Connecting to my network
Connecting via Tailscale
Many services I run require a safe and secure connection between you and the server running the service. To facilitate this, I use a piece of software called Tailscale.
It allows our devices to connect via the the internet, even if we are physically far apart, and even if services are running inside an isolated machine on my or your home network.
Check if you have Tailscale
If your device is running Windows, you can check your taskbar tray to see if Tailscale is already running.
1. Tailscale is disconnected
Do you see the above icon in your taskbar? Then continue to Log in to Tailscale.
2. Tailscale is connected
If you see the above icon, continue to Conclusion.
3. I don't see either icon
Continue reading for instructions on how to install Tailscale.
Installing Tailscale
If you do not already have Tailscale installed, head over to the Tailscale download page and follow the instructions: https://tailscale.com/download
Starting Tailscale
You do not need an account. You will be connecting to my tailnet using an authentication key.
1. Get an authentication key
A Tailscale authentication key looks like this:
tskey-auth-k5MukmtKx621CNTRL-Te6eVCugAb9gdj27hJqYY9RNRdRcQcN1If I have not already provided you with an authentication key, contact me.
2. Open a command prompt or terminal
Open the Windows search menu and type in: cmd
Then, click Open:
You should now see a window that looks like this (minus the red bar):
3. Login and launch Tailscale
Now that you have the command prompt open, type the following:
tailscale up --auth-key PUTTHEKEYHERETip: You can right-click the window to paste from your clipboard. Use this to paste the authentication key.
To illustrate, an example using the authentication key from earlier:
tailscale up --auth-key tskey-auth-k5MukmtKx621CNTRL-Te6eVCugAb9gdj27hJqYY9RNRdRcQcN1If all goes well, you should see basically no output:
You can check if it worked by typing tailscale status. If you see a list of IP addresses and device names, you are connected!
Conclusion
Good work! You are now connected to my Tailnet. This will allow you to access all services I've given you access to.
You can continue to the next guide: Add a network drive
Connecting via WireGuard
Introduction
WireGuard is a tunneling protocol that lets you establish a secure connection, either directly to another host, or to another network or subsection thereof. This can be utilized as a VPN or as a secure entry into another network for accessing storage or other services.
This article is a short walk-through of deploying a wireguard configuration you get from me to access one or more services in my homelab.
Prerequisites
- A WireGuard config file, archive with password;
- The password for the archive;
- A Linux machine.
If you do not have such a WireGuard config archive or the password, contact me.
Installing dependencies
Since WireGuard comes with the kernel, we will only need to install some utilities.
On Debian
sudo apt install wireguard-tools p7zipOn Arch Linux
sudo pacman -S wireguard-tools 7zipUnpacking the config
This requires a password. You either have received the password already, or will receive it from me via a channel separate to the one I used to give you the archive.
This requires 7z installed:
7z x wg.7zYou should see a file akin to WG-<numbers>-<description>-<name>.conf.
Move the file to your WireGuard directory:
sudo mv WG-98-NAS-Example.conf /etc/wireguard/wg1.confYou can choose any name for the destination file; just make sure it's a legal network interface name.
The below file name would result in a network interface called wg1.
Connecting
Assuming you named the file wg1.conf:
wg-quick up wg1And you're done!
Continue reading: