u/sboger

PLOP

This post defines changes needed to use transmission with the Definitive ProtonVPN HOWTO

Please read "The definitive HOWTO for setting up ProtonVPN, Gluetun, and Qbittorrent with fully automated port forwarding" before using the information below. That howto guides you through correctly setting up wireguard or openvpn credentials on the ProtonVPN website.

After reading the HOWTO, come back here and alter the env variables as you see fit.

docker-compose.yml (you shouldn't need to alter this)

services:
  gluetun:
    image: qmcgaw/gluetun:v3
    container_name: gluetun
    cap_add:
      - NET_ADMIN
    devices:
      - /dev/net/tun:/dev/net/tun
    ports:
      - 9091:9091/tcp # transmission
    environment:
      - UPDATER_PERIOD=24h #this now requires you to define credentials
      - TZ=${TZ}
      - VPN_SERVICE_PROVIDER=protonvpn
      - VPN_TYPE=${VPN_TYPE}
      - OPENVPN_USER=${OPENVPN_USER}
      - OPENVPN_PASSWORD=${OPENVPN_PASSWORD}
      - OPENVPN_CIPHERS=AES-256-GCM
      - WIREGUARD_PRIVATE_KEY=${WIREGUARD_PRIVATE_KEY}
      - PORT_FORWARD_ONLY=on
      - VPN_PORT_FORWARDING=on
      - VPN_PORT_FORWARDING_UP_COMMAND=/bin/sh -c 'if [ ! -e /usr/bin/transmission-remote ]; then apk update && apk add transmission-remote; fi && transmission-remote localhost -p {{PORTS}} && transmission-remote localhost -t all --reannounce'
      - SERVER_COUNTRIES=${SERVER_COUNTRIES}
    volumes:
      - ${MEDIA_DIR}/gluetun/config:/gluetun
    restart: unless-stopped

  transmission:
    image: linuxserver/transmission
    container_name: transmission
    depends_on:
      gluetun:
        condition: service_healthy
    environment:
      - TZ=${TZ}
    volumes:
      - ${MEDIA_DIR}/transmission/config:/config
      - ${MEDIA_DIR}/transmission/downloads:/downloads
      - ${MEDIA_DIR}/transmission/watch:/watch
    restart: unless-stopped
    network_mode: "service:gluetun"

Here's the .env file:

# Fill in either the OpenVPN or Wireguard sections. The choice of vpn is made with VPN_TYPE. Choose 'wireguard' or 'openvpn'. The settings for the other vpn type will be ignored. 
# Alter the TZ, MEDIA_DIR, and SERVER_COUNTRIES to your preference. Run 'docker run --rm -v eraseme:/gluetun qmcgaw/gluetun format-servers -protonvpn' to get a list of server countries

# Base config
TZ=Australia/Brisbane
MEDIA_DIR=/container

# Gluetun config
VPN_TYPE=wireguard #openvpn
SERVER_COUNTRIES=Albania,Algeria,Angola,Argentina,Australia,Austria,Azerbaijan

# OpenVPN config
OPENVPN_USER=username+pmp # must add +pmp to username
OPENVPN_PASSWORD=password

# Wireguard config (example key from gluetun wiki)
WIREGUARD_PRIVATE_KEY=wOEI9rqqbDwnN8/Bpp22sVz48T71vJ4fYmFWujulwUU=

Successful first run from the gluetun logs:

gluetun  | 2026-06-16T17:56:47-05:00 INFO [port forwarding] port forwarded is 55426
gluetun  | 2026-06-16T17:56:47-05:00 INFO [firewall] setting allowed input port 55426 through interface tun0...
gluetun  | 2026-06-16T17:56:47-05:00 INFO [port forwarding] writing port file /tmp/gluetun/forwarded_port
gluetun  | 2026-06-16T17:56:47-05:00 INFO [port forwarding] fetch https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/v3.22/main/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz
gluetun  | 2026-06-16T17:56:48-05:00 INFO [port forwarding] fetch https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/v3.22/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz
gluetun  | 2026-06-16T17:56:49-05:00 INFO [port forwarding] v3.22.4-146-g537bcb2ea02 [https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/v3.22/main]
gluetun  | 2026-06-16T17:56:49-05:00 INFO [port forwarding] v3.22.4-142-g851e02b940b [https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/v3.22/community]
gluetun  | 2026-06-16T17:56:49-05:00 INFO [port forwarding] OK: 26335 distinct packages available
gluetun  | 2026-06-16T17:56:50-05:00 INFO [port forwarding] (1/10) Installing brotli-libs (1.1.0-r2)
gluetun  | 2026-06-16T17:56:51-05:00 INFO [port forwarding] (2/10) Installing c-ares (1.34.6-r0)
gluetun  | 2026-06-16T17:56:51-05:00 INFO [port forwarding] (3/10) Installing nghttp2-libs (1.69.0-r0)
gluetun  | 2026-06-16T17:56:51-05:00 INFO [port forwarding] (4/10) Installing libpsl (0.21.5-r3)
gluetun  | 2026-06-16T17:56:51-05:00 INFO [port forwarding] (5/10) Installing libcurl (8.14.1-r2)
gluetun  | 2026-06-16T17:56:51-05:00 INFO [port forwarding] (6/10) Installing libevent (2.1.12-r8)
gluetun  | 2026-06-16T17:56:51-05:00 INFO [port forwarding] (7/10) Installing libgcc (14.2.0-r6)
gluetun  | 2026-06-16T17:56:51-05:00 INFO [port forwarding] (8/10) Installing libintl (0.24.1-r0)
gluetun  | 2026-06-16T17:56:51-05:00 INFO [port forwarding] (9/10) Installing libstdc++ (14.2.0-r6)
gluetun  | 2026-06-16T17:56:51-05:00 INFO [port forwarding] (10/10) Installing transmission-remote (4.0.6-r4)
gluetun  | 2026-06-16T17:56:52-05:00 INFO [port forwarding] Executing busybox-1.37.0-r20.trigger
gluetun  | 2026-06-16T17:56:52-05:00 INFO [port forwarding] OK: 22 MiB in 47 packages
gluetun  | 2026-06-16T17:56:52-05:00 INFO [port forwarding] localhost:9091/transmission/rpc/ responded: success
gluetun  | 2026-06-16T17:56:52-05:00 INFO [port forwarding] localhost:9091/transmission/rpc/ responded: success

Subsequent runs after a healthcheck or API triggered restart.

gluetun  | 2026-06-16T19:53:05-05:00 INFO [port forwarding] port forwarded is 52461
gluetun  | 2026-06-16T19:53:05-05:00 INFO [firewall] setting allowed input port 52461 through interface tun0...
gluetun  | 2026-06-16T19:53:05-05:00 INFO [port forwarding] writing port file /tmp/gluetun/forwarded_port
gluetun  | 2026-06-16T19:53:05-05:00 INFO [port forwarding] localhost:9091/transmission/rpc/ responded: success
gluetun  | 2026-06-16T19:53:05-05:00 INFO [port forwarding] localhost:9091/transmission/rpc/ responded: success

Find out what your running transmission container thinks:

root@eco:~/mediacenter# docker exec transmission transmission-remote -pt
Port is open: Yes
root@eco:~/mediacenter#

Note, if you are already running the gluetun/proton/qbit stack from the howto, you only need to cut and paste the VPN_PORT_FORWARDING_UP_COMMAND command from above and define the transmission service.