Run Qrvpn Server with Docker on Rocky Linux

Introduction

This tutorial shows how to deploy Qrvpn on a Rocky Linux VPS using Docker, and how to connect to it from Windows client.

Qrvpn is developed by VentoByte the team behind the Proxifier.

Qrvpn is based on the industry-leading WireGuard VPN protocol. It provides the optimal performance and the state-of-the-art end-to-end encryption of the data in transit. No data is stored.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, you need:

A VPS running Rocky Linux 10
root or sudo access
A public IPv4 address

How Qrvpn Works

This section explains why Qrvpn does not require open ports.

High-level Architecture

Qrvpn uses an outbound-only connection model combined with NAT traversal and encrypted relays. Neither the server nor the client ever listens for inbound connections.

Important details:

Traffic remains end-to-end encrypted.
The relay cannot inspect payloads.
No open ports.

Connection Flow

Server Registration

When the Qrvpn server starts:

It opens an outbound encrypted connection to the Qrvpn's backend infrastructure.
Registers its cryptographic identity.
Maintains a heartbeat.

Because the connection is outbound, it works behind NAT and Firewalls. As a result:

The server is unreachable from the public internet.
Attack surface is drastically reduced.

Client Authentication

When a client connects:

It also opens an outbound connection to the Qrvpn's backend server.
Authenticates and requests access to the server.

Still no inbound traffic is required.

NAT Traversal (Direct Tunnel)

Qrvpn attempts to establish a direct peer-to-peer tunnel using NAT traversal techniques (similar to WebRTC):

Client <--- Encrypted P2P Tunnel --->  Server

If successful:

Traffic flows directly
Low latency
No relay usage

Step 1 - Install Docker on Rocky Linux

I purchased a Rocky Linux 10 VPS instance on Hetzner Cloud.

You need to install Docker on your Rocky Linux instance. If you are using a different Linux distribution, follow the steps provided on the official Docker website.

# Update your instance
dnf -y update

# Install useful packages
dnf -y install \
	epel-release \
	bash-completion

# Reboot your Linux instance
reboot

# Add the Docker repository
dnf config-manager \
	--add-repo \
	https://download.docker.com/linux/centos/docker-ce.repo

# Install Docker Engine
dnf -y install \
	docker-ce \
	docker-ce-cli \
	containerd.io \
	docker-compose-plugin

# Enable and start Docker service
systemctl --now enable docker

# Verify installation
docker version

Step 2 - Build the Docker image

After installing Docker, we have to create our Docker image. As you may know, Docker images are immutable, which means they can't be modified once created.

# Create project directory
mkdir /etc/qrvpn

# Change the current working directory
cd /etc/qrvpn

# Create Dockerfile with vim editor
vi Dockerfile

This is our Dockerfile config file and instructions about how Docker should build the image.

Dockerfile

# Use Rocky Linux as the base image
FROM rockylinux/rockylinux:10

# Qrvpn runtime environment
ENV PATH=$PATH:/etc/qr
WORKDIR /etc/qr

RUN \
	curl -O "https://get.qrvpn.com/qrvpn.tgz" && \
	tar -zxvf qrvpn.tgz && \
	rm -rf qrvpn.tgz

# Specify the start point of your image
ENTRYPOINT ["sh", "-c", "qrvpn $QR_MODE $QR_SERVER_NAME $QR_PASSWORD $QR_INSTANCE_ID"]

It's time to build the new image.

# Build
docker build --rm -t qrvpn:1.0 --file Dockerfile ./

# Check Docker images on your Linux machine
docker image list --all

Step 3 - Run the Docker container

You must specify 4 environment variables in order to start Qrvpn.

# QR_MODE         -->  "server" or "client"
# QR_SERVER_NAME  -->  a random string
# QR_PASSWORD     -->  server password
# QR_INSTANCE_ID  -->  a 6-digit number

# Start the container
docker run -d \
	--name=c_qrvpn \
	--restart always \
	--cap-add NET_ADMIN \
	--device /dev/net/tun \
	--sysctl net.ipv4.conf.all.src_valid_mark=1 \
	-e QR_MODE=server \
	-e QR_SERVER_NAME=my_server \
	-e QR_PASSWORD=strong_password \
	-e QR_INSTANCE_ID=333999 \
	qrvpn:1.0

# Check logs
docker logs c_qrvpn

If you see an error like the one below, change the QR_SERVER_NAME.

# [E] Server with this name already exists.

If the server runs successfully, you should see log output similar to the following:

# [M] Initialization started
# [M] VPN interface opened tun0
# [M] VPN interface initialized
# [M] Server ready

Step 4 - Connect from Windows

Step 4.1 - Download the Qrvpn Client

Download the Windows client from the official Qrvpn website.

Step 4.2 - Client section

Open the Qrvpn client.
Press the Client button.
Select the Name and Password button.
Fill the Server Name and Password.
Verify that your public IP address has changed using a web browser (e.g. at ip.hetzner.com).

Conclusion

You have successfully deployed Qrvpn on a Rocky Linux VPS using Docker and connected a client from Windows.

This setup is lightweight, reproducible, and easy to maintain for personal or small-team VPN usage.

Run Qrvpn Server with Docker on Rocky Linux

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