wireguard-docker

Wireguard setup in Docker on Debian kernel meant for a simple personal VPN. There are currently 2 branches, stretch and buster. Use the branch that corresponds to your host machine if the kernel module install feature is going to be used.

Overview

This docker image and configuration is my simple version of a wireguard personal VPN, used for the goal of security over insecure (public) networks, not necessarily for Internet anonymity. The docker images use debian, and the host OS must also use the same version of debian, since the image will build the wireguard kernel modules on first run. As such, the host's /lib/modules directory also needs to be mounted to the container on the first run to install the module (see the Running section below). Thanks to activeeos/wireguard-docker for the general structure of the docker image. It is the same concept just built on Ubuntu 16.04.

In my use case, I'm running the wireguard docker image on a free-tier Google Cloud Platform debian virtual machine and connect to it with Android, Linux, and a GL-Inet router as clients.

Run

First Run

If the wireguard kernel module is not already installed on the host system, use this first run command to install it:

docker run -it --rm --cap-add sys_module -v /lib/modules:/lib/modules cmulk/wireguard-docker:buster install-module

Normal Run

docker run --cap-add net_admin --cap-add sys_module -v <config volume or host dir>:/etc/wireguard -p <externalport>:<dockerport>/udp cmulk/wireguard-docker:buster

Example:

docker run --cap-add net_admin --cap-add sys_module -v wireguard_conf:/etc/wireguard -p 5555:5555/udp cmulk/wireguard-docker:buster

Generate Keys

This shortcut can be used to generate and display public/private key pairs to use for the server or clients

docker run -it --rm cmulk/wireguard-docker:buster genkeys

Configuration

Sample server configuration to go in /etc/wireguard:

[Interface]
Address = 192.168.20.1/24
PrivateKey = <server_private_key>
ListenPort = 5555

[Peer]
PublicKey = <client_public_key>
AllowedIPs = 192.168.20.2

Sample client configuration:

[Interface]
Address = 192.168.20.2/24
PrivateKey = <client_private_key>
ListenPort = 0 #needed for some clients to accept the config

[Peer]
PublicKey = <server_public_key>
Endpoint = <server_public_ip>:5555
AllowedIPs = 0.0.0.0/0,::/0 #makes sure ALL traffic routed through VPN
PersistentKeepalive = 25

Other Notes

• This Docker image also has a iptables NAT (MASQUERADE) rule already configured to make traffic through the VPN to the Internet work. This can be disabled by setting the environment varialbe IPTABLES_MASQ to 0.
• For some clients (a GL.inet router in my case) you may have trouble with HTTPS (SSL/TLS) due to the MTU on the VPN. Ping and HTTP work fine but HTTPS does not for some sites. This can be fixed with MSS Clamping. This is simply a checkbox in the OpenWRT Firewall settings interface.
• This image can be used as a client as well. If you want to forward all traffic through the VPN (AllowedIPs = 0.0.0.0/0), you need to use the --privileged flag when running the container

docker-compose

Sample docker-compose.yml

version: "2"
services:
 vpn:
  image: cmulk/wireguard-docker:buster
  volumes:
   - data:/etc/wireguard
  networks:
   - net
  ports:
   - 5555:5555/udp
  restart: unless-stopped
  cap_add:
   - NET_ADMIN
   - SYS_MODULE

networks:
  net:

volumes:
 data:
  driver: local

Build

Since the images are already on Docker Hub, you only need to do this if you want to change something

git clone https://github.com/cmulk/wireguard-docker.git
cd wireguard-docker
git checkout stretch 
##OR##
git checkout buster

docker build -t wireguard:local .