failed to connect PIA

[logan71f100]

Is there a pinned issue for this?

• I have read the pinned issues and could not find my issue

Is there an existing or similar issue/discussion for this?

• I have searched the existing issues
• I have searched the existing discussions

Is there any comment in the documentation for this?

• I have read the documentation, especially the FAQ and Troubleshooting parts

Is this related to a provider?

• I have checked the provider repo for issues
• My issue is NOT related to a provider

Are you using the latest release?

• I am using the latest release

Have you tried using the dev branch latest?

• I have tried using dev branch

Docker run config used

version: '3.3'
services:
transmission-openvpn:
cap_add:
- NET_ADMIN
volumes:
- '/torrentDown/:/data'
- '/home/logan/config/:/config'
environment:
- OPENVPN_PROVIDER=PIA
- OPENVPN_CONFIG=us_east
- OPENVPN_USERNAME=
- OPENVPN_PASSWORD=
- LOCAL_NETWORK=10.71.1.0/24
- OVERRIDE_DNS_1=1.1.1.1
logging:
driver: json-file
options:
max-size: 10m
ports:
- '9091:9091'
restart: always
image: haugene/transmission-openvpn

Current Behavior

when i start the docker i can connect to transmission and add torrents but they never connect to any peers

Expected Behavior

to be able to connect to peers

How have you tried to solve the problem?

1. iv tried disabling ipv6
2. set dns statically

Log output

Updating Transmission settings.json with values from env variables
transmission-openvpn-1 | Attempting to use existing settings.json for Transmission
transmission-openvpn-1 | Successfully used existing settings.json /config/transmission-home/settings.json
transmission-openvpn-1 | Overriding bind-address-ipv4 because TRANSMISSION_BIND_ADDRESS_IPV4 is set to 10.3.112.72
transmission-openvpn-1 | Overriding download-dir because TRANSMISSION_DOWNLOAD_DIR is set to /data/completed
transmission-openvpn-1 | Overriding incomplete-dir because TRANSMISSION_INCOMPLETE_DIR is set to /data/incomplete
transmission-openvpn-1 | Overriding rpc-password because TRANSMISSION_RPC_PASSWORD is set to [REDACTED]
transmission-openvpn-1 | Overriding rpc-port because TRANSMISSION_RPC_PORT is set to 9091
transmission-openvpn-1 | Overriding rpc-username because TRANSMISSION_RPC_USERNAME is set to
transmission-openvpn-1 | Overriding watch-dir because TRANSMISSION_WATCH_DIR is set to /data/watch
transmission-openvpn-1 | sed'ing True to true
transmission-openvpn-1 | STARTING TRANSMISSION
transmission-openvpn-1 | Provider PIA has a script for automatic port forwarding. Will run it now.
transmission-openvpn-1 | If you want to disable this, set environment variable DISABLE_PORT_UPDATER=true
transmission-openvpn-1 | Transmission startup script complete.
transmission-openvpn-1 | 2025-04-18 01:51:10 Initialization Sequence Completed
transmission-openvpn-1 | Running functions for token based port fowarding
transmission-openvpn-1 | curl: (7) Failed to connect to 10.3.112.1 port 19999 after 13 ms: Connection refused
transmission-openvpn-1 | Fri Apr 18 01:51:16 UTC 2025: getSignature error
transmission-openvpn-1 |
transmission-openvpn-1 | the has been a fatal_error
transmission-openvpn-1 | curl: (7) Failed to connect to 10.3.112.1 port 19999 after 11 ms: Connection refused
transmission-openvpn-1 | Fri Apr 18 01:51:16 UTC 2025: bindPort error

HW/SW Environment

- OS: Debian 12
- Docker: Docker version 28.1.0

Anything else?

i have no idea where its getting the 10.3.112.1, i feel like that's the red flag but i don't understand the how

[awshirley]

I"m having the same issue. It started yesterday afternoon. I've tried bringing the docker image up on it's own VM and on Unraid. Both produce the same error. Looks like a change PIA did.

[sgulino]

I am getting the same error when using PIA; transmission is binding to a 10.0.0.0/8 address.

EDIT: feeling stupid. I changed the OPENVPN_CONFIG to a region with port forwarding enabled and then set DISABLE_PORT_UPDATER=false. Everything is working now.

The problem is that you are using us_east, which does not have port forwarding

[rancor1223]

Probably some change of configurations on PIA side?

I was using "czech_republic" region and noticed this issue today. switched to "de_berlin" and it's working again. I also added the DISABLE_PORT_UPDATER=false (but that on it's own didn't help).

[haugene]

when i start the docker i can connect to transmission and add torrents but they never connect to any peers

So you're not able to download at all? Or is this about upload?

i have no idea where its getting the 10.3.112.1

When you've connected to PIA you get an internal IP address in the VPN network. And the VPN gateway has one too, this is the IP we need to call PIA on to grant us an open port.

As others have pointed out here, you need to use a PIA config for a region that supports port forwarding, otherwise the update-port script will fail as it does for you. That being said though, I didn't expect that to cause any problems for Transmission and general downloading. Opening port is more about seeding.

The DISABLE_PORT_UPDATER flag is an optional flag to skip the update-port script. If you set it to anything other than "false" then it will skip running the script that fails here. The default is to run the script.

Have you got the container working for downloading @logan71f100? I'm not using PIA these days but could there also be regions where p2p traffic is blocked? Have you tried the de_berlin region that @rancor1223 have had success with? You can also try to disable the port updater and see if it makes a difference.