Bug: Virtual servers (Surfshark) do not connect

[thefunkygibbon]

Is this urgent?

No

Host OS

No response

CPU arch

x86_64

VPN service provider

Surfshark

What are you using to run the container

docker-compose

What is the version of Gluetun

Running version latest built on 2025-11-26T13:47:08.821Z (commit c25c9f6)

What's the problem 🤔

Trying to connect to surfshark servers which are classified as "virtual" (ie albania, moldova) do not connect.
But servers which are not listed as 'virtual' such as netherlands, work fine.

Share your logs (at least 10 lines)

2025-12-04T15:11:15Z INFO [wireguard] Using available kernelspace implementation

2025-12-04T15:11:15Z INFO [wireguard] Connecting to 185.181.229.227:51820

2025-12-04T15:11:15Z INFO [wireguard] Wireguard setup is complete. Note Wireguard is a silent protocol and it may or may not work, without giving any error message. Typically i/o timeout errors indicate the Wireguard connection is not working.

2025-12-04T15:11:21Z WARN [vpn] restarting VPN because it failed to pass the healthcheck: startup check: all check tries failed: parallel attempt 1/2 failed: dialing: dial tcp4: lookup github.com: i/o timeout, parallel attempt 2/2 failed: dialing: dial tcp4: lookup cloudflare.com: i/o timeout

Share your configuration

VPN_TYPE=wireguard
WIREGUARD_PRIVATE_KEY=fdsfdsfdfs=
WIREGUARD_ADDRESSES=10.14.0.2/16
SERVER_COUNTRIES=Moldova
TZ=Europe/London
UPDATER_PERIOD=
VPN_SERVICE_PROVIDER=surfshark
PATH=/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin
VPN_INTERFACE=tun0
OPENVPN_ENDPOINT_IP=
OPENVPN_ENDPOINT_PORT=
OPENVPN_PROTOCOL=udp
OPENVPN_USER=
OPENVPN_PASSWORD=
OPENVPN_USER_SECRETFILE=/run/secrets/openvpn_user
OPENVPN_PASSWORD_SECRETFILE=/run/secrets/openvpn_password
OPENVPN_VERSION=2.6
OPENVPN_VERBOSITY=1
OPENVPN_FLAGS=
OPENVPN_CIPHERS=
OPENVPN_AUTH=
OPENVPN_PROCESS_USER=root
OPENVPN_MSSFIX=
OPENVPN_CUSTOM_CONFIG=
WIREGUARD_ENDPOINT_IP=
WIREGUARD_ENDPOINT_PORT=
WIREGUARD_CONF_SECRETFILE=/run/secrets/wg0.conf
WIREGUARD_PRIVATE_KEY_SECRETFILE=/run/secrets/wireguard_private_key
WIREGUARD_PRESHARED_KEY=
WIREGUARD_PRESHARED_KEY_SECRETFILE=/run/secrets/wireguard_preshared_key
WIREGUARD_PUBLIC_KEY=l8EOWPyzt/werwerewrwerwerwerw/TbUN6KFTbytHcFQw=
WIREGUARD_ALLOWED_IPS=
WIREGUARD_PERSISTENT_KEEPALIVE_INTERVAL=0
WIREGUARD_ADDRESSES_SECRETFILE=/run/secrets/wireguard_addresses
WIREGUARD_MTU=1320
WIREGUARD_IMPLEMENTATION=auto
SERVER_REGIONS=
SERVER_CITIES=
SERVER_HOSTNAMES=
SERVER_CATEGORIES=
ISP=
OWNED_ONLY=no
PRIVATE_INTERNET_ACCESS_OPENVPN_ENCRYPTION_PRESET=
VPN_PORT_FORWARDING=off
VPN_PORT_FORWARDING_LISTENING_PORT=0
VPN_PORT_FORWARDING_PROVIDER=
VPN_PORT_FORWARDING_STATUS_FILE=/tmp/gluetun/forwarded_port
VPN_PORT_FORWARDING_USERNAME=
VPN_PORT_FORWARDING_PASSWORD=
VPN_PORT_FORWARDING_UP_COMMAND=
VPN_PORT_FORWARDING_DOWN_COMMAND=
OPENVPN_CERT=
OPENVPN_KEY=
OPENVPN_CLIENTCRT_SECRETFILE=/run/secrets/openvpn_clientcrt
OPENVPN_CLIENTKEY_SECRETFILE=/run/secrets/openvpn_clientkey
OPENVPN_ENCRYPTED_KEY=
OPENVPN_ENCRYPTED_KEY_SECRETFILE=/run/secrets/openvpn_encrypted_key
OPENVPN_KEY_PASSPHRASE=
OPENVPN_KEY_PASSPHRASE_SECRETFILE=/run/secrets/openvpn_key_passphrase
SERVER_NUMBER=
SERVER_NAMES=
STREAM_ONLY=
FREE_ONLY=
SECURE_CORE_ONLY=
TOR_ONLY=
MULTIHOP_ONLY=
PREMIUM_ONLY=
PORT_FORWARD_ONLY=
FIREWALL_ENABLED_DISABLING_IT_SHOOTS_YOU_IN_YOUR_FOOT=on
FIREWALL_VPN_INPUT_PORTS=
FIREWALL_INPUT_PORTS=
FIREWALL_OUTBOUND_SUBNETS=
FIREWALL_DEBUG=off
LOG_LEVEL=info
HEALTH_SERVER_ADDRESS=127.0.0.1:9999
HEALTH_TARGET_ADDRESSES=cloudflare.com:443,github.com:443
HEALTH_ICMP_TARGET_IPS=1.1.1.1,8.8.8.8
HEALTH_SMALL_CHECK_TYPE=icmp
HEALTH_RESTART_VPN=on
DNS_SERVER=on
DNS_UPSTREAM_RESOLVER_TYPE=DoT
DNS_UPSTREAM_RESOLVERS=cloudflare
DNS_BLOCK_IPS=
DNS_BLOCK_IP_PREFIXES=
DNS_CACHING=on
DNS_UPSTREAM_IPV6=off
BLOCK_MALICIOUS=on
BLOCK_SURVEILLANCE=off
BLOCK_ADS=off
DNS_UNBLOCK_HOSTNAMES=
DNS_REBINDING_PROTECTION_EXEMPT_HOSTNAMES=
DNS_UPDATE_PERIOD=24h
DNS_ADDRESS=127.0.0.1
DNS_KEEP_NAMESERVER=off
HTTPPROXY=on
HTTPPROXY_LOG=off
HTTPPROXY_LISTENING_ADDRESS=:8888
HTTPPROXY_STEALTH=off
HTTPPROXY_USER=
HTTPPROXY_PASSWORD=
HTTPPROXY_USER_SECRETFILE=/run/secrets/httpproxy_user
HTTPPROXY_PASSWORD_SECRETFILE=/run/secrets/httpproxy_password
SHADOWSOCKS=off
SHADOWSOCKS_LOG=off
SHADOWSOCKS_LISTENING_ADDRESS=:8388
SHADOWSOCKS_PASSWORD=
SHADOWSOCKS_PASSWORD_SECRETFILE=/run/secrets/shadowsocks_password
SHADOWSOCKS_CIPHER=chacha20-ietf-poly1305
HTTP_CONTROL_SERVER_LOG=on
HTTP_CONTROL_SERVER_ADDRESS=:8000
HTTP_CONTROL_SERVER_AUTH_CONFIG_FILEPATH=/gluetun/auth/config.toml
HTTP_CONTROL_SERVER_AUTH_DEFAULT_ROLE={}
UPDATER_MIN_RATIO=0.8
UPDATER_VPN_SERVICE_PROVIDERS=
UPDATER_PROTONVPN_EMAIL=
UPDATER_PROTONVPN_PASSWORD=
PUBLICIP_FILE=/tmp/gluetun/ip
PUBLICIP_ENABLED=on
PUBLICIP_API=ipinfo,ifconfigco,ip2location,cloudflare
PUBLICIP_API_TOKEN=
STORAGE_FILEPATH=/gluetun/servers.json
PPROF_ENABLED=no
PPROF_BLOCK_PROFILE_RATE=0
PPROF_MUTEX_PROFILE_RATE=0
PPROF_HTTP_SERVER_ADDRESS=:6060
VERSION_INFORMATION=on
PUID=1000
PGID=1000

[github-actions]

@qdm12 is more or less the only maintainer of this project and works on it in his free time.
Please:

• do not ask for updates, be patient
• 👍 the issue to show your support instead of commenting
  @qdm12 usually checks issues at least once a week, if this is a new urgent bug,
  revert to an older tagged container image

[thefunkygibbon]

hoping it is something simple or something dumb i might be doing (or not doing).

this is the first time in setting up and using this container.

[thefunkygibbon]

any thoughts?

[thefunkygibbon]

i think it is probably to do with the updating not working correctly.
running the manual update i get a
2025-12-12T12:30:18Z ERROR updating server information: getting surfshark servers: not enough servers found: 185 and expected at least 284

and nothing seems to update the ip's for the server i am trying to connect to, which explains why it doesnt connect.

i really don't understand what and where it is getting these updates from? the providers themselves? or updating from a compiled list of server addresses which @qdm12 has linked to maybe somewhere on github??