How to access an always-on torrent Pi machine that is connected to a VPN?

[salted.cod]

Hey guys! I run 2x Asus AX88U in a wired backhaul mesh, Merlin 384.19. I have a Pi4 that I was used in the past as a Torrent machine, using Deluge, a torrent programme. Deluge is great because it runs on the Pi as a daemon, and my wife can use her Windows machine, for which there is a Deluge GUI, and just add whatever torrents she wants via her laptop. Because my wife’s laptop and the Pi are on the same network, the torrents that she selects on Deluge’s Windows GUI are automatically written into a USB drive that is connected to the Pi.

This is great for the wife, because she does not have to deal with the Pi, but rather with a decent looking Windows GUI. Since the Pi is wired to the AX88U satellite, I can have my LG TV read directly from the USB drive, and stream the movies on the TV (because the TV is also connected to the AX88U).



I have NordVPN, and I want to have the Pi connected to the VPN, when downloading torrents. The issue is that once it connects to the VPN, the remote access to the Pi via Deluge, is impossible. In other words:

• When not connected to the VPN, the Pi appears on Deluge as being 192.XXX.YYY.ZZZ, and access is granted.
• When connected to the VPN, the above IP address is gone. I cannot even make Deluge log into the Pi, via its public IP address, and am not even sure if that would even be possible, and if so, what the formula would be.

My questions are:

• How can I have a Windows machine access the Pi when the VPN is on?
• Can I activate some sort of configuration on my Asus router, that provides the PI with a VPN tunnelling that is always on? And if this tunnel is always on, is the Pi house-IP maintained, thus making an access via another machine through Deluge, possible?

I can add my NordVPN credentials to the Asus router, but I would like them to apply only to the Pi that is meant to download torrents. Is this possible? Thanks!

 

[eibgrad]

I take it that currently the VPN is running on the Pi, correct?

Yes, you can use PBR (policy based routing) w/ the OpenVPN client on the ASUS router to force that device over the VPN, but it will still have access to local resources and be addressable by other devices on the same local IP network.

Where things can sometimes get tricky is when it comes to seeding other users. I don't know how that is being handled on the Pi, but when using the router, if the torrent client is using UPnP, it usually means seeding occurs over the WAN, NOT the VPN, which can be problematic.

I'm not a torrent user or expert, so I don't know how others who are daily users are dealing w/ this kind of problem.

 

[salted.cod]

I take it that currently the VPN is running on the Pi, correct?

Yes, you can use PBR (policy based routing) w/ the OpenVPN client on the ASUS router to force that device over the VPN, but it will still have access to local resources and be addressable by other devices on the same local IP network.

Where things can sometimes get tricky is when it comes to seeding other users. I don't know how that is being handled on the Pi, but when using the router, if the torrent client is using UPnP, it usually means seeding occurs over the WAN, NOT the VPN, which can be problematic.

I'm not a torrent user or expert, so I don't know how others who are daily users are dealing w/ this kind of problem.

Thank you for your reply! Yes, the Pi is running the VPN.
I seem to have figured out how to access the Pi, when it is connected to the VPN, even when using Deluge. Deluge allows you to set doors on both the Windows and Pi machine, and I managed to make both systems reach out to each other, without any hurdles. I also had to allow remote connections into Deluge.
For the moment, case closed!