Transmission with WireGuard

Description / name	Input element
Container Registry
Container Configuration Root Path
Global /downloads Path
Timezone
User ID
Group ID
Transmission with WireGuard Host Port
Transmission with WireGuard /config Path
Transmission with WireGuard /watch Path

Transmission BitTorrent client with built-in WireGuard VPN support.


Port	`9091`
Registry	`ghcr.io/daemonless/transmission-wireguard`
Daemonless	daemonless/transmission-wireguard
Source	transmission/transmission
Website	transmissionbt.com

Version Tags

Tag	Description	Best For
`latest` / `pkg`	FreeBSD Quarterly. Uses stable, tested packages.	Most users — recommended.
`pkg-latest`	FreeBSD Latest. Rolling package updates.	Staying current.

Before deploying, ensure your host environment is ready. See the Quick Start Guide for host setup instructions, including the security model for host vs. container privileges.

Deployment

Podman AppJail Bastille

Compose CLI Ansible

services:
  transmission-wireguard:
    image: "ghcr.io/daemonless/transmission-wireguard:latest"
    container_name: transmission-wireguard
    environment:
      - WG_PRIVATE_KEY=your-private-key  # Your WireGuard private key
      - WG_PEER_PUBLIC_KEY=vpn-server-public-key  # VPN server's public key
      - WG_ENDPOINT=vpn.example.com:51820  # VPN server address (host:port)
      - WG_ADDRESS=10.5.0.2/32  # Your tunnel IP address (default: 10.5.0.2/32)
      - WG_DNS=1.1.1.1  # DNS server to use (default: 1.1.1.1)
      - PUID=1000  # User ID for the application process
      - PGID=1000  # Group ID for the application process
      - TZ=UTC  # Timezone for the container
    volumes:
      - "/path/to/containers/transmission-wireguard:/config"
      - "/path/to/downloads:/downloads"
      - "/path/to/containers/transmission-wireguard/watch:/watch"
    ports:
      - "9091:9091"
      - "51413:51413"
      - "51413:51413"
    annotations:
      org.freebsd.jail.vnet: "new"
    # always (not unless-stopped) so FreeBSD's podman rc.d auto-starts it at boot
    restart: always

Save as compose.yaml, then run podman-compose up -d.

podman run -d --name transmission-wireguard \
  -p 9091:9091 \
  -p 51413:51413 \
  -p 51413:51413 \
  --annotation 'org.freebsd.jail.vnet=new' \
  -e WG_PRIVATE_KEY=your-private-key \
  -e WG_PEER_PUBLIC_KEY=vpn-server-public-key \
  -e WG_ENDPOINT=vpn.example.com:51820 \
  -e WG_ADDRESS=10.5.0.2/32 \
  -e WG_DNS=1.1.1.1 \
  -e PUID=1000 \
  -e PGID=1000 \
  -e TZ=UTC \
  -v /path/to/containers/transmission-wireguard:/config \
  -v /path/to/downloads:/downloads \
  -v /path/to/containers/transmission-wireguard/watch:/watch \
  ghcr.io/daemonless/transmission-wireguard:latest

Save as run.sh, then run sh run.sh.

- name: Deploy transmission-wireguard
  containers.podman.podman_container:
    name: transmission-wireguard
    image: "ghcr.io/daemonless/transmission-wireguard:latest"
    state: started
    restart_policy: always
    env:
      WG_PRIVATE_KEY: "your-private-key"
      WG_PEER_PUBLIC_KEY: "vpn-server-public-key"
      WG_ENDPOINT: "vpn.example.com:51820"
      WG_ADDRESS: "10.5.0.2/32"
      WG_DNS: "1.1.1.1"
      PUID: "1000"
      PGID: "1000"
      TZ: "UTC"
    ports:
      - "9091:9091"
      - "51413:51413"
      - "51413:51413"
    volumes:
      - "/path/to/containers/transmission-wireguard:/config"
      - "/path/to/downloads:/downloads"
      - "/path/to/containers/transmission-wireguard/watch:/watch"
    annotation:
      org.freebsd.jail.vnet: "new"

Save as transmission-wireguard-deploy.yaml, then run ansible-playbook transmission-wireguard-deploy.yaml.

Warning

Exposing ports in AppJail means that your service can be reached from remote hosts. If that is not your intention, do not expose the ports and communicate with the service using the jail's IPv4 address or hostname assigned by the virtual network.

Director CLI

# .env

DIRECTOR_PROJECT=transmission-wireguard
WG_PRIVATE_KEY=your-private-key
WG_PEER_PUBLIC_KEY=vpn-server-public-key
WG_ENDPOINT=vpn.example.com:51820
WG_ADDRESS=10.5.0.2/32
WG_DNS=1.1.1.1
PUID=1000
PGID=1000
TZ=UTC

# appjail-director.yml

options:
  - virtualnet: ':<random> default'
  - nat:
services:
  transmission-wireguard:
    name: transmission_wireguard
    options:
      - container: 'args:--pull'
      - expose: '9091:9091 proto:tcp'
      - expose: '51413:51413 proto:tcp'
      - expose: '51413:51413 proto:udp'
    oci:
      user: root
      environment:
        - WG_PRIVATE_KEY: !ENV '${WG_PRIVATE_KEY}'
        - WG_PEER_PUBLIC_KEY: !ENV '${WG_PEER_PUBLIC_KEY}'
        - WG_ENDPOINT: !ENV '${WG_ENDPOINT}'
        - WG_ADDRESS: !ENV '${WG_ADDRESS}'
        - WG_DNS: !ENV '${WG_DNS}'
        - PUID: !ENV '${PUID}'
        - PGID: !ENV '${PGID}'
        - TZ: !ENV '${TZ}'
    volumes:
      - TRANSMISSION_WIREGUARD_CONFIG_PATH: /config
      - DOWNLOADS_PATH: /downloads
      - TRANSMISSION_WIREGUARD_WATCH_PATH: /watch
volumes:
  TRANSMISSION_WIREGUARD_CONFIG_PATH:
    device: '/path/to/containers/transmission-wireguard'
  DOWNLOADS_PATH:
    device: '/path/to/downloads'
  TRANSMISSION_WIREGUARD_WATCH_PATH:
    device: '/path/to/containers/transmission-wireguard/watch'

# Makejail

ARG tag=latest

OPTION container=boot
OPTION overwrite=force
OPTION from=ghcr.io/daemonless/transmission-wireguard:${tag}

Save the files above, then run appjail-director up.

appjail oci run -Pd \
  -o overwrite=force \
  -o container="args:--pull" \
  -o virtualnet=":<random> default" \
  -o nat \
  -o expose="9091:9091 proto:tcp" \
  -o expose="51413:51413 proto:tcp" \
  -o expose="51413:51413 proto:udp" \
  -e WG_PRIVATE_KEY=your-private-key \
  -e WG_PEER_PUBLIC_KEY=vpn-server-public-key \
  -e WG_ENDPOINT=vpn.example.com:51820 \
  -e WG_ADDRESS=10.5.0.2/32 \
  -e WG_DNS=1.1.1.1 \
  -e PUID=1000 \
  -e PGID=1000 \
  -e TZ=UTC \
  -o fstab="/path/to/containers/transmission-wireguard /config <pseudofs>" \
  -o fstab="/path/to/downloads /downloads <pseudofs>" \
  -o fstab="/path/to/containers/transmission-wireguard/watch /watch <pseudofs>" \
  ghcr.io/daemonless/transmission-wireguard:latest transmission-wireguard

Save the files above, then run sh run.sh.

Experimental

Bastille's OCI support is experimental. It requires buildah and shares the host network stack (inherit). Mount volumes with --volume HOST JAIL; without it, image-declared volumes are stored under ${bastille_volumesdir}/${jail}.

Compose CLI

services:
  transmission-wireguard:
    name: transmission-wireguard
    image: "ghcr.io/daemonless/transmission-wireguard:latest"
    network:
      - mode: host
    environment:
      - WG_PRIVATE_KEY=your-private-key
      - WG_PEER_PUBLIC_KEY=vpn-server-public-key
      - WG_ENDPOINT=vpn.example.com:51820
      - WG_ADDRESS=10.5.0.2/32
      - WG_DNS=1.1.1.1
      - PUID=1000
      - PGID=1000
      - TZ=UTC
    volumes:
      - "/path/to/containers/transmission-wireguard:/config"
      - "/path/to/downloads:/downloads"
      - "/path/to/containers/transmission-wireguard/watch:/watch"

Save as bastille-compose.yml, then run bastille up.

bastille create -O \
  --env WG_PRIVATE_KEY=your-private-key \
  --env WG_PEER_PUBLIC_KEY=vpn-server-public-key \
  --env WG_ENDPOINT=vpn.example.com:51820 \
  --env WG_ADDRESS=10.5.0.2/32 \
  --env WG_DNS=1.1.1.1 \
  --env PUID=1000 \
  --env PGID=1000 \
  --env TZ=UTC \
  --volume /path/to/containers/transmission-wireguard /config \
  --volume /path/to/downloads /downloads \
  --volume /path/to/containers/transmission-wireguard/watch /watch \
  transmission-wireguard ghcr.io/daemonless/transmission-wireguard:latest inherit

Interactive Configuration

Parameters

Environment Variables

Variable	Default	Description
`WG_PRIVATE_KEY`	`your-private-key`	Your WireGuard private key
`WG_PEER_PUBLIC_KEY`	`vpn-server-public-key`	VPN server's public key
`WG_ENDPOINT`	`vpn.example.com:51820`	VPN server address (host:port)
`WG_ADDRESS`	`10.5.0.2/32`	Your tunnel IP address (default: 10.5.0.2/32)
`WG_DNS`	`1.1.1.1`	DNS server to use (default: 1.1.1.1)
`PUID`	`1000`	User ID for the application process
`PGID`	`1000`	Group ID for the application process
`TZ`	`UTC`	Timezone for the container

Volumes

Path	Description
`/config`	Configuration directory (settings.json, WireGuard configs)
`/downloads`	Download directory
`/watch`	Watch directory for torrent files

Ports

Port	Protocol	Description
`9091`	TCP	Web UI
`51413`	TCP	Torrent traffic (TCP/UDP)
`51413`	UDP	Torrent traffic (TCP/UDP)

WireGuard Setup

Host Requirements

Load the WireGuard kernel module on the host:

kldload if_wg
echo 'if_wg_load="YES"' >> /boot/loader.conf

VNET Required

This container requires its own network stack. Add the annotation:

1	`--annotation 'org.freebsd.jail.vnet=new'`

Getting VPN Credentials

From your VPN provider (Mullvad, PIA, ProtonVPN, etc.), get: - Private Key - Your client private key - Public Key - The VPN server's public key - Endpoint - Server address like vpn.example.com:51820 - Address - Your assigned tunnel IP

Kill Switch

Traffic is routed through the VPN interface. If the VPN connection drops, Transmission loses connectivity - no IP leaks.

Verifying VPN

Check your public IP from inside the container:

podman exec transmission-wireguard fetch -qo - https://ifconfig.me

Implementation Details

Architectures: amd64
User: bsd (UID/GID set via PUID/PGID). Defaults to 1000:1000.
Base: Built on ghcr.io/daemonless/base (FreeBSD 15.1).

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