martinbuchheim/openvpn-tunnel repository overview

⁠openvpn-tunnel

A lightweight, multi-purpose OpenVPN tunnel container.

This image bundles:

• an OpenVPN client
• a VPN-backed HTTP proxy (tinyproxy)
• nginx serving a Proxy Auto-Config (PAC) file
• a built-in SSH jump host for ProxyJump into the VPN

It is ideal for:

• routing selected browser domains through a VPN
• using a jump host from inside the VPN
• integrating PAC-based selective routing + SSH + proxying in one container

⁠Features

• Fully automated OpenVPN client startup
• Relative certificate paths in .ovpn supported (OpenVPN runs inside /vpn)
• HTTP proxy routed through the VPN
• PAC file generation based on PROXY_HOSTS
• SSH jump host with pubkey auth only
• Multi-arch images (linux/amd64 + linux/arm64)

⁠Volumes

⁠/vpn (required)

Contains:

myvpn.ovpn
cacert.pem
client_crt.pem
client_key.pem
ta.key

⁠/ssh.pub (required)

Mount a single public key file, e.g.:

- ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub:/ssh.pub:ro

It gets written to /root/.ssh/authorized_keys.

⁠Ports

Example mapping:

8080:80     → PAC
8888:8888   → HTTP Proxy
2222:22     → SSH Jump Host

⁠Environment variables

• PROXY_HOSTS — comma-separated list of domains (e.g. .example.com,.corp.local)
• PAC_PROXY_HOST — usually localhost
• PAC_PROXY_PORT — port used by tinyproxy on host
• TINYPROXY_PORT — internal tinyproxy port (default 8888)
• SSH_PORT — SSH port inside container (default 22)
• SSH_PUBLIC_KEY_FILE — path to mounted pubkey (/ssh.pub)

⁠Example docker-compose

services:
  openvpn-tunnel:
    image: martinbuchheim/openvpn-tunnel:latest
    cap_add:
      - NET_ADMIN
    devices:
      - /dev/net/tun:/dev/net/tun

    volumes:
      - ~/vpn-configs/example:/vpn:ro
      - ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub:/ssh.pub:ro

    environment:
      PROXY_HOSTS: "example.com"
      PAC_PROXY_HOST: "localhost"
      PAC_PROXY_PORT: "8888"

    ports:
      - "8080:80"
      - "8888:8888"
      - "2222:22"

⁠PAC usage

Configure in your browser:

http://localhost:8080/proxy.pac

Domains listed in PROXY_HOSTS route through the VPN-backed proxy.

⁠SSH ProxyJump usage

Example ~/.ssh/config:

Host example-jump
    HostName localhost
    Port 2222
    User root

Host example-git
    HostName git.example.com
    User git
    ProxyJump example-jump    

Usage:

ssh example-git

⁠Project links

• GitHub: https://github.com/MartinBuchheim/openvpn-tunnel⁠
• Docker Hub: https://hub.docker.com/r/martinbuchheim/openvpn-tunnel⁠