Hello. Im a newbie when it comes to docker, self-hosting and networking.

Im setting up a media server. So far i managed to set up all the docker containers i need without issues. What im missing now is only a VPN. As far as i managed to understand, there are two ways i can run a VPN: as a docker container or as a normal system applications.

I still havent chosen a VPN, but for the sake of it lets assume it has either a CLI native application (.deb, .rpm etc) and/or the possibility of exporting OpenVPN/WG profiles.

At first i tried, just to test, to run via a wireguard config file with Proton VPN. It worked, but now it came the problem: since the network was on the machine and not on docker, i couldnt bind my qbittorent container to it and that is a must. The second issue was that i wasnt using the VPN’s DNS service, but my ISP’s. Probably all i need is to add a line of text or two in the .conf and thats it, but it is still something i need to figure out.

My idea is to run a standalone application outside docker, dont run qbittorent as a docker container but as a .deb and then make it talk to the containers via common folders. Now comes the second problem: directories. Since i have the *arr suite setup, it needs to manage folders. As long as qbit was a container, all i had to do was set up the correct paths in the compose file, but now i had qbit talking to the actual path (/home/…/media/…) while the containers where seeing another thing (/media/…) so i had to recreate the complete path in its entirety for the containers. It should work, but i have no way of testing it.

I know you can run wireguard containers and then route all the containers that need a VPN through that, but it is something i would need to look up and frankly i cant see the benefits of doing it via docker instead of the system’s wireguard manager.

How do you suggest i go forward? I dont need the absolute best solution, just one that works and is safe (i must bind qbit to the VPN connection, kill switch is not enough) keeping in mind my very limited knowledge so easier is better. If one day i decide to go for something better but for sophisticated, there is always time.