Headscale

An open source implementation of the Tailscale coordination server.

Overview

Tailscale is a modern VPN built on top of Wireguard. It works like an overlay network between the computers of your networks - using all kinds of NAT traversal sorcery.

Everything in Tailscale is Open Source, except the GUI clients for proprietary OS (Windows and macOS/iOS), and the 'coordination/control server'.

The control server works as an exchange point of cryptographic public keys for the nodes in the Tailscale network. It also assigns the IP addresses of the clients, creates the boundaries between each user, enables sharing machines between users, and exposes the advertised routes of your nodes.

Headscale implements this coordination server.

Status

• Basic functionality (nodes can communicate with each other)
• Node registration through the web flow
• Network changes are relied to the nodes
• Multiuser Namespace support
• Basic routing (advertise & accept)
• Share nodes between users namespaces
• Node registration via pre-auth keys
• ACLs
• DNS

... and probably lots of stuff missing

Roadmap 🤷

Basic multiuser support (multinamespace, actually) is now implemented. No node sharing or ACLs between namespaces yet though...

Pre-auth keys should also be feasible.

Suggestions/PRs welcomed!

Running it

1. Compile the headscale binary

go build cmd/headscale/headscale.go 

2. Get youself a PostgreSQL DB running (yes, I know)

docker run --name headscale -e POSTGRES_DB=headscale -e \
  POSTGRES_USER=foo -e POSTGRES_PASSWORD=bar -p 5432:5432 -d postgres

3. Sort some stuff up (headscale Wireguard keys & the config.json file)

wg genkey > private.key
wg pubkey < private.key > public.key  # not needed 
cp config.json.example config.json

4. Create a namespace (equivalent to a user in tailscale.com)

./headscale namespace create myfirstnamespace

5. Run the server

./headscale serve

6. Add your first machine

tailscale up -login-server YOUR_HEADSCALE_URL

7. Navigate to the URL you will get with tailscale up, where you'll find your machine key.

8. In the server, register your machine to a namespace with the CLI

./headscale register YOURMACHINEKEY myfirstnamespace

Disclaimer

1. I have nothing to do with Tailscale, or Tailscale Inc.
2. The purpose of writing this was to learn how Tailscale works.
3. I don't use Headscale myself.