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Advanced

Switching Gluetun to WireGuard

Want faster VPN speeds and quicker connection times? It’s time to switch from OpenVPN to WireGuard! This guide will walk you through updating your Gluetun configuration to use WireGuard — with a focus on ProtonVPN.

✅ Why switch? WireGuard is a modern VPN protocol that’s faster, more efficient, and easier to configure than OpenVPN.

For ProtonVPN Users 🚀

ProtonVPN makes it easy to use WireGuard with Gluetun. Here’s how to update your configuration.

Step 1: Get Your WireGuard Private Key 🔑

  1. Go to ProtonVPN WireGuard Config Generator
  2. Select a server and enable Port Forwarding and Moderate NAT (optional)
  3. Click Download to get the .conf file
  4. Open the file and copy the value of PrivateKey

It will look something like this:

PrivateKey = wOEI9rqqbDwnN8/Bpp22sVz48T71vJ4fYmFWujulwUU=

Step 2: Update Your .env File 🛠️

Open your .env file and remove the OpenVPN credentials:

nano /opt/yams/.env

Remove or comment out:

VPN_USER=your-username
VPN_PASSWORD=your-password

You can also remove VPN_SERVICE=protonvpn if you want to hardcode it in the compose file (see below), or leave it — both work.

💡 Not sure how the .env file works? Check out our Environment File Guide to learn how to manage variables like WIREGUARD_PRIVATE_KEY securely.

Step 3: Update docker-compose.yaml 🐳

Find the gluetun service and replace the environment: section with the following:

environment:
  - VPN_SERVICE_PROVIDER=protonvpn
  - VPN_TYPE=wireguard
  - WIREGUARD_PRIVATE_KEY=wOEI9rqqbDwnN8/Bpp22sVz48T71vJ4fYmFWujulwUU=
  - VPN_PORT_FORWARDING=on
  - VPN_PORT_FORWARDING_PROVIDER=protonvpn
  - PORT_FORWARD_ONLY=on

🧠 Tip: You can still use ${VARIABLE} syntax if you prefer to keep the private key in your .env file. See the Environment File Guide for more info.

Step 4: Restart YAMS 🔄

Apply the changes:

yams restart

Step 5: Verify It’s Working ✅

Run the VPN check:

yams check-vpn

You should see your qBittorrent IP is different from your local IP — and located in the country you selected in ProtonVPN.

You can also check the Gluetun logs:

docker logs gluetun

Look for lines like:

Using VPN provider: protonvpn
VPN type: wireguard
Port forwarding is enabled

For Other VPN Providers 🌐

WireGuard support varies by provider. Here’s what to do:

  1. Visit the Gluetun Provider Docs
  2. Find your VPN provider and follow their WireGuard instructions
  3. Replace the gluetun environment variables in your docker-compose.yaml accordingly

⚠️ Not all providers support WireGuard or port forwarding. Check their documentation carefully.

Troubleshooting 🔧

Gluetun won’t start?

  • Double-check your WIREGUARD_PRIVATE_KEY
  • Make sure VPN_TYPE=wireguard is set
  • Check for typos in your docker-compose.yaml

Port forwarding not working?

  • Ensure VPN_PORT_FORWARDING=on and PORT_FORWARD_ONLY=on are set
  • Verify that port forwarding is enabled in your ProtonVPN config
  • Check Gluetun logs for forwarded port info

Need Help? 🆘

If you’re stuck: