SoftEther VPN + Alpine Linux

This repository contains a Dockerfile for generating an image with SoftEther VPN and Alpine Linux.

SoftEtherVPN is a simple and performant alternative to OpenVPN or StrongSwan. It provides a handy CLI and supports multiple protocols including L2TP, IPsec, and OpenVPN.

For the most part, I've switched to WireGuard for my VPN needs, however, Softether is my go to VPN for supporting OS-native VPN clients. It's feature-filled, supports many ways of getting through restrictive networks, and is relatively easy to configure.

Running

Start the container:

docker run -d \
  --name=softethervpn \
  --cap-add NET_ADMIN \
  --cap-add SYSLOG \
  -p 53:53/udp \
  -p 500:500/udp \
  -p 992:992/tcp \
  -p 1194:1194/tcp \
  -p 1194:1194/udp \
  -p 1701:1701/udp \
  -p 4500:4500/udp \
  -p 5555:5555/tcp \
  softethervpn

The configuration is stored in /etc/vpnserver/vpn_server.config.

To preserve the settings locally, map the /etc/vpnserver like so:

-v $PWD/config:/etc/vpnserver

Logging Output

Logs are stored in /var/log/vpnserver/*. To show the latest log output:

docker exec -it softethervpn sh -c "tail -f /var/log/vpnserver/*/*.log"

Configuring

The HTTP status dashboard is available at https://dockerip:5555/admin/

Using the CLI to set administrator password, setup certificate, and enable VPN protocols:

docker exec -it softethervpn vpncmd localhost /SERVER /ADMINHUB /CMD ServerPasswordSet
docker exec -it softethervpn vpncmd localhost /SERVER /ADMINHUB /CMD ServerCertRegenerate yourhostname.com
docker exec -it softethervpn vpncmd localhost /SERVER /ADMINHUB /CMD IPsecEnable
docker exec -it softethervpn vpncmd localhost /SERVER /ADMINHUB /CMD DisableNatTraversal
docker exec -it softethervpn vpncmd localhost /SERVER /ADMINHUB /CMD EnableVpnOverDns
docker exec -it softethervpn vpncmd localhost /SERVER /ADMINHUB /CMD EnableVpnOverIcmp
docker exec -it softethervpn vpncmd localhost /SERVER /ADMINHUB /CMD OpenVpnEnable yes /PORTS:1194
docker exec -it softethervpn vpncmd localhost /SERVER /ADMINHUB /CMD OpenVpnMakeConfig
docker cp softethervpn:/openvpn_config.zip .

Enabling secure NAT and addng a user to the default hub:

docker exec -it softethervpn vpncmd localhost /SERVER /HUB:DEFAULT /CMD SecureNatEnable
docker exec -it softethervpn vpncmd localhost /SERVER /HUB:DEFAULT /CMD UserCreate myusername
docker exec -it softethervpn vpncmd localhost /SERVER /HUB:DEFAULT /CMD UserPasswordSet myusername
docker exec -it softethervpn vpncmd localhost /SERVER /HUB:DEFAULT /CMD StatusGet