How to Secure qBittorrent with a VPN on Linux?

[gabin8207]

Hi everyone,

I'm looking to enhance my privacy by configuring qBittorrent on Linux to work securely with a VPN. I've done some research, but I'd like to get specific advice for optimal setup.

In qBittorrent's advanced options, what is the best way to identify and select the network interface corresponding to the VPN to ensure all torrent traffic goes through it?

What settings do you recommend in the BitTorrent options, such as enabling anonymous mode and encryption, to maximize security without sacrificing performance?

Besides binding qBittorrent to the VPN interface, are there additional measures to prevent IP leaks, especially if the VPN connection drops unexpectedly?

Is it safe to use free VPN services for torrenting with qBittorrent, or is it better to choose paid solutions? What are the potential risks of free VPNs in this context?

Is it necessary to configure specific port forwarding when using a VPN on Linux with qBittorrent? If so, how should I proceed, and which ports are ideal?


Thank you in advance for your recommendations and guidance.

[rdalek]

I'm no expert on this. Just going to try to provide some info as a seed and see if it grows for you. I use Surfshark but most likely, any VPN service will work the same way. I installed openvpn, which is ran as a service or command line tool. I ran the first few times on the command line until I knew everything was working correctly. Once I had openvpn installed, I went to the Surfshark website and downloaded the files needed for openvpn. I placed them in my /etc/openvpn/ directory, renaming to the name openvpn expects, openvpn.conf. If you going to use multiple locations, I recommend using a symlink. It's easier to switch. Once you get the config files in place, I think running openvpn /etc/openvpn/<config-file> will test to see if it works. You will need to type in the username/password.

When openvpn starts correctly and connects, you should have a new network interface named tun0. In QB settings, point to tun0 network interface only. I think the default is 'any interface'. You can run ifconfig, or whatever command you have, to list network interfaces to see what it is. May want to run before starting and again after, look for the new one. It should be tun0 but could be named something else.

Once you get things working on the command line, you may want to set it up as a service. If you want to do that, you need to add a login.conf file. Put the username on the first line and the password on the second line. Then in your openvpn file, add this line:

Code: Select all

auth-user-pass /etc/openvpn/login.conf

When you start the service, it looks there for the username/password instead of making you type it in. Depending on your service tool and when it starts, you may not get the chance to type it in or it will stop other services until you do. That may not be good.

This is what my openvpn directory looks like.

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ls /etc/openvpn/

down.sh
login.conf
openvpn.conf -> /etc/openvpn/us-den.prod.surfshark.comsurfshark_openvpn_udp.ovpn
OpenVPN-Config-ArcherA9v6.ovpn
up.sh
us-atl.prod.surfshark.comsurfshark_openvpn_udp.ovpn
us-chi.prod.surfshark.comsurfshark_openvpn_udp.ovpn
us-dal.prod.surfshark.comsurfshark_openvpn_udp.ovpn
us-den.prod.surfshark.comsurfshark_openvpn_udp.ovpn
us-hou.prod.surfshark.comsurfshark_openvpn_udp.ovpn
us-lax.prod.surfshark.comsurfshark_openvpn_udp.ovpn

As you can see, my openvpn.conf points to a location file. To switch, I just change what it links to and restart openvpn.

I've had QB set to use only tun0 for a while. Whenever I've had network problems and the VPN stops, QB is unable to send or receive data. There is no "kill switch" with openvpn that I know of. However, pointing QB to the VPN interface works. You can always test. Stop the VPN and see if QB data transfer stops. It should.

Again, I'm no expert on this. You may have to search for some info but this should help some at least. May even get you working.