I’ve got a Linux server running Xubuntu at the moment (It was a media player first), and it also runs two Minecraft servers for the family. It has two network cards that are both connected to the internet. Is there a way to bind the VPN to one of the cards and use the other one for regular use?

I’ve got Surfshark as my VPN, and it doesn’t allow port forwarding under Linux. I’ve got some software that I want to keep behind the VPN, but the lack of port forwarding is stopping me from sharing the Minecraft servers, and when the VPN is active, it slows down the connection to some of my services like Plex.

I’ve tried to look it up, but I just don’t know enough to get myself anywhere. I’ve found results that talk about name spaces and routing tables, but they assume a level of knowledge that I just haven’t got yet.

I want to use the Arr suite and qBittorrent as the main programs behind the VPN, and Plex, Mylar (a comic manager), Syncthing, and Minecraft as the main programs without it. If I set up qBittorrent and the Arrs as Docker containers, can I use Gluetun to bind just them to the VPN? The VPN is using OpenVPN connections if that makes a difference.

Thanks in advance :)

  • bloodfart@lemmy.ml
    1·
    16 days ago

    Yes you can!

    As you said, it’s got everything to do with routing and you don’t know how to do that yet.

    Now’s a great time to learn!

    If you’re on a time crunch, go ahead and use network namespaces under network manager to set up something like what you want as another user suggested.

    If you have time to learn about the firewall and routing table rules, put on your wire rim sunglasses, pop a jungle cd in and crack open Linux Firewalls or some such book for nerds.

    • Tippon@lemmy.dbzer0.comOPEnglish
      0·
      14 days ago

      If you’re on a time crunch, go ahead and use network namespaces under network manager to set up something like what you want as another user suggested.

      I’d love to, but I have no idea how >.< :D

      I have a vague idea of what they are and what they do, but everything I’ve found assumes a level of understanding that I don’t have yet. I’ve found this man page from searcing an example posted in another reply, and it’s helped, but I’m still confused :)

      https://manpages.ubuntu.com/manpages/trusty/man8/ip-netns.8.html

      • bloodfart@lemmy.ml
        0·
        14 days ago

        Yeah, there’s a baseline of network stack understanding that you gotta have in order to use some of the tools, even Theo es that are supposed to make it easier.

        What don’t you get? Maybe I can point you in the right direction.

        • Tippon@lemmy.dbzer0.comOPEnglish
          0·
          12 days ago

          Thank you :)

          The reply from @[email protected] below lead me to the man page for ip netns here:

          https://manpages.ubuntu.com/manpages/trusty/man8/ip-netns.8.html

          As far as I understand it, I could run programs like this:

          ip netns exec vpn ~/qbittorrent/start.sh

          ip netns exec clear ~/minecraft/start.sh

          but I can’t figure out how to get the VPN to only run under the namespace. When I run it now, it reroutes all connections through it. I’ve got an OpenVPN connection that I’ve set one of my network connections to connect to automatically, but it doesn’t seem to make a difference. As soon as I connect the VPN, everything goes through it.

          I’m still reading though, so hopefully I’ll figure it out :)

          • bloodfart@lemmy.ml
            1·
            11 days ago

            I think the defaults on your tunnel apply themselves to all interfaces(or whatever the active one(s) are.

            If you wanna troubleshoot this from the ground up you’d start with looking at your routing table.

            If you run into problems using the process enumerated in the link you posted a couple of replies down, you can start to troubleshoot it by looking at the routing table with iptables -L

            • Tippon@lemmy.dbzer0.comOPEnglish
              2·
              7 days ago

              Sorry, I forgot to reply sooner >.<

              I’ve been trying to get my head around this and also looking into Docker containers with Gluetun, as that looks a bit easier to start with. I think for the moment I’m going to go down the Docker route, and at least get the bulk of the programs separated, and give myself some breathing space to learn a bit more.

              Docker isn’t ideal, as not everything has a Docker version, but the main programs that I originally mentioned do, and it will let me open the Minecraft servers to the kids in the extended family, especially as it’s getting colder and darker here.

              I just want to say thank you to you, @[email protected], @[email protected], and everyone else who’s helped :)

              I’m not giving up on this, I’m just going a bit more towards the basics and learning to walk before I try to run. This switching from Windows malarkey is hard work! ;)

  • lungdart@lemmy.ca
    0·
    17 days ago

    Yes that’s called routing.

    You don’t bind it to a NIC, you specify the destinations you want forwarded to each interface. Your VPN connection is just another interface.

    If you’re looking for good docs, you may want to Google split tunnel vpn, and also bone up on your networking.

    A few static routes should get you what you need

    • Tippon@lemmy.dbzer0.comOPEnglish
      0·
      14 days ago

      Apologies for the slow reply :)

      These are the things that I don’t understand. When you say I need to specify the destinations, does that mean the destination of the traffic, like lemmy.dbzer0.com, or the destination network interface like tun0 or enp2s0?

      I’m searching for split tunnel VPN, but the majority of results are either sales sites, or Stack Overflow with no confirmed answers.

      I’ve been having a bit more luck with this page after searching for Jet’s answer below:

      https://manpages.ubuntu.com/manpages/trusty/man8/ip-netns.8.html

      but I’m still confused >.<

      • lungdart@lemmy.ca
        1·
        10 days ago

        Routing takes place on layer 3 (ip) so destinations are ip networks and hosts.

        Each packet you create has a destination IP. Your computer looks at your route table to see where it goes by matching the destination ip with each network. It will be sent to the most specific match first and your default gateway last.

        If you’re default gateway is you’re vpn server via your vpn interface then you just need to add more specific route for destinations of interest through a different gateway (you’re router) via the physical interface

    • Orbituary@lemmy.worldEnglish
      0·
      17 days ago

      Bro. Get a handle on the difference between “your” and “you’re.” Even if English is a second language, it’s worth knowing.

      Now everything makes sense.

      • Yuki@kutsuya.dev
        0·
        17 days ago

        I gotta agree on this. It’s so weird to read a piece when these 2 are mixed up

        • borari@lemmy.dbzer0.com
          0·
          16 days ago

          I mean is there a material pronunciation difference between the two conjunctions? I don’t think so, but I can still somehow manage to work out what people mean when they say use “your” and “you’re” in the same spoken sentence.

          • wewbull@feddit.ukEnglish
            1·
            16 days ago

            There are differences in pronunciation, at least for my southern British dialect. “Your” is said “yorr”. “You’re” is said “yeur” and is far closer to the “you are” it comes from. It’s just said at speed blending the words.