Problems logging in after installing a vpn

The other day I installed Yunohost on an intel NUC as a demonstration to a friend how he could easily host these packages on a VPS or local. The setup was a little tricky on Debian stretch 9, but after I became accustomed to how Debian commands work…which is slightly different that what I’m used to on Ubuntu or Mint although they both are childs of Debian.

While you are installing Yunohost you have to use a domain name and they offer a free domain service, so I chose something like irpirate nohost me.

Like I said everything went smooth until this morning when I also decided the NUC needed a VPN. So after much to do (again the difference in command approach) I finally got PIA installed on Debian 9 which I found forum posts that had said it was pretty much unpossible. But there it is and I’m kinda jazzed because I figured it out.

Rebooted after installing PIA just for S&G. Went to access Yunohost by typing in my free domain name: irpirate nohost me. No dice. Secure Connection Failed - try again.

I can access the Yunohost box by IP initially, but because everything was installed using irpirate nohost me. you can’t access any of the programs because of Secure Connection Failed - try again.

When you install PIA it creates (I am guessing) a virtual connection called tun0. I assume that integrates with the TAP drivers. Initially I thought about bridging these two connections: tun0 & enp3s0. Either I didn’t do it correctly, or that is not a solution.

I’ve looked around and Googled but I can’t quite find a scenario like I have. In retrospect, I wonder if I should have installed the VPN first on Debian, before installing YunoHost. I’m kind of stumped here and before I start disassembling everything and start from scratch again (which isn’t all that bad…I’ll get to practice installing everything again) I’m wondering if anyone had some pointers or suggestions.

ETA: I can ping irpirate nohost me successfully. It’s just not making with the handshake for some reason.