Restricting OpenVPN connection to only one program
My Linux server works with YouTube videos a lot, downloading and collecting data about them with the help of youtube-dl
.
I want to route this program (youtube-dl
) through an OpenVPN connection. Seems simple enough, except I need only youtube-dl
to use the VPN connection, as I also run a web server among other things which cannot use the VPN connection.
How can I configure my server to only use the OpenVPN connection for youtube-dl
?
Without a separate VM.
I forgot I asked this question, but I may as well leave the solution I ended up using here:
You can use a program called Vopono that works by creating temporary network namespaces.
It supports the Wireguard, OpenVPN, OpenConnect and OpenFortiVPN protocols, and can also be used out-of-the-box directly with many VPNs such as PIA and NordVPN as well, if that suits your needs.
Example usage with an OpenVPN configuration file:
vopono exec --custom vpn_config.ovpn --protocol openvpn "youtube-dl https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ"
No VM or anything like that needed!
More detailed usage info can be found here.