Gluetun — Lightweight VPN Client Container

What it is

Gluetun is a lightweight Docker container that acts as a VPN client, tunneling all network traffic through a supported VPN provider. Instead of configuring VPN clients inside each container, you point other containers at Gluetun's network stack, and all their traffic exits through the VPN tunnel.

This tool is aimed at self-hosters running services like torrent clients, media servers, or privacy-sensitive applications in Docker. Anyone who needs per-container VPN routing without modifying the underlying host network benefits from Gluetun.

How it saves time or tokens

Gluetun eliminates the repetitive work of setting up VPN clients in multiple containers. A single Gluetun instance handles authentication, kill-switch, port forwarding, and DNS leak prevention for every container that shares its network. This consolidation reduces configuration errors and cuts setup time from hours to minutes when managing multiple services behind a VPN.

How to use

1. Pull the Gluetun Docker image and configure your VPN provider credentials via environment variables
2. Set network_mode: 'service:gluetun' on any container that should route through the VPN
3. Start the stack with docker compose up -d and verify the tunnel is active

Example

# docker-compose.yml
services:
  gluetun:
    image: qmcgaw/gluetun
    cap_add:
      - NET_ADMIN
    environment:
      - VPN_SERVICE_PROVIDER=mullvad
      - VPN_TYPE=wireguard
      - WIREGUARD_PRIVATE_KEY=your_key_here
      - SERVER_COUNTRIES=Switzerland
    ports:
      - 8080:8080  # expose app ports here

  myapp:
    image: myapp:latest
    network_mode: 'service:gluetun'
    depends_on:
      - gluetun

Related on TokRepo

• Self-hosted tools — Browse other self-hosted infrastructure tools
• DevOps tools — Explore deployment and operations workflows

Common pitfalls

• Forgetting cap_add: NET_ADMIN causes the container to fail silently without creating the tunnel
• Port mappings must go on the Gluetun container, not on the app container using its network
• Some VPN providers require specific protocol settings; check the Gluetun wiki for your provider's configuration