rtomik-helm-charts/charts/qbittorrent-vpn

qBittorrent VPN Helm Chart

A Helm chart for deploying qBittorrent with a Gluetun VPN sidecar on Kubernetes.

Introduction

This chart deploys qBittorrent alongside Gluetun, ensuring all BitTorrent traffic is routed through a VPN. It supports 30+ VPN providers via OpenVPN or WireGuard, includes a kill-switch firewall, and exposes HTTP/Socks proxy services.

Source code: https://github.com/rtomik/helm-charts/tree/main/charts/qbittorrent-vpn

Note: Currently only tested with NordVPN and OpenVPN configuration.

Prerequisites

• Kubernetes 1.19+
• Helm 3.2.0+
• PV provisioner support in the cluster
• A valid VPN subscription

Installing the Chart

helm repo add rtomik https://rtomik.github.io/helm-charts
helm install qbittorrent-vpn rtomik/qbittorrent-vpn

Uninstalling the Chart

helm uninstall qbittorrent-vpn

Note: PVCs are not deleted automatically. To remove them:

kubectl delete pvc -l app.kubernetes.io/instance=qbittorrent-vpn

Configuration Examples

NordVPN with Existing Secret

First, create a secret with your VPN credentials:

kubectl create secret generic vpn-credentials \
  --from-literal=username='your-vpn-username' \
  --from-literal=password='your-vpn-password'

gluetun:
  vpn:
    provider: "nordvpn"
    type: "openvpn"
    serverCountries: "United States"
    openvpn:
      NORDVPN_CATEGORY: "P2P"
  credentials:
    create: false
    existingSecret: "vpn-credentials"
    usernameKey: "username"
    passwordKey: "password"

ingress:
  enabled: true
  hosts:
    - host: qbittorrent.example.com
      paths:
        - path: /
          pathType: Prefix
  tls:
    - hosts:
        - qbittorrent.example.com

ProtonVPN

gluetun:
  vpn:
    provider: "protonvpn"
    type: "openvpn"
    serverCountries: "Switzerland"
    openvpn:
      PROTONVPN_TIER: "2"
      SERVER_FEATURES: "p2p"
  credentials:
    create: true
    username: "protonvpn-username"
    password: "protonvpn-password"

Private Internet Access with Port Forwarding

gluetun:
  vpn:
    provider: "private internet access"
    type: "openvpn"
    serverCountries: "US"
  credentials:
    create: true
    username: "pia-username"
    password: "pia-password"
  settings:
    VPN_PORT_FORWARDING: "on"
    STATUS_FILE: "/tmp/gluetun-status.json"

Proxy Services

service:
  proxies:
    enabled: true
    httpPort: 8888
    socksPort: 8388

Custom Sidecar (NATMap)

Sidecars can access shared volumes: config, downloads, and gluetun-config.

sidecars:
  - name: natmap
    image: ghcr.io/muink/natmap:latest
    imagePullPolicy: IfNotPresent
    env:
      - name: GATEWAY
        value: "10.2.0.1"
      - name: INTERFACE
        value: "tun0"
      - name: INTERVAL
        value: "30"
    volumeMounts:
      - name: config
        mountPath: /config
        subPath: natmap

Parameters

qBittorrent Parameters

Name	Description	Default
qbittorrent.image.repository	qBittorrent image repository	linuxserver/qbittorrent
qbittorrent.image.tag	qBittorrent image tag	5.1.0
qbittorrent.image.pullPolicy	Image pull policy	IfNotPresent
qbittorrent.bittorrentPort	BitTorrent traffic port	6881
qbittorrent.service.port	Web UI port	8080

Gluetun VPN Parameters

Name	Description	Default
gluetun.enabled	Enable Gluetun VPN sidecar	true
gluetun.image.repository	Gluetun image repository	qmcgaw/gluetun
gluetun.image.tag	Gluetun image tag	v3.40.0
gluetun.vpn.provider	VPN provider name	nordvpn
gluetun.vpn.type	VPN protocol (openvpn or wireguard)	openvpn
gluetun.vpn.serverCountries	Countries to connect (comma-separated)	Netherlands
gluetun.vpn.serverCities	Cities to connect (optional)	""
gluetun.vpn.serverNames	Specific server names (optional)	""
gluetun.vpn.randomize	Randomize server selection	true

VPN Credentials

Name	Description	Default
gluetun.credentials.create	Create credentials secret	true
gluetun.credentials.username	VPN username (if creating secret)	""
gluetun.credentials.password	VPN password (if creating secret)	""
gluetun.credentials.existingSecret	Existing secret name	""
gluetun.credentials.usernameKey	Key for username in secret	username
gluetun.credentials.passwordKey	Key for password in secret	password

Gluetun Settings

Name	Description	Default
gluetun.settings.FIREWALL	Enable firewall	on
gluetun.settings.FIREWALL_OUTBOUND_SUBNETS	Allowed outbound subnets	10.0.0.0/8,172.16.0.0/12,192.168.0.0/16
gluetun.settings.FIREWALL_INPUT_PORTS	Ports allowed through firewall	8080
gluetun.settings.FIREWALL_DEBUG	Enable firewall debug	on
gluetun.settings.VPN_PORT_FORWARDING	Enable port forwarding	off
gluetun.settings.DNS_ADDRESS	DNS server address	1.1.1.1
gluetun.resources.limits.cpu	CPU limit	300m
gluetun.resources.limits.memory	Memory limit	256Mi

WireGuard Configuration (when using WireGuard)

Name	Description	Default
gluetun.vpn.wireguard.privateKey	WireGuard private key	""
gluetun.vpn.wireguard.privateKeyExistingSecret	Existing secret with private key	""
gluetun.vpn.wireguard.addresses	WireGuard addresses	""
gluetun.vpn.wireguard.endpointIP	Server endpoint IP (optional)	""
gluetun.vpn.wireguard.endpointPort	Server endpoint port (optional)	""

Deployment Parameters

Name	Description	Default
replicaCount	Number of replicas	1
revisionHistoryLimit	Revisions to retain	3
podSecurityContext.runAsNonRoot	Run as non-root	false
podSecurityContext.runAsUser	User ID	0
podSecurityContext.fsGroup	Filesystem group ID	0
nodeSelector	Node selector	{}
tolerations	Tolerations	[]
affinity	Affinity rules	{}

Service Parameters

Name	Description	Default
service.type	Service type	ClusterIP
service.port	Service port	8080
service.proxies.enabled	Enable HTTP/Socks proxy services	false
service.proxies.httpPort	HTTP proxy port	8888
service.proxies.socksPort	Socks proxy port	8388

Ingress Parameters

Name	Description	Default
ingress.enabled	Enable ingress	false
ingress.className	Ingress class name	""
ingress.annotations	Ingress annotations	[]
ingress.hosts	Ingress hosts	See values.yaml
ingress.tls	TLS configuration	See values.yaml

Persistence Parameters

Name	Description	Default
qbittorrent.persistence.config.enabled	Enable config PVC	true
qbittorrent.persistence.config.existingClaim	Existing config PVC	""
qbittorrent.persistence.config.size	Config PVC size	2Gi
qbittorrent.persistence.downloads.enabled	Enable downloads PVC	true
qbittorrent.persistence.downloads.existingClaim	Existing downloads PVC	""
qbittorrent.persistence.downloads.size	Downloads PVC size	2Gi
gluetun.persistence.enabled	Enable Gluetun config PVC	true
gluetun.persistence.size	Gluetun config PVC size	100Mi

Sidecar Parameters

Name	Description	Default
sidecars	Additional sidecar containers	[]

Health Check Parameters

Name	Description	Default
probes.liveness.enabled	Enable liveness probe	true
probes.liveness.path	Liveness probe path	/
probes.liveness.periodSeconds	Liveness period	30
probes.readiness.enabled	Enable readiness probe	true
probes.readiness.path	Readiness probe path	/
probes.readiness.periodSeconds	Readiness period	10

Supported VPN Providers

AirVPN, Cyberghost, ExpressVPN, FastestVPN, HideMyAss, IPVanish, IVPN, Mullvad, NordVPN, Perfect Privacy, Private Internet Access, PrivateVPN, ProtonVPN, PureVPN, Surfshark, TorGuard, VyprVPN, WeVPN, Windscribe, and more.

See the Gluetun Providers Documentation for the full list and provider-specific options.

Troubleshooting

VPN Not Connecting

kubectl logs deployment/qbittorrent-vpn -c gluetun
kubectl describe secret vpn-credentials

Enable debug logging for more detail:

gluetun:
  extraEnv:
    - name: LOG_LEVEL
      value: "debug"

Directory Creation Errors

Ensure the init container is enabled and fsGroup is set in podSecurityContext.

Firewall / Network Issues

Gluetun requires privileged: true and NET_ADMIN capability. Verify /dev/net/tun is mounted correctly.

Links

• qBittorrent
• Gluetun GitHub
• Gluetun Provider Setup
• Chart Source