cmd/k8s-operator,k8s-operator: allow the operator to deploy exit nodes via Connector custom resource (#10724)

cmd/k8s-operator/deploy/crds,k8s-operator/apis/v1alpha1: allow to define an exit node via Connector CR.

Make it possible to define an exit node to be deployed to a Kubernetes cluster
via Connector Custom resource.

Also changes to Connector API so that one Connector corresponds
to one Tailnet node that can be either a subnet router or an exit
node or both.

The Kubernetes operator parses Connector custom resource and,
if .spec.isExitNode is set, configures that Tailscale node deployed
for that connector as an exit node.

Signed-off-by: Irbe Krumina <irbe@tailscale.com>
Co-authored-by: Anton Tolchanov <anton@tailscale.com>

cmd/k8s-operator/connector.go

@@ -10,7 +10,6 @@
 	"fmt"
 	"net/netip"
 	"slices"
-	"strings"
 	"sync"
 	"time"
 
@@ -33,17 +32,15 @@
 )
 
 const (
-	reasonSubnetRouterCreationFailed    = "SubnetRouterCreationFailed"
-	reasonSubnetRouterCreated           = "SubnetRouterCreated"
-	reasonSubnetRouterCleanupFailed     = "SubnetRouterCleanupFailed"
-	reasonSubnetRouterCleanupInProgress = "SubnetRouterCleanupInProgress"
-	reasonSubnetRouterInvalid           = "SubnetRouterInvalid"
+	reasonConnectorCreationFailed = "ConnectorCreationFailed"
 
-	messageSubnetRouterCreationFailed = "Failed creating subnet router for routes %s: %v"
-	messageSubnetRouterInvalid        = "Subnet router is invalid: %v"
-	messageSubnetRouterCreated        = "Created subnet router for routes %s"
-	messageSubnetRouterCleanupFailed  = "Failed cleaning up subnet router resources: %v"
-	msgSubnetRouterCleanupInProgress  = "SubnetRouterCleanupInProgress"
+	reasonConnectorCreated           = "ConnectorCreated"
+	reasonConnectorCleanupFailed     = "ConnectorCleanupFailed"
+	reasonConnectorCleanupInProgress = "ConnectorCleanupInProgress"
+	reasonConnectorInvalid           = "ConnectorInvalid"
+
+	messageConnectorCreationFailed = "Failed creating Connector: %v"
+	messageConnectorInvalid        = "Connector is invalid: %v"
 
 	shortRequeue = time.Second * 5
 )
@@ -61,42 +58,44 @@ type ConnectorReconciler struct {
 
 	mu sync.Mutex // protects following
 
-	// subnetRouters tracks the subnet routers managed by this Tailscale
-	// Operator instance.
-	subnetRouters set.Slice[types.UID]
+	subnetRouters set.Slice[types.UID] // for subnet routers gauge
+	exitNodes     set.Slice[types.UID] // for exit nodes gauge
 }
 
 var (
-	// gaugeIngressResources tracks the number of subnet routers that we're
-	// currently managing.
-	gaugeSubnetRouterResources = clientmetric.NewGauge("k8s_subnet_router_resources")
+	// gaugeConnectorResources tracks the overall number of Connectors currently managed by this operator instance.
+	gaugeConnectorResources = clientmetric.NewGauge("k8s_connector_resources")
+	// gaugeConnectorSubnetRouterResources tracks the number of Connectors managed by this operator instance that are subnet routers.
+	gaugeConnectorSubnetRouterResources = clientmetric.NewGauge("k8s_connector_subnetrouter_resources")
+	// gaugeConnectorExitNodeResources tracks the number of Connectors currently managed by this operator instance that are exit nodes.
+	gaugeConnectorExitNodeResources = clientmetric.NewGauge("k8s_connector_exitnode_resources")
 )
 
-func (a *ConnectorReconciler) Reconcile(ctx context.Context, req reconcile.Request) (_ reconcile.Result, err error) {
-	logger := a.logger.With("connector", req.Name)
+func (a *ConnectorReconciler) Reconcile(ctx context.Context, req reconcile.Request) (res reconcile.Result, err error) {
+	logger := a.logger.With("Connector", req.Name)
 	logger.Debugf("starting reconcile")
 	defer logger.Debugf("reconcile finished")
 
 	cn := new(tsapi.Connector)
 	err = a.Get(ctx, req.NamespacedName, cn)
 	if apierrors.IsNotFound(err) {
-		logger.Debugf("connector not found, assuming it was deleted")
+		logger.Debugf("Connector not found, assuming it was deleted")
 		return reconcile.Result{}, nil
 	} else if err != nil {
 		return reconcile.Result{}, fmt.Errorf("failed to get tailscale.com Connector: %w", err)
 	}
 	if !cn.DeletionTimestamp.IsZero() {
-		logger.Debugf("connector is being deleted or should not be exposed, cleaning up components")
+		logger.Debugf("Connector is being deleted or should not be exposed, cleaning up resources")
 		ix := xslices.Index(cn.Finalizers, FinalizerName)
 		if ix < 0 {
 			logger.Debugf("no finalizer, nothing to do")
 			return reconcile.Result{}, nil
 		}
 
-		if done, err := a.maybeCleanupSubnetRouter(ctx, logger, cn); err != nil {
+		if done, err := a.maybeCleanupConnector(ctx, logger, cn); err != nil {
 			return reconcile.Result{}, err
 		} else if !done {
-			logger.Debugf("cleanup not finished, will retry...")
+			logger.Debugf("Connector resource cleanup not yet finished, will retry...")
 			return reconcile.Result{RequeueAfter: shortRequeue}, nil
 		}
 
@@ -104,93 +103,110 @@ func (a *ConnectorReconciler) Reconcile(ctx context.Context, req reconcile.Reque
 		if err := a.Update(ctx, cn); err != nil {
 			return reconcile.Result{}, err
 		}
-		logger.Infof("connector resources cleaned up")
+		logger.Infof("Connector resources cleaned up")
 		return reconcile.Result{}, nil
 	}
 
 	oldCnStatus := cn.Status.DeepCopy()
-	defer func() {
-		if cn.Status.SubnetRouter == nil {
-			tsoperator.SetConnectorCondition(cn, tsapi.ConnectorReady, metav1.ConditionUnknown, "", "", cn.Generation, a.clock, logger)
-		} else if cn.Status.SubnetRouter.Ready == metav1.ConditionTrue {
-			tsoperator.SetConnectorCondition(cn, tsapi.ConnectorReady, metav1.ConditionTrue, reasonSubnetRouterCreated, reasonSubnetRouterCreated, cn.Generation, a.clock, logger)
-		} else {
-			tsoperator.SetConnectorCondition(cn, tsapi.ConnectorReady, metav1.ConditionFalse, cn.Status.SubnetRouter.Reason, cn.Status.SubnetRouter.Reason, cn.Generation, a.clock, logger)
-		}
+	setStatus := func(cn *tsapi.Connector, conditionType tsapi.ConnectorConditionType, status metav1.ConditionStatus, reason, message string) (reconcile.Result, error) {
+		tsoperator.SetConnectorCondition(cn, tsapi.ConnectorReady, status, reason, message, cn.Generation, a.clock, logger)
 		if !apiequality.Semantic.DeepEqual(oldCnStatus, cn.Status) {
-			// an error encountered here should get returned by the Reconcile function
+			// An error encountered here should get returned by the Reconcile function.
 			if updateErr := a.Client.Status().Update(ctx, cn); updateErr != nil {
-				err = updateErr
+				err = errors.Wrap(err, updateErr.Error())
 			}
 		}
-	}()
+		return res, err
+	}
 
 	if !slices.Contains(cn.Finalizers, FinalizerName) {
 		// This log line is printed exactly once during initial provisioning,
 		// because once the finalizer is in place this block gets skipped. So,
 		// this is a nice place to tell the operator that the high level,
 		// multi-reconcile operation is underway.
-		logger.Infof("ensuring connector is set up")
+		logger.Infof("ensuring Connector is set up")
 		cn.Finalizers = append(cn.Finalizers, FinalizerName)
 		if err := a.Update(ctx, cn); err != nil {
-			err = fmt.Errorf("failed to add finalizer: %w", err)
-			logger.Errorf("error adding finalizer: %v", err)
-			return reconcile.Result{}, err
+			logger.Errorf("error adding finalizer: %w", err)
+			return setStatus(cn, tsapi.ConnectorReady, metav1.ConditionFalse, reasonConnectorCreationFailed, reasonConnectorCreationFailed)
 		}
 	}
 
-	// A Connector with unset .spec.subnetRouter and unset
-	// cn.spec.subnetRouter.Routes will be rejected at apply time (because
-	// these fields are set as required by our CRD validation). This check
-	// is here for if our CRD validation breaks unnoticed we don't crash the
-	// operator with nil pointer exception.
-	if cn.Spec.SubnetRouter == nil || len(cn.Spec.SubnetRouter.Routes) < 1 {
-		return reconcile.Result{}, nil
+	if err := a.validate(cn); err != nil {
+		logger.Errorf("error validating Connector spec: %w", err)
+		message := fmt.Sprintf(messageConnectorInvalid, err)
+		a.recorder.Eventf(cn, corev1.EventTypeWarning, reasonConnectorInvalid, message)
+		return setStatus(cn, tsapi.ConnectorReady, metav1.ConditionFalse, reasonConnectorInvalid, message)
 	}
 
-	if err := validateSubnetRouter(*cn.Spec.SubnetRouter); err != nil {
-		msg := fmt.Sprintf(messageSubnetRouterInvalid, err)
-		cn.Status.SubnetRouter = &tsapi.SubnetRouterStatus{
-			Ready:   metav1.ConditionFalse,
-			Reason:  reasonSubnetRouterInvalid,
-			Message: msg,
-		}
-		a.recorder.Eventf(cn, corev1.EventTypeWarning, reasonSubnetRouterInvalid, msg)
-		return reconcile.Result{}, nil
+	if err = a.maybeProvisionConnector(ctx, logger, cn); err != nil {
+		logger.Errorf("error creating Connector resources: %w", err)
+		message := fmt.Sprintf(messageConnectorCreationFailed, err)
+		a.recorder.Eventf(cn, corev1.EventTypeWarning, reasonConnectorCreationFailed, message)
+		return setStatus(cn, tsapi.ConnectorReady, metav1.ConditionFalse, reasonConnectorCreationFailed, message)
 	}
 
-	var sb strings.Builder
-	sb.WriteString(string(cn.Spec.SubnetRouter.Routes[0]))
-	for _, r := range cn.Spec.SubnetRouter.Routes[1:] {
-		sb.WriteString(fmt.Sprintf(",%s", r))
+	logger.Info("Connector resources synced")
+	cn.Status.IsExitNode = cn.Spec.ExitNode
+	if cn.Spec.SubnetRouter != nil {
+		cn.Status.SubnetRoutes = cn.Spec.SubnetRouter.AdvertiseRoutes.Stringify()
+		return setStatus(cn, tsapi.ConnectorReady, metav1.ConditionTrue, reasonConnectorCreated, reasonConnectorCreated)
 	}
-	cidrsS := sb.String()
-	logger.Debugf("ensuring a subnet router is deployed")
-	err = a.maybeProvisionSubnetRouter(ctx, logger, cn, cidrsS)
-	if err != nil {
-		msg := fmt.Sprintf(messageSubnetRouterCreationFailed, cidrsS, err)
-		cn.Status.SubnetRouter = &tsapi.SubnetRouterStatus{
-			Ready:   metav1.ConditionFalse,
-			Reason:  reasonSubnetRouterCreationFailed,
-			Message: msg,
-		}
-		a.recorder.Eventf(cn, corev1.EventTypeWarning, reasonSubnetRouterCreationFailed, msg)
-		return reconcile.Result{}, err
-	}
-	cn.Status.SubnetRouter = &tsapi.SubnetRouterStatus{
-		Routes:  cidrsS,
-		Ready:   metav1.ConditionTrue,
-		Reason:  reasonSubnetRouterCreated,
-		Message: fmt.Sprintf(messageSubnetRouterCreated, cidrsS),
-	}
-	return reconcile.Result{}, nil
+	cn.Status.SubnetRoutes = ""
+	return setStatus(cn, tsapi.ConnectorReady, metav1.ConditionTrue, reasonConnectorCreated, reasonConnectorCreated)
 }
 
-func (a *ConnectorReconciler) maybeCleanupSubnetRouter(ctx context.Context, logger *zap.SugaredLogger, cn *tsapi.Connector) (bool, error) {
-	if done, err := a.ssr.Cleanup(ctx, logger, childResourceLabels(cn.Name, a.tsnamespace, "subnetrouter")); err != nil {
-		return false, fmt.Errorf("failed to cleanup: %w", err)
+// maybeProvisionConnector ensures that any new resources required for this
+// Connector instance are deployed to the cluster.
+func (a *ConnectorReconciler) maybeProvisionConnector(ctx context.Context, logger *zap.SugaredLogger, cn *tsapi.Connector) error {
+	hostname := cn.Name + "-connector"
+	if cn.Spec.Hostname != "" {
+		hostname = string(cn.Spec.Hostname)
+	}
+	crl := childResourceLabels(cn.Name, a.tsnamespace, "connector")
+	sts := &tailscaleSTSConfig{
+		ParentResourceName:  cn.Name,
+		ParentResourceUID:   string(cn.UID),
+		Hostname:            hostname,
+		ChildResourceLabels: crl,
+		Tags:                cn.Spec.Tags.Stringify(),
+		Connector: &connector{
+			isExitNode: cn.Spec.ExitNode,
+		},
+	}
+
+	if cn.Spec.SubnetRouter != nil && len(cn.Spec.SubnetRouter.AdvertiseRoutes) > 0 {
+		sts.Connector.routes = cn.Spec.SubnetRouter.AdvertiseRoutes.Stringify()
+	}
+
+	a.mu.Lock()
+	if sts.Connector.isExitNode {
+		a.exitNodes.Add(cn.UID)
+	} else {
+		a.exitNodes.Remove(cn.UID)
+	}
+	if sts.Connector.routes != "" {
+		a.subnetRouters.Add(cn.GetUID())
+	} else {
+		a.subnetRouters.Remove(cn.GetUID())
+	}
+	a.mu.Unlock()
+	gaugeConnectorSubnetRouterResources.Set(int64(a.subnetRouters.Len()))
+	gaugeConnectorExitNodeResources.Set(int64(a.exitNodes.Len()))
+	var connectors set.Slice[types.UID]
+	connectors.AddSlice(a.exitNodes.Slice())
+	connectors.AddSlice(a.subnetRouters.Slice())
+	gaugeConnectorResources.Set(int64(connectors.Len()))
+
+	_, err := a.ssr.Provision(ctx, logger, sts)
+	return err
+}
+
+func (a *ConnectorReconciler) maybeCleanupConnector(ctx context.Context, logger *zap.SugaredLogger, cn *tsapi.Connector) (bool, error) {
+	if done, err := a.ssr.Cleanup(ctx, logger, childResourceLabels(cn.Name, a.tsnamespace, "connector")); err != nil {
+		return false, fmt.Errorf("failed to cleanup Connector resources: %w", err)
 	} else if !done {
-		logger.Debugf("cleanup not done yet, waiting for next reconcile")
+		logger.Debugf("Connector cleanup not done yet, waiting for next reconcile")
 		return false, nil
 	}
 
@@ -198,44 +214,39 @@ func (a *ConnectorReconciler) maybeCleanupSubnetRouter(ctx context.Context, logg
 	// exactly once at the very end of cleanup, because the final step of
 	// cleanup removes the tailscale finalizer, which will make all future
 	// reconciles exit early.
-	logger.Infof("cleaned up subnet router")
+	logger.Infof("cleaned up Connector resources")
 	a.mu.Lock()
-	defer a.mu.Unlock()
 	a.subnetRouters.Remove(cn.UID)
-	gaugeSubnetRouterResources.Set(int64(a.subnetRouters.Len()))
+	a.exitNodes.Remove(cn.UID)
+	a.mu.Unlock()
+	gaugeConnectorExitNodeResources.Set(int64(a.exitNodes.Len()))
+	gaugeConnectorSubnetRouterResources.Set(int64(a.subnetRouters.Len()))
+	var connectors set.Slice[types.UID]
+	connectors.AddSlice(a.exitNodes.Slice())
+	connectors.AddSlice(a.subnetRouters.Slice())
+	gaugeConnectorResources.Set(int64(connectors.Len()))
 	return true, nil
 }
 
-// maybeProvisionSubnetRouter maybe deploys subnet router that exposes a subset of cluster cidrs to the tailnet
-func (a *ConnectorReconciler) maybeProvisionSubnetRouter(ctx context.Context, logger *zap.SugaredLogger, cn *tsapi.Connector, cidrs string) error {
-	if cn.Spec.SubnetRouter == nil || len(cn.Spec.SubnetRouter.Routes) < 1 {
+func (a *ConnectorReconciler) validate(cn *tsapi.Connector) error {
+	// Connector fields are already validated at apply time with CEL validation
+	// on custom resource fields. The checks here are a backup in case the
+	// CEL validation breaks without us noticing.
+	if !(cn.Spec.SubnetRouter != nil || cn.Spec.ExitNode) {
+		return errors.New("invalid spec: a Connector must expose subnet routes or act as an exit node (or both)")
+	}
+	if cn.Spec.SubnetRouter == nil {
 		return nil
 	}
-	a.mu.Lock()
-	a.subnetRouters.Add(cn.UID)
-	gaugeSubnetRouterResources.Set(int64(a.subnetRouters.Len()))
-	a.mu.Unlock()
-
-	crl := childResourceLabels(cn.Name, a.tsnamespace, "subnetrouter")
-	hostname := hostnameForSubnetRouter(cn)
-	sts := &tailscaleSTSConfig{
-		ParentResourceName:  cn.Name,
-		ParentResourceUID:   string(cn.UID),
-		Hostname:            hostname,
-		ChildResourceLabels: crl,
-		Routes:              cidrs,
-	}
-	for _, tag := range cn.Spec.SubnetRouter.Tags {
-		sts.Tags = append(sts.Tags, string(tag))
-	}
-
-	_, err := a.ssr.Provision(ctx, logger, sts)
-
-	return err
+	return validateSubnetRouter(cn.Spec.SubnetRouter)
 }
-func validateSubnetRouter(sb tsapi.SubnetRouter) error {
+
+func validateSubnetRouter(sb *tsapi.SubnetRouter) error {
+	if len(sb.AdvertiseRoutes) < 1 {
+		return errors.New("invalid subnet router spec: no routes defined")
+	}
 	var err error
-	for _, route := range sb.Routes {
+	for _, route := range sb.AdvertiseRoutes {
 		pfx, e := netip.ParsePrefix(string(route))
 		if e != nil {
 			err = errors.Wrap(err, fmt.Sprintf("route %s is invalid: %v", route, err))
@@ -247,13 +258,3 @@ func validateSubnetRouter(sb tsapi.SubnetRouter) error {
 	}
 	return err
 }
-
-func hostnameForSubnetRouter(cn *tsapi.Connector) string {
-	if cn.Spec.SubnetRouter == nil {
-		return ""
-	}
-	if cn.Spec.SubnetRouter.Hostname != "" {
-		return string(cn.Spec.SubnetRouter.Hostname)
-	}
-	return cn.Name + "-" + "subnetrouter"
-}

cmd/k8s-operator/connector_test.go

@@ -17,10 +17,11 @@
 	"sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/pkg/client/fake"
 	tsapi "tailscale.com/k8s-operator/apis/v1alpha1"
 	"tailscale.com/tstest"
-	"tailscale.com/types/ptr"
 )
 
 func TestConnector(t *testing.T) {
+	// Create a Connector that defines a Tailscale node that advertises
+	// 10.40.0.0/14 route and acts as an exit node.
 	cn := &tsapi.Connector{
 		ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
 			Name: "test",
@@ -32,8 +33,9 @@ func TestConnector(t *testing.T) {
 		},
 		Spec: tsapi.ConnectorSpec{
 			SubnetRouter: &tsapi.SubnetRouter{
-				Routes: []tsapi.Route{"10.40.0.0/14"},
+				AdvertiseRoutes: []tsapi.Route{"10.40.0.0/14"},
 			},
+			ExitNode: true,
 		},
 	}
 	fc := fake.NewClientBuilder().
@@ -48,7 +50,6 @@ func TestConnector(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 
 	cl := tstest.NewClock(tstest.ClockOpts{})
-	// Create a Connector with a subnet router definition
 	cr := &ConnectorReconciler{
 		Client: fc,
 		ssr: &tailscaleSTSReconciler{
@@ -63,26 +64,61 @@ func TestConnector(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 
 	expectReconciled(t, cr, "", "test")
-	fullName, shortName := findGenName(t, fc, "", "test", "subnetrouter")
+	fullName, shortName := findGenName(t, fc, "", "test", "connector")
 
-	expectEqual(t, fc, expectedSecret(fullName, "", "subnetrouter"))
-	expectEqual(t, fc, expectedConnectorSTS(shortName, fullName, "10.40.0.0/14"))
+	opts := configOpts{
+		stsName:                    shortName,
+		secretName:                 fullName,
+		parentType:                 "connector",
+		hostname:                   "test-connector",
+		shouldUseDeclarativeConfig: true,
+		isExitNode:                 true,
+		subnetRoutes:               "10.40.0.0/14",
+		confFileHash:               "9321660203effb80983eaecc7b5ac5a8c53934926f46e895b9fe295dcfc5a904",
+	}
+	expectEqual(t, fc, expectedSecret(t, opts))
+	expectEqual(t, fc, expectedSTS(opts))
 
-	// Add another CIDR
+	// Add another route to be advertised.
 	mustUpdate[tsapi.Connector](t, fc, "", "test", func(conn *tsapi.Connector) {
-		conn.Spec.SubnetRouter.Routes = []tsapi.Route{"10.40.0.0/14", "10.44.0.0/20"}
+		conn.Spec.SubnetRouter.AdvertiseRoutes = []tsapi.Route{"10.40.0.0/14", "10.44.0.0/20"}
 	})
+	opts.subnetRoutes = "10.40.0.0/14,10.44.0.0/20"
+	opts.confFileHash = "fb6c4daf67425f983985750cd8d6f2beae77e614fcb34176604571f5623d6862"
 	expectReconciled(t, cr, "", "test")
-	expectEqual(t, fc, expectedConnectorSTS(shortName, fullName, "10.40.0.0/14,10.44.0.0/20"))
 
-	// Remove a CIDR
+	expectEqual(t, fc, expectedSTS(opts))
+
+	// Remove a route.
 	mustUpdate[tsapi.Connector](t, fc, "", "test", func(conn *tsapi.Connector) {
-		conn.Spec.SubnetRouter.Routes = []tsapi.Route{"10.44.0.0/20"}
+		conn.Spec.SubnetRouter.AdvertiseRoutes = []tsapi.Route{"10.44.0.0/20"}
 	})
+	opts.subnetRoutes = "10.44.0.0/20"
+	opts.confFileHash = "bacba177bcfe3849065cf6fee53d658a9bb4144197ac5b861727d69ea99742bb"
 	expectReconciled(t, cr, "", "test")
-	expectEqual(t, fc, expectedConnectorSTS(shortName, fullName, "10.44.0.0/20"))
+	expectEqual(t, fc, expectedSTS(opts))
 
-	// Delete the Connector
+	// Remove the subnet router.
+	mustUpdate[tsapi.Connector](t, fc, "", "test", func(conn *tsapi.Connector) {
+		conn.Spec.SubnetRouter = nil
+	})
+	opts.subnetRoutes = ""
+	opts.confFileHash = "7c421a99128eb80e79a285a82702f19f8f720615542a15bd794858a6275d8079"
+	expectReconciled(t, cr, "", "test")
+	expectEqual(t, fc, expectedSTS(opts))
+
+	// Re-add the subnet router.
+	mustUpdate[tsapi.Connector](t, fc, "", "test", func(conn *tsapi.Connector) {
+		conn.Spec.SubnetRouter = &tsapi.SubnetRouter{
+			AdvertiseRoutes: []tsapi.Route{"10.44.0.0/20"},
+		}
+	})
+	opts.subnetRoutes = "10.44.0.0/20"
+	opts.confFileHash = "bacba177bcfe3849065cf6fee53d658a9bb4144197ac5b861727d69ea99742bb"
+	expectReconciled(t, cr, "", "test")
+	expectEqual(t, fc, expectedSTS(opts))
+
+	// Delete the Connector.
 	if err = fc.Delete(context.Background(), cn); err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("error deleting Connector: %v", err)
 	}
@@ -93,72 +129,57 @@ func TestConnector(t *testing.T) {
 	expectMissing[appsv1.StatefulSet](t, fc, "operator-ns", shortName)
 	expectMissing[corev1.Secret](t, fc, "operator-ns", fullName)
 
-}
-
-func expectedConnectorSTS(stsName, secretName, routes string) *appsv1.StatefulSet {
-	return &appsv1.StatefulSet{
-		TypeMeta: metav1.TypeMeta{
-			Kind:       "StatefulSet",
-			APIVersion: "apps/v1",
-		},
+	// Create a Connector that advertises a route and is not an exit node.
+	cn = &tsapi.Connector{
 		ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
-			Name:      stsName,
-			Namespace: "operator-ns",
-			Labels: map[string]string{
-				"tailscale.com/managed":              "true",
-				"tailscale.com/parent-resource":      "test",
-				"tailscale.com/parent-resource-ns":   "",
-				"tailscale.com/parent-resource-type": "subnetrouter",
-			},
+			Name: "test",
+			UID:  types.UID("1234-UID"),
 		},
-		Spec: appsv1.StatefulSetSpec{
-			Replicas: ptr.To[int32](1),
-			Selector: &metav1.LabelSelector{
-				MatchLabels: map[string]string{"app": "1234-UID"},
-			},
-			ServiceName: stsName,
-			Template: corev1.PodTemplateSpec{
-				ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
-					DeletionGracePeriodSeconds: ptr.To[int64](10),
-					Labels:                     map[string]string{"app": "1234-UID"},
-					Annotations: map[string]string{
-						"tailscale.com/operator-last-set-hostname": "test-subnetrouter",
-					},
-				},
-				Spec: corev1.PodSpec{
-					ServiceAccountName: "proxies",
-					InitContainers: []corev1.Container{
-						{
-							Name:    "sysctler",
-							Image:   "tailscale/tailscale",
-							Command: []string{"/bin/sh"},
-							Args:    []string{"-c", "sysctl -w net.ipv4.ip_forward=1 net.ipv6.conf.all.forwarding=1"},
-							SecurityContext: &corev1.SecurityContext{
-								Privileged: ptr.To(true),
-							},
-						},
-					},
-					Containers: []corev1.Container{
-						{
-							Name:  "tailscale",
-							Image: "tailscale/tailscale",
-							Env: []corev1.EnvVar{
-								{Name: "TS_USERSPACE", Value: "false"},
-								{Name: "TS_AUTH_ONCE", Value: "true"},
-								{Name: "TS_KUBE_SECRET", Value: secretName},
-								{Name: "TS_HOSTNAME", Value: "test-subnetrouter"},
-								{Name: "TS_ROUTES", Value: routes},
-							},
-							SecurityContext: &corev1.SecurityContext{
-								Capabilities: &corev1.Capabilities{
-									Add: []corev1.Capability{"NET_ADMIN"},
-								},
-							},
-							ImagePullPolicy: "Always",
-						},
-					},
-				},
+		TypeMeta: metav1.TypeMeta{
+			Kind:       tsapi.ConnectorKind,
+			APIVersion: "tailscale.io/v1alpha1",
+		},
+		Spec: tsapi.ConnectorSpec{
+			SubnetRouter: &tsapi.SubnetRouter{
+				AdvertiseRoutes: []tsapi.Route{"10.40.0.0/14"},
 			},
 		},
 	}
+	opts.subnetRoutes = "10.44.0.0/14"
+	opts.isExitNode = false
+	mustCreate(t, fc, cn)
+	expectReconciled(t, cr, "", "test")
+	fullName, shortName = findGenName(t, fc, "", "test", "connector")
+
+	opts = configOpts{
+		stsName:                    shortName,
+		secretName:                 fullName,
+		parentType:                 "connector",
+		shouldUseDeclarativeConfig: true,
+		subnetRoutes:               "10.40.0.0/14",
+		hostname:                   "test-connector",
+		confFileHash:               "57d922331890c9b1c8c6ae664394cb254334c551d9cd9db14537b5d9da9fb17e",
+	}
+	expectEqual(t, fc, expectedSecret(t, opts))
+	expectEqual(t, fc, expectedSTS(opts))
+
+	// Add an exit node.
+	mustUpdate[tsapi.Connector](t, fc, "", "test", func(conn *tsapi.Connector) {
+		conn.Spec.ExitNode = true
+	})
+	opts.isExitNode = true
+	opts.confFileHash = "1499b591fd97a50f0330db6ec09979792c49890cf31f5da5bb6a3f50dba1e77a"
+	expectReconciled(t, cr, "", "test")
+	expectEqual(t, fc, expectedSTS(opts))
+
+	// Delete the Connector.
+	if err = fc.Delete(context.Background(), cn); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("error deleting Connector: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	expectRequeue(t, cr, "", "test")
+	expectReconciled(t, cr, "", "test")
+
+	expectMissing[appsv1.StatefulSet](t, fc, "operator-ns", shortName)
+	expectMissing[corev1.Secret](t, fc, "operator-ns", fullName)
 }

cmd/k8s-operator/deploy/crds/tailscale.com_connectors.yaml

@@ -16,11 +16,15 @@ spec:
   scope: Cluster
   versions:
     - additionalPrinterColumns:
-        - description: Cluster CIDR ranges exposed to tailnet via subnet router
-          jsonPath: .status.subnetRouter.routes
+        - description: CIDR ranges exposed to tailnet by a subnet router defined via this Connector instance.
+          jsonPath: .status.subnetRoutes
           name: SubnetRoutes
           type: string
-        - description: Status of the components deployed by the connector
+        - description: Whether this Connector instance defines an exit node.
+          jsonPath: .status.isExitNode
+          name: IsExitNode
+          type: string
+        - description: Status of the deployed Connector resources.
           jsonPath: .status.conditions[?(@.type == "ConnectorReady")].reason
           name: Status
           type: string
@@ -40,38 +44,40 @@ spec:
             metadata:
               type: object
             spec:
-              description: Desired state of the Connector resource.
+              description: ConnectorSpec describes the desired Tailscale component.
               type: object
-              required:
-                - subnetRouter
               properties:
+                exitNode:
+                  description: ExitNode defines whether the Connector node should act as a Tailscale exit node. Defaults to false. https://tailscale.com/kb/1103/exit-nodes
+                  type: boolean
+                hostname:
+                  description: Hostname is the tailnet hostname that should be assigned to the Connector node. If unset, hostname defaults to <connector name>-connector. Hostname can contain lower case letters, numbers and dashes, it must not start or end with a dash and must be between 2 and 63 characters long.
+                  type: string
+                  pattern: ^[a-z0-9][a-z0-9-]{0,61}[a-z0-9]$
                 subnetRouter:
-                  description: SubnetRouter configures a Tailscale subnet router to be deployed in the cluster. If unset no subnet router will be deployed. https://tailscale.com/kb/1019/subnets/
+                  description: SubnetRouter defines subnet routes that the Connector node should expose to tailnet. If unset, none are exposed. https://tailscale.com/kb/1019/subnets/
                   type: object
                   required:
-                    - routes
+                    - advertiseRoutes
                   properties:
-                    hostname:
-                      description: Hostname is the tailnet hostname that should be assigned to the subnet router node. If unset hostname is defaulted to <connector name>-subnetrouter. Hostname can contain lower case letters, numbers and dashes, it must not start or end with a dash and must be between 2 and 63 characters long.
-                      type: string
-                      pattern: ^[a-z0-9][a-z0-9-]{0,61}[a-z0-9]$
-                    routes:
-                      description: Routes refer to in-cluster CIDRs that the subnet router should make available. Route values must be strings that represent a valid IPv4 or IPv6 CIDR range. Values can be Tailscale 4via6 subnet routes. https://tailscale.com/kb/1201/4via6-subnets/
+                    advertiseRoutes:
+                      description: AdvertiseRoutes refer to CIDRs that the subnet router should make available. Route values must be strings that represent a valid IPv4 or IPv6 CIDR range. Values can be Tailscale 4via6 subnet routes. https://tailscale.com/kb/1201/4via6-subnets/
                       type: array
+                      minItems: 1
                       items:
                         type: string
                         format: cidr
-                    tags:
-                      description: Tags that the Tailscale node will be tagged with. If you want the subnet router to be autoapproved, you can configure Tailscale ACLs to autoapprove the subnetrouter's CIDRs for these tags. See https://tailscale.com/kb/1018/acls/#auto-approvers-for-routes-and-exit-nodes Defaults to tag:k8s. If you specify custom tags here, you must also make tag:k8s-operator owner of the custom tag. See  https://tailscale.com/kb/1236/kubernetes-operator/#setting-up-the-kubernetes-operator. Tags cannot be changed once a Connector has been created. Tag values must be in form ^tag:[a-zA-Z][a-zA-Z0-9-]*$.
-                      type: array
-                      items:
-                        type: string
-                        pattern: ^tag:[a-zA-Z][a-zA-Z0-9-]*$
-                  x-kubernetes-validations:
-                    - rule: has(self.tags) == has(oldSelf.tags)
-                      message: Subnetrouter tags cannot be changed. Delete and redeploy the Connector if you need to change it.
+                tags:
+                  description: Tags that the Tailscale node will be tagged with. Defaults to [tag:k8s]. To autoapprove the subnet routes or exit node defined by a Connector, you can configure Tailscale ACLs to give these tags the necessary permissions. See https://tailscale.com/kb/1018/acls/#auto-approvers-for-routes-and-exit-nodes. If you specify custom tags here, you must also make the operator an owner of these tags. See  https://tailscale.com/kb/1236/kubernetes-operator/#setting-up-the-kubernetes-operator. Tags cannot be changed once a Connector node has been created. Tag values must be in form ^tag:[a-zA-Z][a-zA-Z0-9-]*$.
+                  type: array
+                  items:
+                    type: string
+                    pattern: ^tag:[a-zA-Z][a-zA-Z0-9-]*$
+              x-kubernetes-validations:
+                - rule: has(self.subnetRouter) || self.exitNode == true
+                  message: A Connector needs to be either an exit node or a subnet router, or both.
             status:
-              description: Status of the Connector. This is set and managed by the Tailscale operator.
+              description: ConnectorStatus describes the status of the Connector. This is set and managed by the Tailscale operator.
               type: object
               properties:
                 conditions:
@@ -107,27 +113,12 @@ spec:
                   x-kubernetes-list-map-keys:
                     - type
                   x-kubernetes-list-type: map
-                subnetRouter:
-                  description: SubnetRouter status is the current status of a subnet router
-                  type: object
-                  required:
-                    - message
-                    - ready
-                    - reason
-                    - routes
-                  properties:
-                    message:
-                      description: Message is a more verbose reason for the current subnet router status
-                      type: string
-                    ready:
-                      description: Ready is the ready status of the subnet router
-                      type: string
-                    reason:
-                      description: Reason is the reason for the subnet router status
-                      type: string
-                    routes:
-                      description: Routes are the CIDRs currently exposed via subnet router
-                      type: string
+                isExitNode:
+                  description: IsExitNode is set to true if the Connector acts as an exit node.
+                  type: boolean
+                subnetRoutes:
+                  description: SubnetRoutes are the routes currently exposed to tailnet via this Connector instance.
+                  type: string
       served: true
       storage: true
       subresources:

cmd/k8s-operator/deploy/examples/connector.yaml

@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+# Before applying ensure that the operator owns tag:prod.
+# https://tailscale.com/kb/1236/kubernetes-operator/#setting-up-the-kubernetes-operator.
+# To set up autoapproval set tag:prod as approver for 10.40.0.0/14 route and exit node.
+# Otherwise approve it manually in Machines panel once the
+# ts-prod Tailscale node has been created.
+# See https://tailscale.com/kb/1018/acls/#auto-approvers-for-routes-and-exit-nodes
+apiVersion: tailscale.com/v1alpha1
+kind: Connector
+metadata:
+  name: prod
+spec:
+  tags:
+  - "tag:prod"
+  hostname: ts-prod
+  subnetRouter:
+    advertiseRoutes:
+    - "10.40.0.0/14"
+    - "192.168.0.0/14"
+  exitNode: true

cmd/k8s-operator/deploy/examples/subnetrouter.yaml

@@ -1,17 +0,0 @@
-# Before applyong this ensure that the operator is owner of tag:subnet.
-# https://tailscale.com/kb/1236/kubernetes-operator/#setting-up-the-kubernetes-operator.
-# To set up autoapproval set tag:subnet as approver for 10.40.0.0/14 route
-# otherwise you will need to approve it manually in control panel once the
-# subnet router has been created.
-# https://tailscale.com/kb/1019/subnets/#advertise-subnet-routes
-apiVersion: tailscale.com/v1alpha1
-kind: Connector
-metadata:
-  name: exposepods
-spec:
-  subnetRouter:
-    routes:
-    - "10.40.0.0/14"
-    tags:
-    - "tag:subnet"
-    hostname: pods-subnetrouter

cmd/k8s-operator/operator_test.go

@@ -6,24 +6,15 @@
 package main
 
 import (
-	"context"
 	"fmt"
-	"strings"
-	"sync"
 	"testing"
-	"time"
 
-	"github.com/google/go-cmp/cmp"
 	"go.uber.org/zap"
 	appsv1 "k8s.io/api/apps/v1"
 	corev1 "k8s.io/api/core/v1"
-	apierrors "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/errors"
 	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/types"
-	"sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/pkg/client"
 	"sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/pkg/client/fake"
-	"sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/pkg/reconcile"
-	"tailscale.com/client/tailscale"
 	"tailscale.com/types/ptr"
 )
 
@@ -67,15 +58,18 @@ func TestLoadBalancerClass(t *testing.T) {
 	expectReconciled(t, sr, "default", "test")
 
 	fullName, shortName := findGenName(t, fc, "default", "test", "svc")
-
-	expectEqual(t, fc, expectedSecret(fullName, "default", "svc"))
-	expectEqual(t, fc, expectedHeadlessService(shortName))
-	o := stsOpts{
-		name:       shortName,
-		secretName: fullName,
-		hostname:   "default-test",
+	opts := configOpts{
+		stsName:         shortName,
+		secretName:      fullName,
+		namespace:       "default",
+		parentType:      "svc",
+		hostname:        "default-test",
+		clusterTargetIP: "10.20.30.40",
 	}
-	expectEqual(t, fc, expectedSTS(o))
+
+	expectEqual(t, fc, expectedSecret(t, opts))
+	expectEqual(t, fc, expectedHeadlessService(shortName))
+	expectEqual(t, fc, expectedSTS(opts))
 
 	// Normally the Tailscale proxy pod would come up here and write its info
 	// into the secret. Simulate that, then verify reconcile again and verify
@@ -159,6 +153,7 @@ func TestLoadBalancerClass(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 	expectEqual(t, fc, want)
 }
+
 func TestTailnetTargetFQDNAnnotation(t *testing.T) {
 	fc := fake.NewFakeClient()
 	ft := &fakeTSClient{}
@@ -204,15 +199,17 @@ func TestTailnetTargetFQDNAnnotation(t *testing.T) {
 	expectReconciled(t, sr, "default", "test")
 
 	fullName, shortName := findGenName(t, fc, "default", "test", "svc")
-
-	expectEqual(t, fc, expectedSecret(fullName, "default", "svc"))
-	expectEqual(t, fc, expectedHeadlessService(shortName))
-	o := stsOpts{
-		name:              shortName,
+	o := configOpts{
+		stsName:           shortName,
 		secretName:        fullName,
+		namespace:         "default",
+		parentType:        "svc",
 		tailnetTargetFQDN: tailnetTargetFQDN,
 		hostname:          "default-test",
 	}
+
+	expectEqual(t, fc, expectedSecret(t, o))
+	expectEqual(t, fc, expectedHeadlessService(shortName))
 	expectEqual(t, fc, expectedSTS(o))
 	want := &corev1.Service{
 		TypeMeta: metav1.TypeMeta{
@@ -235,14 +232,8 @@ func TestTailnetTargetFQDNAnnotation(t *testing.T) {
 		},
 	}
 	expectEqual(t, fc, want)
-	expectEqual(t, fc, expectedSecret(fullName, "default", "svc"))
+	expectEqual(t, fc, expectedSecret(t, o))
 	expectEqual(t, fc, expectedHeadlessService(shortName))
-	o = stsOpts{
-		name:              shortName,
-		secretName:        fullName,
-		tailnetTargetFQDN: tailnetTargetFQDN,
-		hostname:          "default-test",
-	}
 	expectEqual(t, fc, expectedSTS(o))
 
 	// Change the tailscale-target-fqdn annotation which should update the
@@ -272,6 +263,7 @@ func TestTailnetTargetFQDNAnnotation(t *testing.T) {
 	expectMissing[corev1.Service](t, fc, "operator-ns", shortName)
 	expectMissing[corev1.Secret](t, fc, "operator-ns", fullName)
 }
+
 func TestTailnetTargetIPAnnotation(t *testing.T) {
 	fc := fake.NewFakeClient()
 	ft := &fakeTSClient{}
@@ -317,15 +309,17 @@ func TestTailnetTargetIPAnnotation(t *testing.T) {
 	expectReconciled(t, sr, "default", "test")
 
 	fullName, shortName := findGenName(t, fc, "default", "test", "svc")
-
-	expectEqual(t, fc, expectedSecret(fullName, "default", "svc"))
-	expectEqual(t, fc, expectedHeadlessService(shortName))
-	o := stsOpts{
-		name:            shortName,
+	o := configOpts{
+		stsName:         shortName,
 		secretName:      fullName,
+		namespace:       "default",
+		parentType:      "svc",
 		tailnetTargetIP: tailnetTargetIP,
 		hostname:        "default-test",
 	}
+
+	expectEqual(t, fc, expectedSecret(t, o))
+	expectEqual(t, fc, expectedHeadlessService(shortName))
 	expectEqual(t, fc, expectedSTS(o))
 	want := &corev1.Service{
 		TypeMeta: metav1.TypeMeta{
@@ -348,14 +342,8 @@ func TestTailnetTargetIPAnnotation(t *testing.T) {
 		},
 	}
 	expectEqual(t, fc, want)
-	expectEqual(t, fc, expectedSecret(fullName, "default", "svc"))
+	expectEqual(t, fc, expectedSecret(t, o))
 	expectEqual(t, fc, expectedHeadlessService(shortName))
-	o = stsOpts{
-		name:            shortName,
-		secretName:      fullName,
-		tailnetTargetIP: tailnetTargetIP,
-		hostname:        "default-test",
-	}
 	expectEqual(t, fc, expectedSTS(o))
 
 	// Change the tailscale-target-ip annotation which should update the
@@ -428,14 +416,17 @@ func TestAnnotations(t *testing.T) {
 	expectReconciled(t, sr, "default", "test")
 
 	fullName, shortName := findGenName(t, fc, "default", "test", "svc")
-
-	expectEqual(t, fc, expectedSecret(fullName, "default", "svc"))
-	expectEqual(t, fc, expectedHeadlessService(shortName))
-	o := stsOpts{
-		name:       shortName,
-		secretName: fullName,
-		hostname:   "default-test",
+	o := configOpts{
+		stsName:         shortName,
+		secretName:      fullName,
+		namespace:       "default",
+		parentType:      "svc",
+		hostname:        "default-test",
+		clusterTargetIP: "10.20.30.40",
 	}
+
+	expectEqual(t, fc, expectedSecret(t, o))
+	expectEqual(t, fc, expectedHeadlessService(shortName))
 	expectEqual(t, fc, expectedSTS(o))
 	want := &corev1.Service{
 		TypeMeta: metav1.TypeMeta{
@@ -533,14 +524,17 @@ func TestAnnotationIntoLB(t *testing.T) {
 	expectReconciled(t, sr, "default", "test")
 
 	fullName, shortName := findGenName(t, fc, "default", "test", "svc")
-
-	expectEqual(t, fc, expectedSecret(fullName, "default", "svc"))
-	expectEqual(t, fc, expectedHeadlessService(shortName))
-	o := stsOpts{
-		name:       shortName,
-		secretName: fullName,
-		hostname:   "default-test",
+	o := configOpts{
+		stsName:         shortName,
+		secretName:      fullName,
+		namespace:       "default",
+		parentType:      "svc",
+		hostname:        "default-test",
+		clusterTargetIP: "10.20.30.40",
 	}
+
+	expectEqual(t, fc, expectedSecret(t, o))
+	expectEqual(t, fc, expectedHeadlessService(shortName))
 	expectEqual(t, fc, expectedSTS(o))
 
 	// Normally the Tailscale proxy pod would come up here and write its info
@@ -586,11 +580,6 @@ func TestAnnotationIntoLB(t *testing.T) {
 	expectReconciled(t, sr, "default", "test")
 	// None of the proxy machinery should have changed...
 	expectEqual(t, fc, expectedHeadlessService(shortName))
-	o = stsOpts{
-		name:       shortName,
-		secretName: fullName,
-		hostname:   "default-test",
-	}
 	expectEqual(t, fc, expectedSTS(o))
 	// ... but the service should have a LoadBalancer status.
 
@@ -666,14 +655,17 @@ func TestLBIntoAnnotation(t *testing.T) {
 	expectReconciled(t, sr, "default", "test")
 
 	fullName, shortName := findGenName(t, fc, "default", "test", "svc")
-
-	expectEqual(t, fc, expectedSecret(fullName, "default", "svc"))
-	expectEqual(t, fc, expectedHeadlessService(shortName))
-	o := stsOpts{
-		name:       shortName,
-		secretName: fullName,
-		hostname:   "default-test",
+	o := configOpts{
+		stsName:         shortName,
+		secretName:      fullName,
+		namespace:       "default",
+		parentType:      "svc",
+		hostname:        "default-test",
+		clusterTargetIP: "10.20.30.40",
 	}
+
+	expectEqual(t, fc, expectedSecret(t, o))
+	expectEqual(t, fc, expectedHeadlessService(shortName))
 	expectEqual(t, fc, expectedSTS(o))
 
 	// Normally the Tailscale proxy pod would come up here and write its info
@@ -737,11 +729,6 @@ func TestLBIntoAnnotation(t *testing.T) {
 	expectReconciled(t, sr, "default", "test")
 
 	expectEqual(t, fc, expectedHeadlessService(shortName))
-	o = stsOpts{
-		name:       shortName,
-		secretName: fullName,
-		hostname:   "default-test",
-	}
 	expectEqual(t, fc, expectedSTS(o))
 
 	want = &corev1.Service{
@@ -809,14 +796,17 @@ func TestCustomHostname(t *testing.T) {
 	expectReconciled(t, sr, "default", "test")
 
 	fullName, shortName := findGenName(t, fc, "default", "test", "svc")
-
-	expectEqual(t, fc, expectedSecret(fullName, "default", "svc"))
-	expectEqual(t, fc, expectedHeadlessService(shortName))
-	o := stsOpts{
-		name:       shortName,
-		secretName: fullName,
-		hostname:   "reindeer-flotilla",
+	o := configOpts{
+		stsName:         shortName,
+		secretName:      fullName,
+		namespace:       "default",
+		parentType:      "svc",
+		hostname:        "reindeer-flotilla",
+		clusterTargetIP: "10.20.30.40",
 	}
+
+	expectEqual(t, fc, expectedSecret(t, o))
+	expectEqual(t, fc, expectedHeadlessService(shortName))
 	expectEqual(t, fc, expectedSTS(o))
 	want := &corev1.Service{
 		TypeMeta: metav1.TypeMeta{
@@ -920,11 +910,14 @@ func TestCustomPriorityClassName(t *testing.T) {
 	expectReconciled(t, sr, "default", "test")
 
 	fullName, shortName := findGenName(t, fc, "default", "test", "svc")
-	o := stsOpts{
-		name:              shortName,
+	o := configOpts{
+		stsName:           shortName,
 		secretName:        fullName,
+		namespace:         "default",
+		parentType:        "svc",
 		hostname:          "tailscale-critical",
 		priorityClassName: "custom-priority-class-name",
+		clusterTargetIP:   "10.20.30.40",
 	}
 
 	expectEqual(t, fc, expectedSTS(o))
@@ -971,12 +964,14 @@ func TestDefaultLoadBalancer(t *testing.T) {
 
 	fullName, shortName := findGenName(t, fc, "default", "test", "svc")
 
-	// expectEqual(t, fc, expectedSecret(fullName, "default", "svc"))
 	expectEqual(t, fc, expectedHeadlessService(shortName))
-	o := stsOpts{
-		name:       shortName,
-		secretName: fullName,
-		hostname:   "default-test",
+	o := configOpts{
+		stsName:         shortName,
+		secretName:      fullName,
+		namespace:       "default",
+		parentType:      "svc",
+		hostname:        "default-test",
+		clusterTargetIP: "10.20.30.40",
 	}
 	expectEqual(t, fc, expectedSTS(o))
 }
@@ -1022,331 +1017,19 @@ func TestProxyFirewallMode(t *testing.T) {
 	expectReconciled(t, sr, "default", "test")
 
 	fullName, shortName := findGenName(t, fc, "default", "test", "svc")
-	o := stsOpts{
-		name:         shortName,
-		secretName:   fullName,
-		hostname:     "default-test",
-		firewallMode: "nftables",
+	o := configOpts{
+		stsName:         shortName,
+		secretName:      fullName,
+		namespace:       "default",
+		parentType:      "svc",
+		hostname:        "default-test",
+		firewallMode:    "nftables",
+		clusterTargetIP: "10.20.30.40",
 	}
 	expectEqual(t, fc, expectedSTS(o))
 
 }
 
-func expectedSecret(name, parentNamespace, typ string) *corev1.Secret {
-	return &corev1.Secret{
-		TypeMeta: metav1.TypeMeta{
-			Kind:       "Secret",
-			APIVersion: "v1",
-		},
-		ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
-			Name:      name,
-			Namespace: "operator-ns",
-			Labels: map[string]string{
-				"tailscale.com/managed":              "true",
-				"tailscale.com/parent-resource":      "test",
-				"tailscale.com/parent-resource-ns":   parentNamespace,
-				"tailscale.com/parent-resource-type": typ,
-			},
-		},
-		StringData: map[string]string{
-			"authkey": "secret-authkey",
-		},
-	}
-}
-
-func expectedHeadlessService(name string) *corev1.Service {
-	return &corev1.Service{
-		TypeMeta: metav1.TypeMeta{
-			Kind:       "Service",
-			APIVersion: "v1",
-		},
-		ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
-			Name:         name,
-			GenerateName: "ts-test-",
-			Namespace:    "operator-ns",
-			Labels: map[string]string{
-				"tailscale.com/managed":              "true",
-				"tailscale.com/parent-resource":      "test",
-				"tailscale.com/parent-resource-ns":   "default",
-				"tailscale.com/parent-resource-type": "svc",
-			},
-		},
-		Spec: corev1.ServiceSpec{
-			Selector: map[string]string{
-				"app": "1234-UID",
-			},
-			ClusterIP: "None",
-		},
-	}
-}
-
-func expectedSTS(opts stsOpts) *appsv1.StatefulSet {
-	containerEnv := []corev1.EnvVar{
-		{Name: "TS_USERSPACE", Value: "false"},
-		{Name: "TS_AUTH_ONCE", Value: "true"},
-		{Name: "TS_KUBE_SECRET", Value: opts.secretName},
-		{Name: "TS_HOSTNAME", Value: opts.hostname},
-	}
-	annots := map[string]string{
-		"tailscale.com/operator-last-set-hostname": opts.hostname,
-	}
-	if opts.tailnetTargetIP != "" {
-		annots["tailscale.com/operator-last-set-ts-tailnet-target-ip"] = opts.tailnetTargetIP
-		containerEnv = append(containerEnv, corev1.EnvVar{
-			Name:  "TS_TAILNET_TARGET_IP",
-			Value: opts.tailnetTargetIP,
-		})
-	} else if opts.tailnetTargetFQDN != "" {
-		annots["tailscale.com/operator-last-set-ts-tailnet-target-fqdn"] = opts.tailnetTargetFQDN
-		containerEnv = append(containerEnv, corev1.EnvVar{
-			Name:  "TS_TAILNET_TARGET_FQDN",
-			Value: opts.tailnetTargetFQDN,
-		})
-
-	} else {
-		containerEnv = append(containerEnv, corev1.EnvVar{
-			Name:  "TS_DEST_IP",
-			Value: "10.20.30.40",
-		})
-
-		annots["tailscale.com/operator-last-set-cluster-ip"] = "10.20.30.40"
-
-	}
-	if opts.firewallMode != "" {
-		containerEnv = append(containerEnv, corev1.EnvVar{
-			Name:  "TS_DEBUG_FIREWALL_MODE",
-			Value: opts.firewallMode,
-		})
-	}
-	return &appsv1.StatefulSet{
-		TypeMeta: metav1.TypeMeta{
-			Kind:       "StatefulSet",
-			APIVersion: "apps/v1",
-		},
-		ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
-			Name:      opts.name,
-			Namespace: "operator-ns",
-			Labels: map[string]string{
-				"tailscale.com/managed":              "true",
-				"tailscale.com/parent-resource":      "test",
-				"tailscale.com/parent-resource-ns":   "default",
-				"tailscale.com/parent-resource-type": "svc",
-			},
-		},
-		Spec: appsv1.StatefulSetSpec{
-			Replicas: ptr.To[int32](1),
-			Selector: &metav1.LabelSelector{
-				MatchLabels: map[string]string{"app": "1234-UID"},
-			},
-			ServiceName: opts.name,
-			Template: corev1.PodTemplateSpec{
-				ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
-					Annotations:                annots,
-					DeletionGracePeriodSeconds: ptr.To[int64](10),
-					Labels:                     map[string]string{"app": "1234-UID"},
-				},
-				Spec: corev1.PodSpec{
-					ServiceAccountName: "proxies",
-					PriorityClassName:  opts.priorityClassName,
-					InitContainers: []corev1.Container{
-						{
-							Name:    "sysctler",
-							Image:   "tailscale/tailscale",
-							Command: []string{"/bin/sh"},
-							Args:    []string{"-c", "sysctl -w net.ipv4.ip_forward=1 net.ipv6.conf.all.forwarding=1"},
-							SecurityContext: &corev1.SecurityContext{
-								Privileged: ptr.To(true),
-							},
-						},
-					},
-					Containers: []corev1.Container{
-						{
-							Name:  "tailscale",
-							Image: "tailscale/tailscale",
-							Env:   containerEnv,
-							SecurityContext: &corev1.SecurityContext{
-								Capabilities: &corev1.Capabilities{
-									Add: []corev1.Capability{"NET_ADMIN"},
-								},
-							},
-							ImagePullPolicy: "Always",
-						},
-					},
-				},
-			},
-		},
-	}
-}
-
-func findGenName(t *testing.T, client client.Client, ns, name, typ string) (full, noSuffix string) {
-	t.Helper()
-	labels := map[string]string{
-		LabelManaged:         "true",
-		LabelParentName:      name,
-		LabelParentNamespace: ns,
-		LabelParentType:      typ,
-	}
-	s, err := getSingleObject[corev1.Secret](context.Background(), client, "operator-ns", labels)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatalf("finding secret for %q: %v", name, err)
-	}
-	if s == nil {
-		t.Fatalf("no secret found for %q %s %+#v", name, ns, labels)
-	}
-	return s.GetName(), strings.TrimSuffix(s.GetName(), "-0")
-}
-
-func mustCreate(t *testing.T, client client.Client, obj client.Object) {
-	t.Helper()
-	if err := client.Create(context.Background(), obj); err != nil {
-		t.Fatalf("creating %q: %v", obj.GetName(), err)
-	}
-}
-
-func mustUpdate[T any, O ptrObject[T]](t *testing.T, client client.Client, ns, name string, update func(O)) {
-	t.Helper()
-	obj := O(new(T))
-	if err := client.Get(context.Background(), types.NamespacedName{
-		Name:      name,
-		Namespace: ns,
-	}, obj); err != nil {
-		t.Fatalf("getting %q: %v", name, err)
-	}
-	update(obj)
-	if err := client.Update(context.Background(), obj); err != nil {
-		t.Fatalf("updating %q: %v", name, err)
-	}
-}
-
-func mustUpdateStatus[T any, O ptrObject[T]](t *testing.T, client client.Client, ns, name string, update func(O)) {
-	t.Helper()
-	obj := O(new(T))
-	if err := client.Get(context.Background(), types.NamespacedName{
-		Name:      name,
-		Namespace: ns,
-	}, obj); err != nil {
-		t.Fatalf("getting %q: %v", name, err)
-	}
-	update(obj)
-	if err := client.Status().Update(context.Background(), obj); err != nil {
-		t.Fatalf("updating %q: %v", name, err)
-	}
-}
-
-func expectEqual[T any, O ptrObject[T]](t *testing.T, client client.Client, want O) {
-	t.Helper()
-	got := O(new(T))
-	if err := client.Get(context.Background(), types.NamespacedName{
-		Name:      want.GetName(),
-		Namespace: want.GetNamespace(),
-	}, got); err != nil {
-		t.Fatalf("getting %q: %v", want.GetName(), err)
-	}
-	// The resource version changes eagerly whenever the operator does even a
-	// no-op update. Asserting a specific value leads to overly brittle tests,
-	// so just remove it from both got and want.
-	got.SetResourceVersion("")
-	want.SetResourceVersion("")
-	if diff := cmp.Diff(got, want); diff != "" {
-		t.Fatalf("unexpected object (-got +want):\n%s", diff)
-	}
-}
-
-func expectMissing[T any, O ptrObject[T]](t *testing.T, client client.Client, ns, name string) {
-	t.Helper()
-	obj := O(new(T))
-	if err := client.Get(context.Background(), types.NamespacedName{
-		Name:      name,
-		Namespace: ns,
-	}, obj); !apierrors.IsNotFound(err) {
-		t.Fatalf("object %s/%s unexpectedly present, wanted missing", ns, name)
-	}
-}
-
-func expectReconciled(t *testing.T, sr reconcile.Reconciler, ns, name string) {
-	t.Helper()
-	req := reconcile.Request{
-		NamespacedName: types.NamespacedName{
-			Namespace: ns,
-			Name:      name,
-		},
-	}
-	res, err := sr.Reconcile(context.Background(), req)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatalf("Reconcile: unexpected error: %v", err)
-	}
-	if res.Requeue {
-		t.Fatalf("unexpected immediate requeue")
-	}
-	if res.RequeueAfter != 0 {
-		t.Fatalf("unexpected timed requeue (%v)", res.RequeueAfter)
-	}
-}
-
-func expectRequeue(t *testing.T, sr reconcile.Reconciler, ns, name string) {
-	t.Helper()
-	req := reconcile.Request{
-		NamespacedName: types.NamespacedName{
-			Name:      name,
-			Namespace: ns,
-		},
-	}
-	res, err := sr.Reconcile(context.Background(), req)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatalf("Reconcile: unexpected error: %v", err)
-	}
-	if res.RequeueAfter == 0 {
-		t.Fatalf("expected timed requeue, got success")
-	}
-}
-
-type stsOpts struct {
-	name              string
-	secretName        string
-	hostname          string
-	priorityClassName string
-	firewallMode      string
-	tailnetTargetIP   string
-	tailnetTargetFQDN string
-}
-
-type fakeTSClient struct {
-	sync.Mutex
-	keyRequests []tailscale.KeyCapabilities
-	deleted     []string
-}
-
-func (c *fakeTSClient) CreateKey(ctx context.Context, caps tailscale.KeyCapabilities) (string, *tailscale.Key, error) {
-	c.Lock()
-	defer c.Unlock()
-	c.keyRequests = append(c.keyRequests, caps)
-	k := &tailscale.Key{
-		ID:           "key",
-		Created:      time.Now(),
-		Capabilities: caps,
-	}
-	return "secret-authkey", k, nil
-}
-
-func (c *fakeTSClient) DeleteDevice(ctx context.Context, deviceID string) error {
-	c.Lock()
-	defer c.Unlock()
-	c.deleted = append(c.deleted, deviceID)
-	return nil
-}
-
-func (c *fakeTSClient) KeyRequests() []tailscale.KeyCapabilities {
-	c.Lock()
-	defer c.Unlock()
-	return c.keyRequests
-}
-
-func (c *fakeTSClient) Deleted() []string {
-	c.Lock()
-	defer c.Unlock()
-	return c.deleted
-}
-
 func Test_isMagicDNSName(t *testing.T) {
 	tests := []struct {
 		in   string

cmd/k8s-operator/sts.go

@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 
 import (
 	"context"
+	"crypto/sha256"
 	_ "embed"
 	"encoding/json"
 	"errors"
@@ -26,6 +27,7 @@
 	"sigs.k8s.io/yaml"
 	"tailscale.com/client/tailscale"
 	"tailscale.com/ipn"
+	"tailscale.com/net/netutil"
 	"tailscale.com/tailcfg"
 	"tailscale.com/tsnet"
 	"tailscale.com/types/opt"
@@ -54,11 +56,17 @@
 	AnnotationFunnel = "tailscale.com/funnel"
 
 	// Annotations set by the operator on pods to trigger restarts when the
-	// hostname, IP or FQDN changes.
+	// hostname, IP, FQDN or tailscaled config changes.
 	podAnnotationLastSetClusterIP         = "tailscale.com/operator-last-set-cluster-ip"
 	podAnnotationLastSetHostname          = "tailscale.com/operator-last-set-hostname"
 	podAnnotationLastSetTailnetTargetIP   = "tailscale.com/operator-last-set-ts-tailnet-target-ip"
 	podAnnotationLastSetTailnetTargetFQDN = "tailscale.com/operator-last-set-ts-tailnet-target-fqdn"
+	// podAnnotationLastSetConfigFileHash is sha256 hash of the current tailscaled configuration contents.
+	podAnnotationLastSetConfigFileHash = "tailscale.com/operator-last-set-config-file-hash"
+
+	// tailscaledConfigKey is the name of the key in proxy Secret Data that
+	// holds the tailscaled config contents.
+	tailscaledConfigKey = "tailscaled"
 )
 
 type tailscaleSTSConfig struct {
@@ -66,22 +74,26 @@ type tailscaleSTSConfig struct {
 	ParentResourceUID   string
 	ChildResourceLabels map[string]string
 
-	ServeConfig *ipn.ServeConfig
-	// Tailscale target in cluster we are setting up ingress for
-	ClusterTargetIP string
+	ServeConfig     *ipn.ServeConfig
+	ClusterTargetIP string // ingress target
 
-	// Tailscale IP of a Tailscale service we are setting up egress for
-	TailnetTargetIP string
+	TailnetTargetIP string // egress target IP
 
-	// Tailscale FQDN of a Tailscale service we are setting up egress for
-	TailnetTargetFQDN string
+	TailnetTargetFQDN string // egress target FQDN
 
 	Hostname string
 	Tags     []string // if empty, use defaultTags
 
-	// Routes is a list of CIDRs to pass via --advertise-routes flag
-	// Should only be set if this is config for subnetRouter
-	Routes string
+	// Connector specifies a configuration of a Connector instance if that's
+	// what this StatefulSet should be created for.
+	Connector *connector
+}
+
+type connector struct {
+	// routes is a list of subnet routes that this Connector should expose.
+	routes string
+	// isExitNode defines whether this Connector should act as an exit node.
+	isExitNode bool
 }
 
 type tailscaleSTSReconciler struct {
@@ -111,16 +123,17 @@ func (a *tailscaleSTSReconciler) IsHTTPSEnabledOnTailnet() bool {
 // up to date.
 func (a *tailscaleSTSReconciler) Provision(ctx context.Context, logger *zap.SugaredLogger, sts *tailscaleSTSConfig) (*corev1.Service, error) {
 	// Do full reconcile.
+	// TODO (don't create Service for the Connector)
 	hsvc, err := a.reconcileHeadlessService(ctx, logger, sts)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to reconcile headless service: %w", err)
 	}
 
-	secretName, err := a.createOrGetSecret(ctx, logger, sts, hsvc)
+	secretName, tsConfigHash, err := a.createOrGetSecret(ctx, logger, sts, hsvc)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to create or get API key secret: %w", err)
 	}
-	_, err = a.reconcileSTS(ctx, logger, sts, hsvc, secretName)
+	_, err = a.reconcileSTS(ctx, logger, sts, hsvc, secretName, tsConfigHash)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to reconcile statefulset: %w", err)
 	}
@@ -234,7 +247,7 @@ func (a *tailscaleSTSReconciler) reconcileHeadlessService(ctx context.Context, l
 	return createOrUpdate(ctx, a.Client, a.operatorNamespace, hsvc, func(svc *corev1.Service) { svc.Spec = hsvc.Spec })
 }
 
-func (a *tailscaleSTSReconciler) createOrGetSecret(ctx context.Context, logger *zap.SugaredLogger, stsC *tailscaleSTSConfig, hsvc *corev1.Service) (string, error) {
+func (a *tailscaleSTSReconciler) createOrGetSecret(ctx context.Context, logger *zap.SugaredLogger, stsC *tailscaleSTSConfig, hsvc *corev1.Service) (string, string, error) {
 	secret := &corev1.Secret{
 		ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
 			// Hardcode a -0 suffix so that in future, if we support
@@ -250,22 +263,25 @@ func (a *tailscaleSTSReconciler) createOrGetSecret(ctx context.Context, logger *
 		logger.Debugf("secret %s/%s already exists", secret.GetNamespace(), secret.GetName())
 		orig = secret.DeepCopy()
 	} else if !apierrors.IsNotFound(err) {
-		return "", err
+		return "", "", err
 	}
 
+	var (
+		authKey, hash string
+	)
 	if orig == nil {
 		// Secret doesn't exist yet, create one. Initially it contains
 		// only the Tailscale authkey, but once Tailscale starts it'll
 		// also store the daemon state.
 		sts, err := getSingleObject[appsv1.StatefulSet](ctx, a.Client, a.operatorNamespace, stsC.ChildResourceLabels)
 		if err != nil {
-			return "", err
+			return "", "", err
 		}
 		if sts != nil {
 			// StatefulSet exists, so we have already created the secret.
 			// If the secret is missing, they should delete the StatefulSet.
 			logger.Errorf("Tailscale proxy secret doesn't exist, but the corresponding StatefulSet %s/%s already does. Something is wrong, please delete the StatefulSet.", sts.GetNamespace(), sts.GetName())
-			return "", nil
+			return "", "", nil
 		}
 		// Create API Key secret which is going to be used by the statefulset
 		// to authenticate with Tailscale.
@@ -274,30 +290,42 @@ func (a *tailscaleSTSReconciler) createOrGetSecret(ctx context.Context, logger *
 		if len(tags) == 0 {
 			tags = a.defaultTags
 		}
-		authKey, err := a.newAuthKey(ctx, tags)
+		authKey, err = a.newAuthKey(ctx, tags)
 		if err != nil {
-			return "", err
+			return "", "", err
 		}
-
+	}
+	if !shouldDoTailscaledDeclarativeConfig(stsC) && authKey != "" {
 		mak.Set(&secret.StringData, "authkey", authKey)
 	}
+	if shouldDoTailscaledDeclarativeConfig(stsC) {
+		confFileBytes, h, err := tailscaledConfig(stsC, authKey, orig)
+		if err != nil {
+			return "", "", fmt.Errorf("error creating tailscaled config: %w", err)
+		}
+		hash = h
+		mak.Set(&secret.StringData, tailscaledConfigKey, string(confFileBytes))
+	}
 	if stsC.ServeConfig != nil {
 		j, err := json.Marshal(stsC.ServeConfig)
 		if err != nil {
-			return "", err
+			return "", "", err
 		}
 		mak.Set(&secret.StringData, "serve-config", string(j))
 	}
+
 	if orig != nil {
+		logger.Debugf("patching existing state Secret with values %s", secret.Data[tailscaledConfigKey])
 		if err := a.Patch(ctx, secret, client.MergeFrom(orig)); err != nil {
-			return "", err
+			return "", "", err
 		}
 	} else {
+		logger.Debugf("creating new state Secret with authkey %s", secret.Data[tailscaledConfigKey])
 		if err := a.Create(ctx, secret); err != nil {
-			return "", err
+			return "", "", err
 		}
 	}
-	return secret.Name, nil
+	return secret.Name, hash, nil
 }
 
 // DeviceInfo returns the device ID and hostname for the Tailscale device
@@ -325,7 +353,6 @@ func (a *tailscaleSTSReconciler) DeviceInfo(ctx context.Context, childLabels map
 			return "", "", nil, err
 		}
 	}
-
 	return id, hostname, ips, nil
 }
 
@@ -353,7 +380,7 @@ func (a *tailscaleSTSReconciler) newAuthKey(ctx context.Context, tags []string)
 //go:embed deploy/manifests/userspace-proxy.yaml
 var userspaceProxyYaml []byte
 
-func (a *tailscaleSTSReconciler) reconcileSTS(ctx context.Context, logger *zap.SugaredLogger, sts *tailscaleSTSConfig, headlessSvc *corev1.Service, authKeySecret string) (*appsv1.StatefulSet, error) {
+func (a *tailscaleSTSReconciler) reconcileSTS(ctx context.Context, logger *zap.SugaredLogger, sts *tailscaleSTSConfig, headlessSvc *corev1.Service, proxySecret, tsConfigHash string) (*appsv1.StatefulSet, error) {
 	var ss appsv1.StatefulSet
 	if sts.ServeConfig != nil {
 		if err := yaml.Unmarshal(userspaceProxyYaml, &ss); err != nil {
@@ -373,30 +400,90 @@ func (a *tailscaleSTSReconciler) reconcileSTS(ctx context.Context, logger *zap.S
 	}
 	container := &ss.Spec.Template.Spec.Containers[0]
 	container.Image = a.proxyImage
+	ss.ObjectMeta = metav1.ObjectMeta{
+		Name:      headlessSvc.Name,
+		Namespace: a.operatorNamespace,
+		Labels:    sts.ChildResourceLabels,
+	}
+	ss.Spec.ServiceName = headlessSvc.Name
+	ss.Spec.Selector = &metav1.LabelSelector{
+		MatchLabels: map[string]string{
+			"app": sts.ParentResourceUID,
+		},
+	}
+	mak.Set(&ss.Spec.Template.Labels, "app", sts.ParentResourceUID)
+
+	// Generic containerboot configuration options.
 	container.Env = append(container.Env,
 		corev1.EnvVar{
 			Name:  "TS_KUBE_SECRET",
-			Value: authKeySecret,
+			Value: proxySecret,
 		},
-		corev1.EnvVar{
+	)
+	if !shouldDoTailscaledDeclarativeConfig(sts) {
+		container.Env = append(container.Env, corev1.EnvVar{
 			Name:  "TS_HOSTNAME",
 			Value: sts.Hostname,
 		})
+		// containerboot currently doesn't have a way to re-read the hostname/ip as
+		// it is passed via an environment variable. So we need to restart the
+		// container when the value changes. We do this by adding an annotation to
+		// the pod template that contains the last value we set.
+		mak.Set(&ss.Spec.Template.Annotations, podAnnotationLastSetHostname, sts.Hostname)
+	}
+	// Configure containeboot to run tailscaled with a configfile read from the state Secret.
+	if shouldDoTailscaledDeclarativeConfig(sts) {
+		mak.Set(&ss.Spec.Template.Annotations, podAnnotationLastSetConfigFileHash, tsConfigHash)
+		ss.Spec.Template.Spec.Volumes = append(ss.Spec.Template.Spec.Volumes, corev1.Volume{
+			Name: "tailscaledconfig",
+			VolumeSource: corev1.VolumeSource{
+				Secret: &corev1.SecretVolumeSource{
+					SecretName: proxySecret,
+					Items: []corev1.KeyToPath{{
+						Key:  tailscaledConfigKey,
+						Path: tailscaledConfigKey,
+					}},
+				},
+			},
+		})
+		container.VolumeMounts = append(container.VolumeMounts, corev1.VolumeMount{
+			Name:      "tailscaledconfig",
+			ReadOnly:  true,
+			MountPath: "/etc/tsconfig",
+		})
+		container.Env = append(container.Env, corev1.EnvVar{
+			Name:  "EXPERIMENTAL_TS_CONFIGFILE_PATH",
+			Value: "/etc/tsconfig/tailscaled",
+		})
+	}
+
+	if a.tsFirewallMode != "" {
+		container.Env = append(container.Env, corev1.EnvVar{
+			Name:  "TS_DEBUG_FIREWALL_MODE",
+			Value: a.tsFirewallMode,
+		})
+	}
+	ss.Spec.Template.Spec.PriorityClassName = a.proxyPriorityClassName
+
+	// Ingress/egress proxy configuration options.
 	if sts.ClusterTargetIP != "" {
 		container.Env = append(container.Env, corev1.EnvVar{
 			Name:  "TS_DEST_IP",
 			Value: sts.ClusterTargetIP,
 		})
+		mak.Set(&ss.Spec.Template.Annotations, podAnnotationLastSetClusterIP, sts.ClusterTargetIP)
 	} else if sts.TailnetTargetIP != "" {
 		container.Env = append(container.Env, corev1.EnvVar{
 			Name:  "TS_TAILNET_TARGET_IP",
 			Value: sts.TailnetTargetIP,
 		})
+		mak.Set(&ss.Spec.Template.Annotations, podAnnotationLastSetTailnetTargetIP, sts.TailnetTargetIP)
 	} else if sts.TailnetTargetFQDN != "" {
 		container.Env = append(container.Env, corev1.EnvVar{
 			Name:  "TS_TAILNET_TARGET_FQDN",
 			Value: sts.TailnetTargetFQDN,
 		})
+		mak.Set(&ss.Spec.Template.Annotations, podAnnotationLastSetTailnetTargetFQDN, sts.TailnetTargetFQDN)
 	} else if sts.ServeConfig != nil {
 		container.Env = append(container.Env, corev1.EnvVar{
 			Name:  "TS_SERVE_CONFIG",
@@ -411,7 +498,7 @@ func (a *tailscaleSTSReconciler) reconcileSTS(ctx context.Context, logger *zap.S
 			Name: "serve-config",
 			VolumeSource: corev1.VolumeSource{
 				Secret: &corev1.SecretVolumeSource{
-					SecretName: authKeySecret,
+					SecretName: proxySecret,
 					Items: []corev1.KeyToPath{{
 						Key:  "serve-config",
 						Path: "serve-config",
@@ -419,56 +506,48 @@ func (a *tailscaleSTSReconciler) reconcileSTS(ctx context.Context, logger *zap.S
 				},
 			},
 		})
-	} else if len(sts.Routes) > 0 {
-		container.Env = append(container.Env, corev1.EnvVar{
-			Name:  "TS_ROUTES",
-			Value: sts.Routes,
-		})
-
 	}
-	if a.tsFirewallMode != "" {
-		container.Env = append(container.Env, corev1.EnvVar{
-			Name:  "TS_DEBUG_FIREWALL_MODE",
-			Value: a.tsFirewallMode,
-		},
-		)
-	}
-	ss.ObjectMeta = metav1.ObjectMeta{
-		Name:      headlessSvc.Name,
-		Namespace: a.operatorNamespace,
-		Labels:    sts.ChildResourceLabels,
-	}
-	ss.Spec.ServiceName = headlessSvc.Name
-	ss.Spec.Selector = &metav1.LabelSelector{
-		MatchLabels: map[string]string{
-			"app": sts.ParentResourceUID,
-		},
-	}
-
-	// containerboot currently doesn't have a way to re-read the hostname/ip as
-	// it is passed via an environment variable. So we need to restart the
-	// container when the value changes. We do this by adding an annotation to
-	// the pod template that contains the last value we set.
-	ss.Spec.Template.Annotations = map[string]string{
-		podAnnotationLastSetHostname: sts.Hostname,
-	}
-	if sts.ClusterTargetIP != "" {
-		ss.Spec.Template.Annotations[podAnnotationLastSetClusterIP] = sts.ClusterTargetIP
-	}
-	if sts.TailnetTargetIP != "" {
-		ss.Spec.Template.Annotations[podAnnotationLastSetTailnetTargetIP] = sts.TailnetTargetIP
-	}
-	if sts.TailnetTargetFQDN != "" {
-		ss.Spec.Template.Annotations[podAnnotationLastSetTailnetTargetFQDN] = sts.TailnetTargetFQDN
-	}
-	ss.Spec.Template.Labels = map[string]string{
-		"app": sts.ParentResourceUID,
-	}
-	ss.Spec.Template.Spec.PriorityClassName = a.proxyPriorityClassName
 	logger.Debugf("reconciling statefulset %s/%s", ss.GetNamespace(), ss.GetName())
 	return createOrUpdate(ctx, a.Client, a.operatorNamespace, &ss, func(s *appsv1.StatefulSet) { s.Spec = ss.Spec })
 }
 
+// tailscaledConfig takes a proxy config, a newly generated auth key if
+// generated and a Secret with the previous proxy state and auth key and
+// produces returns tailscaled configuration and a hash of that configuration.
+func tailscaledConfig(stsC *tailscaleSTSConfig, newAuthkey string, oldSecret *corev1.Secret) ([]byte, string, error) {
+	conf := ipn.ConfigVAlpha{
+		Version:   "alpha0",
+		AcceptDNS: "false",
+		Locked:    "false",
+		Hostname:  &stsC.Hostname,
+	}
+	if stsC.Connector != nil {
+		routes, err := netutil.CalcAdvertiseRoutes(stsC.Connector.routes, stsC.Connector.isExitNode)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, "", fmt.Errorf("error calculating routes: %w", err)
+		}
+		conf.AdvertiseRoutes = routes
+	}
+	if newAuthkey != "" {
+		conf.AuthKey = &newAuthkey
+	} else if oldSecret != nil && len(oldSecret.Data[tailscaledConfigKey]) > 0 { // write to StringData, read from Data as StringData is write-only
+		origConf := &ipn.ConfigVAlpha{}
+		if err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(oldSecret.Data[tailscaledConfigKey]), origConf); err != nil {
+			return nil, "", fmt.Errorf("error unmarshaling previous tailscaled config: %w", err)
+		}
+		conf.AuthKey = origConf.AuthKey
+	}
+	confFileBytes, err := json.Marshal(conf)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, "", fmt.Errorf("error marshaling tailscaled config : %w", err)
+	}
+	hash, err := hashBytes(confFileBytes)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, "", fmt.Errorf("error calculating config hash: %w", err)
+	}
+	return confFileBytes, hash, nil
+}
+
 // ptrObject is a type constraint for pointer types that implement
 // client.Object.
 type ptrObject[T any] interface {
@@ -476,6 +555,24 @@ type ptrObject[T any] interface {
 	*T
 }
 
+// hashBytes produces a hash for the provided bytes that is the same across
+// different invocations of this code. We do not use the
+// tailscale.com/deephash.Hash here because that produces a different hash for
+// the same value in different tailscale builds. The hash we are producing here
+// is used to determine if the container running the Connector Tailscale node
+// needs to be restarted. The container does not need restarting when the only
+// thing that changed is operator version (the hash is also exposed to users via
+// an annotation and might be confusing if it changes without the config having
+// changed).
+func hashBytes(b []byte) (string, error) {
+	h := sha256.New()
+	_, err := h.Write(b)
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("error calculating hash: %w", err)
+	}
+	return fmt.Sprintf("%x", h.Sum(nil)), nil
+}
+
 // createOrUpdate adds obj to the k8s cluster, unless the object already exists,
 // in which case update is called to make changes to it. If update is nil, the
 // existing object is returned unmodified.
@@ -579,3 +676,10 @@ func nameForService(svc *corev1.Service) (string, error) {
 func isValidFirewallMode(m string) bool {
 	return m == "auto" || m == "nftables" || m == "iptables"
 }
+
+// shouldDoTailscaledDeclarativeConfig determines whether the proxy instance
+// should be configured to run tailscaled only with a all config opts passed to
+// tailscaled.
+func shouldDoTailscaledDeclarativeConfig(stsC *tailscaleSTSConfig) bool {
+	return stsC.Connector != nil
+}

cmd/k8s-operator/testutils_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,411 @@
+// Copyright (c) Tailscale Inc & AUTHORS
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-3-Clause
+
+//go:build !plan9
+
+package main
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"encoding/json"
+	"net/netip"
+	"strings"
+	"sync"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/google/go-cmp/cmp"
+	appsv1 "k8s.io/api/apps/v1"
+	corev1 "k8s.io/api/core/v1"
+	apierrors "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/errors"
+	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
+	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/types"
+	"sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/pkg/client"
+	"sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/pkg/reconcile"
+	"tailscale.com/client/tailscale"
+	"tailscale.com/ipn"
+	"tailscale.com/types/ptr"
+	"tailscale.com/util/mak"
+)
+
+// confgOpts contains configuration options for creating cluster resources for
+// Tailscale proxies.
+type configOpts struct {
+	stsName                    string
+	secretName                 string
+	hostname                   string
+	namespace                  string
+	parentType                 string
+	priorityClassName          string
+	firewallMode               string
+	tailnetTargetIP            string
+	tailnetTargetFQDN          string
+	clusterTargetIP            string
+	subnetRoutes               string
+	isExitNode                 bool
+	shouldUseDeclarativeConfig bool // tailscaled in proxy should be configured using config file
+	confFileHash               string
+}
+
+func expectedSTS(opts configOpts) *appsv1.StatefulSet {
+	tsContainer := corev1.Container{
+		Name:  "tailscale",
+		Image: "tailscale/tailscale",
+		Env: []corev1.EnvVar{
+			{Name: "TS_USERSPACE", Value: "false"},
+			{Name: "TS_AUTH_ONCE", Value: "true"},
+			{Name: "TS_KUBE_SECRET", Value: opts.secretName},
+		},
+		SecurityContext: &corev1.SecurityContext{
+			Capabilities: &corev1.Capabilities{
+				Add: []corev1.Capability{"NET_ADMIN"},
+			},
+		},
+		ImagePullPolicy: "Always",
+	}
+	annots := make(map[string]string)
+	var volumes []corev1.Volume
+	if opts.shouldUseDeclarativeConfig {
+		volumes = []corev1.Volume{
+			{
+				Name: "tailscaledconfig",
+				VolumeSource: corev1.VolumeSource{
+					Secret: &corev1.SecretVolumeSource{
+						SecretName: opts.secretName,
+						Items: []corev1.KeyToPath{
+							{
+								Key:  "tailscaled",
+								Path: "tailscaled",
+							},
+						},
+					},
+				},
+			},
+		}
+		tsContainer.VolumeMounts = []corev1.VolumeMount{{
+			Name:      "tailscaledconfig",
+			ReadOnly:  true,
+			MountPath: "/etc/tsconfig",
+		}}
+		tsContainer.Env = append(tsContainer.Env, corev1.EnvVar{
+			Name:  "EXPERIMENTAL_TS_CONFIGFILE_PATH",
+			Value: "/etc/tsconfig/tailscaled",
+		})
+		annots["tailscale.com/operator-last-set-config-file-hash"] = opts.confFileHash
+	} else {
+		tsContainer.Env = append(tsContainer.Env, corev1.EnvVar{Name: "TS_HOSTNAME", Value: opts.hostname})
+		annots["tailscale.com/operator-last-set-hostname"] = opts.hostname
+	}
+	if opts.firewallMode != "" {
+		tsContainer.Env = append(tsContainer.Env, corev1.EnvVar{
+			Name:  "TS_DEBUG_FIREWALL_MODE",
+			Value: opts.firewallMode,
+		})
+	}
+	if opts.tailnetTargetIP != "" {
+		annots["tailscale.com/operator-last-set-ts-tailnet-target-ip"] = opts.tailnetTargetIP
+		tsContainer.Env = append(tsContainer.Env, corev1.EnvVar{
+			Name:  "TS_TAILNET_TARGET_IP",
+			Value: opts.tailnetTargetIP,
+		})
+	} else if opts.tailnetTargetFQDN != "" {
+		annots["tailscale.com/operator-last-set-ts-tailnet-target-fqdn"] = opts.tailnetTargetFQDN
+		tsContainer.Env = append(tsContainer.Env, corev1.EnvVar{
+			Name:  "TS_TAILNET_TARGET_FQDN",
+			Value: opts.tailnetTargetFQDN,
+		})
+
+	} else if opts.clusterTargetIP != "" {
+		tsContainer.Env = append(tsContainer.Env, corev1.EnvVar{
+			Name:  "TS_DEST_IP",
+			Value: opts.clusterTargetIP,
+		})
+		annots["tailscale.com/operator-last-set-cluster-ip"] = opts.clusterTargetIP
+	}
+	return &appsv1.StatefulSet{
+		TypeMeta: metav1.TypeMeta{
+			Kind:       "StatefulSet",
+			APIVersion: "apps/v1",
+		},
+		ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
+			Name:      opts.stsName,
+			Namespace: "operator-ns",
+			Labels: map[string]string{
+				"tailscale.com/managed":              "true",
+				"tailscale.com/parent-resource":      "test",
+				"tailscale.com/parent-resource-ns":   opts.namespace,
+				"tailscale.com/parent-resource-type": opts.parentType,
+			},
+		},
+		Spec: appsv1.StatefulSetSpec{
+			Replicas: ptr.To[int32](1),
+			Selector: &metav1.LabelSelector{
+				MatchLabels: map[string]string{"app": "1234-UID"},
+			},
+			ServiceName: opts.stsName,
+			Template: corev1.PodTemplateSpec{
+				ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
+					Annotations:                annots,
+					DeletionGracePeriodSeconds: ptr.To[int64](10),
+					Labels:                     map[string]string{"app": "1234-UID"},
+				},
+				Spec: corev1.PodSpec{
+					ServiceAccountName: "proxies",
+					PriorityClassName:  opts.priorityClassName,
+					InitContainers: []corev1.Container{
+						{
+							Name:    "sysctler",
+							Image:   "tailscale/tailscale",
+							Command: []string{"/bin/sh"},
+							Args:    []string{"-c", "sysctl -w net.ipv4.ip_forward=1 net.ipv6.conf.all.forwarding=1"},
+							SecurityContext: &corev1.SecurityContext{
+								Privileged: ptr.To(true),
+							},
+						},
+					},
+					Containers: []corev1.Container{tsContainer},
+					Volumes:    volumes,
+				},
+			},
+		},
+	}
+}
+
+func expectedHeadlessService(name string) *corev1.Service {
+	return &corev1.Service{
+		TypeMeta: metav1.TypeMeta{
+			Kind:       "Service",
+			APIVersion: "v1",
+		},
+		ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
+			Name:         name,
+			GenerateName: "ts-test-",
+			Namespace:    "operator-ns",
+			Labels: map[string]string{
+				"tailscale.com/managed":              "true",
+				"tailscale.com/parent-resource":      "test",
+				"tailscale.com/parent-resource-ns":   "default",
+				"tailscale.com/parent-resource-type": "svc",
+			},
+		},
+		Spec: corev1.ServiceSpec{
+			Selector: map[string]string{
+				"app": "1234-UID",
+			},
+			ClusterIP: "None",
+		},
+	}
+}
+
+func expectedSecret(t *testing.T, opts configOpts) *corev1.Secret {
+	t.Helper()
+	labels := map[string]string{
+		"tailscale.com/managed":              "true",
+		"tailscale.com/parent-resource":      "test",
+		"tailscale.com/parent-resource-type": opts.parentType,
+	}
+	s := &corev1.Secret{
+		TypeMeta: metav1.TypeMeta{
+			Kind:       "Secret",
+			APIVersion: "v1",
+		},
+		ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
+			Name:      opts.secretName,
+			Namespace: "operator-ns",
+		},
+	}
+	if !opts.shouldUseDeclarativeConfig {
+		mak.Set(&s.StringData, "authkey", "secret-authkey")
+		labels["tailscale.com/parent-resource-ns"] = opts.namespace
+	} else {
+		conf := &ipn.ConfigVAlpha{
+			Version:   "alpha0",
+			AcceptDNS: "false",
+			Hostname:  &opts.hostname,
+			Locked:    "false",
+			AuthKey:   ptr.To("secret-authkey"),
+		}
+		var routes []netip.Prefix
+		if opts.subnetRoutes != "" || opts.isExitNode {
+			r := opts.subnetRoutes
+			if opts.isExitNode {
+				r = "0.0.0.0/0,::/0," + r
+			}
+			for _, rr := range strings.Split(r, ",") {
+				prefix, err := netip.ParsePrefix(rr)
+				if err != nil {
+					t.Fatal(err)
+				}
+				routes = append(routes, prefix)
+			}
+		}
+		conf.AdvertiseRoutes = routes
+		b, err := json.Marshal(conf)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("error marshalling tailscaled config")
+		}
+		mak.Set(&s.StringData, "tailscaled", string(b))
+		labels["tailscale.com/parent-resource-ns"] = "" // Connector is cluster scoped
+	}
+	s.Labels = labels
+	return s
+}
+
+func findGenName(t *testing.T, client client.Client, ns, name, typ string) (full, noSuffix string) {
+	t.Helper()
+	labels := map[string]string{
+		LabelManaged:         "true",
+		LabelParentName:      name,
+		LabelParentNamespace: ns,
+		LabelParentType:      typ,
+	}
+	s, err := getSingleObject[corev1.Secret](context.Background(), client, "operator-ns", labels)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("finding secret for %q: %v", name, err)
+	}
+	if s == nil {
+		t.Fatalf("no secret found for %q %s %+#v", name, ns, labels)
+	}
+	return s.GetName(), strings.TrimSuffix(s.GetName(), "-0")
+}
+
+func mustCreate(t *testing.T, client client.Client, obj client.Object) {
+	t.Helper()
+	if err := client.Create(context.Background(), obj); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("creating %q: %v", obj.GetName(), err)
+	}
+}
+
+func mustUpdate[T any, O ptrObject[T]](t *testing.T, client client.Client, ns, name string, update func(O)) {
+	t.Helper()
+	obj := O(new(T))
+	if err := client.Get(context.Background(), types.NamespacedName{
+		Name:      name,
+		Namespace: ns,
+	}, obj); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("getting %q: %v", name, err)
+	}
+	update(obj)
+	if err := client.Update(context.Background(), obj); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("updating %q: %v", name, err)
+	}
+}
+
+func mustUpdateStatus[T any, O ptrObject[T]](t *testing.T, client client.Client, ns, name string, update func(O)) {
+	t.Helper()
+	obj := O(new(T))
+	if err := client.Get(context.Background(), types.NamespacedName{
+		Name:      name,
+		Namespace: ns,
+	}, obj); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("getting %q: %v", name, err)
+	}
+	update(obj)
+	if err := client.Status().Update(context.Background(), obj); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("updating %q: %v", name, err)
+	}
+}
+
+func expectEqual[T any, O ptrObject[T]](t *testing.T, client client.Client, want O) {
+	t.Helper()
+	got := O(new(T))
+	if err := client.Get(context.Background(), types.NamespacedName{
+		Name:      want.GetName(),
+		Namespace: want.GetNamespace(),
+	}, got); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("getting %q: %v", want.GetName(), err)
+	}
+	// The resource version changes eagerly whenever the operator does even a
+	// no-op update. Asserting a specific value leads to overly brittle tests,
+	// so just remove it from both got and want.
+	got.SetResourceVersion("")
+	want.SetResourceVersion("")
+	if diff := cmp.Diff(got, want); diff != "" {
+		t.Fatalf("unexpected object (-got +want):\n%s", diff)
+	}
+}
+
+func expectMissing[T any, O ptrObject[T]](t *testing.T, client client.Client, ns, name string) {
+	t.Helper()
+	obj := O(new(T))
+	if err := client.Get(context.Background(), types.NamespacedName{
+		Name:      name,
+		Namespace: ns,
+	}, obj); !apierrors.IsNotFound(err) {
+		t.Fatalf("object %s/%s unexpectedly present, wanted missing", ns, name)
+	}
+}
+
+func expectReconciled(t *testing.T, sr reconcile.Reconciler, ns, name string) {
+	t.Helper()
+	req := reconcile.Request{
+		NamespacedName: types.NamespacedName{
+			Namespace: ns,
+			Name:      name,
+		},
+	}
+	res, err := sr.Reconcile(context.Background(), req)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Reconcile: unexpected error: %v", err)
+	}
+	if res.Requeue {
+		t.Fatalf("unexpected immediate requeue")
+	}
+	if res.RequeueAfter != 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("unexpected timed requeue (%v)", res.RequeueAfter)
+	}
+}
+
+func expectRequeue(t *testing.T, sr reconcile.Reconciler, ns, name string) {
+	t.Helper()
+	req := reconcile.Request{
+		NamespacedName: types.NamespacedName{
+			Name:      name,
+			Namespace: ns,
+		},
+	}
+	res, err := sr.Reconcile(context.Background(), req)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Reconcile: unexpected error: %v", err)
+	}
+	if res.RequeueAfter == 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("expected timed requeue, got success")
+	}
+}
+
+type fakeTSClient struct {
+	sync.Mutex
+	keyRequests []tailscale.KeyCapabilities
+	deleted     []string
+}
+
+func (c *fakeTSClient) CreateKey(ctx context.Context, caps tailscale.KeyCapabilities) (string, *tailscale.Key, error) {
+	c.Lock()
+	defer c.Unlock()
+	c.keyRequests = append(c.keyRequests, caps)
+	k := &tailscale.Key{
+		ID:           "key",
+		Created:      time.Now(),
+		Capabilities: caps,
+	}
+	return "secret-authkey", k, nil
+}
+
+func (c *fakeTSClient) DeleteDevice(ctx context.Context, deviceID string) error {
+	c.Lock()
+	defer c.Unlock()
+	c.deleted = append(c.deleted, deviceID)
+	return nil
+}
+
+func (c *fakeTSClient) KeyRequests() []tailscale.KeyCapabilities {
+	c.Lock()
+	defer c.Unlock()
+	return c.keyRequests
+}
+
+func (c *fakeTSClient) Deleted() []string {
+	c.Lock()
+	defer c.Unlock()
+	return c.deleted
+}

k8s-operator/apis/v1alpha1/types_connector.go

@@ -6,6 +6,9 @@
 package v1alpha1
 
 import (
+	"fmt"
+	"strings"
+
 	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
 )
 
@@ -17,17 +20,19 @@
 // +kubebuilder:object:root=true
 // +kubebuilder:subresource:status
 // +kubebuilder:resource:scope=Cluster,shortName=cn
-// +kubebuilder:printcolumn:name="SubnetRoutes",type="string",JSONPath=`.status.subnetRouter.routes`,description="Cluster CIDR ranges exposed to tailnet via subnet router"
-// +kubebuilder:printcolumn:name="Status",type="string",JSONPath=`.status.conditions[?(@.type == "ConnectorReady")].reason`,description="Status of the components deployed by the connector"
+// +kubebuilder:printcolumn:name="SubnetRoutes",type="string",JSONPath=`.status.subnetRoutes`,description="CIDR ranges exposed to tailnet by a subnet router defined via this Connector instance."
+// +kubebuilder:printcolumn:name="IsExitNode",type="string",JSONPath=`.status.isExitNode`,description="Whether this Connector instance defines an exit node."
+// +kubebuilder:printcolumn:name="Status",type="string",JSONPath=`.status.conditions[?(@.type == "ConnectorReady")].reason`,description="Status of the deployed Connector resources."
 
 type Connector struct {
 	metav1.TypeMeta   `json:",inline"`
 	metav1.ObjectMeta `json:"metadata,omitempty"`
 
-	// Desired state of the Connector resource.
+	// ConnectorSpec describes the desired Tailscale component.
 	Spec ConnectorSpec `json:"spec"`
 
-	// Status of the Connector. This is set and managed by the Tailscale operator.
+	// ConnectorStatus describes the status of the Connector. This is set
+	// and managed by the Tailscale operator.
 	// +optional
 	Status ConnectorStatus `json:"status"`
 }
@@ -41,40 +46,73 @@ type ConnectorList struct {
 	Items []Connector `json:"items"`
 }
 
-// ConnectorSpec defines the desired state of a ConnectorSpec.
+// ConnectorSpec describes a Tailscale node to be deployed in the cluster.
+// +kubebuilder:validation:XValidation:rule="has(self.subnetRouter) || self.exitNode == true",message="A Connector needs to be either an exit node or a subnet router, or both."
 type ConnectorSpec struct {
-	// SubnetRouter configures a Tailscale subnet router to be deployed in
-	// the cluster. If unset no subnet router will be deployed.
+	// Tags that the Tailscale node will be tagged with.
+	// Defaults to [tag:k8s].
+	// To autoapprove the subnet routes or exit node defined by a Connector,
+	// you can configure Tailscale ACLs to give these tags the necessary
+	// permissions.
+	// See https://tailscale.com/kb/1018/acls/#auto-approvers-for-routes-and-exit-nodes.
+	// If you specify custom tags here, you must also make the operator an owner of these tags.
+	// See  https://tailscale.com/kb/1236/kubernetes-operator/#setting-up-the-kubernetes-operator.
+	// Tags cannot be changed once a Connector node has been created.
+	// Tag values must be in form ^tag:[a-zA-Z][a-zA-Z0-9-]*$.
+	// +optional
+	Tags Tags `json:"tags,omitempty"`
+	// Hostname is the tailnet hostname that should be assigned to the
+	// Connector node. If unset, hostname defaults to <connector
+	// name>-connector. Hostname can contain lower case letters, numbers and
+	// dashes, it must not start or end with a dash and must be between 2
+	// and 63 characters long.
+	// +optional
+	Hostname Hostname `json:"hostname,omitempty"`
+	// SubnetRouter defines subnet routes that the Connector node should
+	// expose to tailnet. If unset, none are exposed.
 	// https://tailscale.com/kb/1019/subnets/
+	// +optional
 	SubnetRouter *SubnetRouter `json:"subnetRouter"`
+	// ExitNode defines whether the Connector node should act as a
+	// Tailscale exit node. Defaults to false.
+	// https://tailscale.com/kb/1103/exit-nodes
+	// +optional
+	ExitNode bool `json:"exitNode"`
 }
 
-// SubnetRouter describes a subnet router.
-// +kubebuilder:validation:XValidation:rule="has(self.tags) == has(oldSelf.tags)",message="Subnetrouter tags cannot be changed. Delete and redeploy the Connector if you need to change it."
+// SubnetRouter defines subnet routes that should be exposed to tailnet via a
+// Connector node.
 type SubnetRouter struct {
-	// Routes refer to in-cluster CIDRs that the subnet router should make
+	// AdvertiseRoutes refer to CIDRs that the subnet router should make
 	// available. Route values must be strings that represent a valid IPv4
 	// or IPv6 CIDR range. Values can be Tailscale 4via6 subnet routes.
 	// https://tailscale.com/kb/1201/4via6-subnets/
-	Routes []Route `json:"routes"`
-	// Tags that the Tailscale node will be tagged with. If you want the
-	// subnet router to be autoapproved, you can configure Tailscale ACLs to
-	// autoapprove the subnetrouter's CIDRs for these tags.
-	// See https://tailscale.com/kb/1018/acls/#auto-approvers-for-routes-and-exit-nodes
-	// Defaults to tag:k8s.
-	// If you specify custom tags here, you must also make tag:k8s-operator owner of the custom tag.
-	// See  https://tailscale.com/kb/1236/kubernetes-operator/#setting-up-the-kubernetes-operator.
-	// Tags cannot be changed once a Connector has been created.
-	// Tag values must be in form ^tag:[a-zA-Z][a-zA-Z0-9-]*$.
-	// +optional
-	Tags []Tag `json:"tags,omitempty"`
-	// Hostname is the tailnet hostname that should be assigned to the
-	// subnet router node. If unset hostname is defaulted to <connector
-	// name>-subnetrouter. Hostname can contain lower case letters, numbers
-	// and dashes, it must not start or end with a dash and must be between
-	// 2 and 63 characters long.
-	// +optional
-	Hostname Hostname `json:"hostname,omitempty"`
+	AdvertiseRoutes Routes `json:"advertiseRoutes"`
+}
+
+type Tags []Tag
+
+func (tags Tags) Stringify() []string {
+	stringTags := make([]string, len(tags))
+	for i, t := range tags {
+		stringTags[i] = string(t)
+	}
+	return stringTags
+}
+
+// +kubebuilder:validation:MinItems=1
+type Routes []Route
+
+func (routes Routes) Stringify() string {
+	if len(routes) < 1 {
+		return ""
+	}
+	var sb strings.Builder
+	sb.WriteString(string(routes[0]))
+	for _, r := range routes[1:] {
+		sb.WriteString(fmt.Sprintf(",%s", r))
+	}
+	return sb.String()
 }
 
 // +kubebuilder:validation:Type=string
@@ -91,28 +129,19 @@ type SubnetRouter struct {
 
 // ConnectorStatus defines the observed state of the Connector.
 type ConnectorStatus struct {
-
 	// List of status conditions to indicate the status of the Connector.
 	// Known condition types are `ConnectorReady`.
 	// +listType=map
 	// +listMapKey=type
 	// +optional
 	Conditions []ConnectorCondition `json:"conditions"`
-	// SubnetRouter status is the current status of a subnet router
+	// SubnetRoutes are the routes currently exposed to tailnet via this
+	// Connector instance.
 	// +optional
-	SubnetRouter *SubnetRouterStatus `json:"subnetRouter"`
-}
-
-// SubnetRouter status is the current status of a subnet router if deployed
-type SubnetRouterStatus struct {
-	// Routes are the CIDRs currently exposed via subnet router
-	Routes string `json:"routes"`
-	// Ready is the ready status of the subnet router
-	Ready metav1.ConditionStatus `json:"ready"`
-	// Reason is the reason for the subnet router status
-	Reason string `json:"reason"`
-	// Message is a more verbose reason for the current subnet router status
-	Message string `json:"message"`
+	SubnetRoutes string `json:"subnetRoutes"`
+	// IsExitNode is set to true if the Connector acts as an exit node.
+	// +optional
+	IsExitNode bool `json:"isExitNode"`
 }
 
 // ConnectorCondition contains condition information for a Connector.
@@ -147,7 +176,7 @@ type ConnectorCondition struct {
 	ObservedGeneration int64 `json:"observedGeneration,omitempty"`
 }
 
-// ConnectorConditionType represents a Connector condition type
+// ConnectorConditionType represents a Connector condition type.
 type ConnectorConditionType string
 
 const (

k8s-operator/apis/v1alpha1/zz_generated.deepcopy.go

@@ -92,6 +92,11 @@ func (in *ConnectorList) DeepCopyObject() runtime.Object {
 // DeepCopyInto is an autogenerated deepcopy function, copying the receiver, writing into out. in must be non-nil.
 func (in *ConnectorSpec) DeepCopyInto(out *ConnectorSpec) {
 	*out = *in
+	if in.Tags != nil {
+		in, out := &in.Tags, &out.Tags
+		*out = make(Tags, len(*in))
+		copy(*out, *in)
+	}
 	if in.SubnetRouter != nil {
 		in, out := &in.SubnetRouter, &out.SubnetRouter
 		*out = new(SubnetRouter)
@@ -119,11 +124,6 @@ func (in *ConnectorStatus) DeepCopyInto(out *ConnectorStatus) {
 			(*in)[i].DeepCopyInto(&(*out)[i])
 		}
 	}
-	if in.SubnetRouter != nil {
-		in, out := &in.SubnetRouter, &out.SubnetRouter
-		*out = new(SubnetRouterStatus)
-		**out = **in
-	}
 }
 
 // DeepCopy is an autogenerated deepcopy function, copying the receiver, creating a new ConnectorStatus.
@@ -137,16 +137,30 @@ func (in *ConnectorStatus) DeepCopy() *ConnectorStatus {
 }
 
 // DeepCopyInto is an autogenerated deepcopy function, copying the receiver, writing into out. in must be non-nil.
-func (in *SubnetRouter) DeepCopyInto(out *SubnetRouter) {
-	*out = *in
-	if in.Routes != nil {
-		in, out := &in.Routes, &out.Routes
-		*out = make([]Route, len(*in))
+func (in Routes) DeepCopyInto(out *Routes) {
+	{
+		in := &in
+		*out = make(Routes, len(*in))
 		copy(*out, *in)
 	}
-	if in.Tags != nil {
-		in, out := &in.Tags, &out.Tags
-		*out = make([]Tag, len(*in))
+}
+
+// DeepCopy is an autogenerated deepcopy function, copying the receiver, creating a new Routes.
+func (in Routes) DeepCopy() Routes {
+	if in == nil {
+		return nil
+	}
+	out := new(Routes)
+	in.DeepCopyInto(out)
+	return *out
+}
+
+// DeepCopyInto is an autogenerated deepcopy function, copying the receiver, writing into out. in must be non-nil.
+func (in *SubnetRouter) DeepCopyInto(out *SubnetRouter) {
+	*out = *in
+	if in.AdvertiseRoutes != nil {
+		in, out := &in.AdvertiseRoutes, &out.AdvertiseRoutes
+		*out = make(Routes, len(*in))
 		copy(*out, *in)
 	}
 }
@@ -162,16 +176,20 @@ func (in *SubnetRouter) DeepCopy() *SubnetRouter {
 }
 
 // DeepCopyInto is an autogenerated deepcopy function, copying the receiver, writing into out. in must be non-nil.
-func (in *SubnetRouterStatus) DeepCopyInto(out *SubnetRouterStatus) {
-	*out = *in
+func (in Tags) DeepCopyInto(out *Tags) {
+	{
+		in := &in
+		*out = make(Tags, len(*in))
+		copy(*out, *in)
+	}
 }
 
-// DeepCopy is an autogenerated deepcopy function, copying the receiver, creating a new SubnetRouterStatus.
-func (in *SubnetRouterStatus) DeepCopy() *SubnetRouterStatus {
+// DeepCopy is an autogenerated deepcopy function, copying the receiver, creating a new Tags.
+func (in Tags) DeepCopy() Tags {
 	if in == nil {
 		return nil
 	}
-	out := new(SubnetRouterStatus)
+	out := new(Tags)
 	in.DeepCopyInto(out)
-	return out
+	return *out
 }