if you have one
      • Allow outbound UDP 53 to 84.200.69.80 and 84.200.70.40 this allows the resolve of PIA domain names on startup.
        • If you set your own DNS_SERVERS with the environment variable, allow the outbound connection to your chosen DNS servers IP and Port instead
      • For VPN connection allow outbound UDP 1198, all traffic including DNS should go through the VPN connection once connected.
      • For the built-in web HTTP proxy, allow inbound TCP 8888
    • Docker API 1.25 to support init

  2. Launch the container with:

    Basic Launch

    docker run -d --init --name=pia --restart unless-stopped --cap-add=NET_ADMIN
-v /My/Downloads/Folder/:/downloads \
-p 8888:8888 -e REGION="Netherlands" -e USER=xxxxxxx -e PASSWORD=xxxxxxxx \
j4ym0/pia-qbittorrent

    Advanced Launch

    docker run -d --init --name=pia --restart unless-stopped --cap-add=NET_ADMIN \
-v /My/Downloads/Folder/:/downloads -v /qBittorrent/config/:/config \
-p 8888:8888 -e REGION="Netherlands" -e USER=xxxxxxx -e PASSWORD=xxxxxxxx \
-e UID=3 -e GID=3 -e TZ=Etc/UTC -e PORT_FORWARDING=true \
j4ym0/pia-qbittorrent

    Note that you can:

    • Change the many environment variables available
    • Use -p 8888:8888/tcp to access the HTTP web proxy
    • Pass additional arguments to openvpn using Docker's command function (commands after the image name)
    • Use a hook script after connecting to the VPN to execute additional code. See Hooks

Testing

Check the PIA IP address matches your expectations

try WhatisMyIP.net torrent-ip-checker

Environment variables

Environment variable Default Description
REGION Netherlands List of PIA regions.
Tip: use a _ in place of spaces e.g. DE Berlin becomes de_berlin
USER Your PIA username
PASSWORD Your PIA password
PORT_FORWARDING false Set to true if you want to enable port forwarding from PIA, This helps with uploading
WEBUI_PORT 8888 1024 to 65535 internal port for HTTP proxy
LEGACY_IPTABLES false set to true if nft protocol not supported or you want to use iptables_legacy
DNS_SERVERS 84.200.69.80,84.200.70.40 DNS servers to use, comma separated [see list](#DNS Servers)
UID 700 The UserID
GID 700 The GroupID
TZ The Timezone
HOSTHEADERVALIDATION Set to false if having trouble accessing the WebUI with unauthorized
CSRFPROTECTION Set to false if having trouble accessing the WebUI with unauthorized

Port forwarding port will be added to qBittorrent settings on startup. A port can last for up to 2 months.
To get the user id, run id -u USER
To get the group id for a user, run id -g USER Disabling HOSTHEADERVALIDATION and CSRFPROTECTION could cause security issues if the WebUI is exposed to the internet.

DNS Servers

Quick list of DNS servers and port advice

Server Description Port
84.200.69.80 DNS.WATCH 53 (UDP)
84.200.70.40 DNS.WATCH 53 (UDP)
103.196.38.38 Handshake DNS 53 (UDP/TCP)
103.196.38.39 Handshake DNS 53 (UDP/TCP)
1.1.1.1 Cloudflare 53 (UDP)
1.0.0.1 Cloudflare 53 (UDP)
8.8.8.8 Google 53 (UDP)
8.8.4.4 Google 53 (UDP)

Private Internet Access no longer offer a public facing DNS (209.222.18.222 and 209.222.18.218)

Private Internet Access private DNS server 10.0.0.242 (DNS), 10.0.0.243 (DNS+Streaming), 10.0.0.244 (DNS+MACE), 10.0.0.241 (DNS+Streaming+Mace) can only be used once you are connected to Private Internet Access VPN.

To change to Private Internet Access DNS server, this must be done after the VPN is connected. Add a Hook Script, create a file in /config called post-vpn-connect.sh. Then Copy the below into the script file. This script will change the DNS servers after the VPN is connected. The Default DNS (84.200.69.80 or 84.200.70.40) will still be used to resolve the VPN server.

# Update the resolv with the PIA DNS server
echo " * * Adding 10.0.0.242 to resolv.conf"
# > to replace the file and >> to add to the end of the file
echo "nameserver 10.0.0.242" > /etc/resolv.conf

Port Forwarding

If you enable port forwarding by adding -e PORT_FORWARDING=true to your container it will be opened to the outside. This is beneficial when seeding/uploading. On startup a port will be requested from Private Internet Access, this port will then be opened on the containers firewall and added to the qBittorrent config. qBittorrent will then bind to that port on launch.

You can not specify a port, Private Internet Access assign a random port to your connection that will change every time. The port will be assigned for a maximum of 2 months. The container will have to keep in contact with PIA to keep the port alive and the port may be revoke if the container is not able to keep in contact.

If the internet connection is lossed for a short time, the port remains open.
If the internet connection is lost for longer than 15 minutes the port should remain open until the port is reassigned. Although the container is designed to restart if there is an issue with port forwarding (exit code 5), i have yet to experience a port becoming unavailable. If you seem to have an issue, restart the container or goto File and use the exit qBittorrent from the webUI. The container will restart if --restart unless-stopped is set .

Connect to webUI

You can connect via your web browser using http://127.0.0.1:8888 or you public ip / LAN if you have forwarding set up

Default username: admin
Default Password: (A temporary password is provided in the docker logs docker logs pia)

You should change the default password as it will change every time the container is restarted. To change the default password first login to your UI by going to http://127.0.0.1:8888 Once logged in click 'Tools' at the top and then 'Options@. Now in the Options panel click the 'Web UI' tab and under 'Authentication' you can change the username and password. Then scroll to the bottom and save.

Hooks

If you need to extend what is happening with the container, you can create a shell script hook in /config (looking from perspective of container so whichever place you mapped to it) called post-vpn-connect.sh. The code will run just after OpenVPN connects but before qBitTorrent starts. A good place to update tracker security with your new IP etc.

The script runs as the root user and can install applications via apk/apt, edit the iptables if needed and use variables from the main script. Variables from the main script should not be change as this may cause issues with the port forwarding, but you can happily read them and use them in your code.

variable Description
PF_PORT The forwarding port given to you by Private Internet Access for this connection
WEBUI_PORT The local web UI port when connecting to qBittorrent
UID The local user id that qBittorrent uses to write files
GID The local group id that qBittorrent uses to write files

Basic script for latest or alpine

# Get my external ip and save it to a var
MY_IP=$(wget -qO- ifconfig.me/ip)
# print my external ip we have just saved
printf " My IP is $MY_IP\n"
# print my forwarding port the main script requested from Private Internet Access
printf " My forwarding port is $PF_PORT\n"

Basic script for ubuntu

# Get my external ip and save it to a var
MY_IP=$(wget -qO- ifconfig.me/ip)
# print my external ip we have just saved
printf " My IP is $MY_IP\n"
# print my forwarding port the main script requested from Private Internet Access
printf " My forwarding port is $PF_PORT\n"

Use caution with blocking loops as this script must finish before qBittorrent is started.

For the paranoids

  • You can review the code which essential consists in the Dockerfile and entrypoint.sh

  • Any issues please raise them!!

  • Build the images straight from git:

    docker build -t j4ym0/pia-qbittorrent https://github.com/j4ym0/pia-qbittorrent-docker.git

  • clone the repository and build:

    git clone https://github.com/j4ym0/pia-qbittorrent-docker.git
cd pia-qbittorrent-docker
docker build -t j4ym0/pia-qbittorrent .

  • Using docker compose:

      git clone https://github.com/j4ym0/pia-qbittorrent-docker.git
  cd pia-qbittorrent-docker
  docker-compose up -d

  • The download and unziping of PIA openvpn files is done at build for the ones not able to download the zip files

  • Checksums for PIA openvpn zip files are not used as these files change often (but HTTPS is used)

  • PIA Nextgen servers are used

  • DNS Leaks tests seems to be ok, NEED FEEDBACK

Known Issues

  • Unauthorized when using proxy for WebUI - Issue #26

    • This can happen when using a proxy to access the WebUI or accessing from a different port to the one configured.
    • The issue is a security feature CSRF Protection and can be disabled.
    • Fix: Disable CSRF Protection -e CSRFPROTECTION=false

  • nft: Protocol not supported - Issue #16

    • This will happen if the host device does not have the package nftables, usually installed with the newer iptables.
    • Known to be a issue with synology NAS
    • Fix: Set LEGACY_IPTABLES to true -e LEGACY_IPTABLES=true

  • 5.x not deleting files, Moving to folder .trash-x

    • qBittrorrent v5.0.0 introduce "Torrent content removing mode" default option is to move files to trash(if possible).
    • torrent data is moved and no deleted and can be changed in the options
    • Fix: Go to Tools -> Options... -> Advanced (tab) and set Torrent content removing mode to delete files permanently. Click save and delete the /downloads/.trash-* folder

TODOs

  • More DNS leak testing
  • Edit config from environment vars

License

This repository is under an MIT license