Four Sophisticated Ways to Put a Service on Your Tailnet

Introduction

• Tailscale allows connecting services like dashboards to a tailnet for remote access.
• This guide explores four methods using Tailscale, organized by increasing sophistication.

Method 1: Install Tailscale on the Device or Subnet

• Concept: Connect using a hostname and port number.
  • Suitable for LAN setups or specific devices like Raspberry Pi.
  • Example: Service accessible via rpi:8000.

Using a Subnet Router

• Alternative: Use a subnet router if Tailscale can't be installed directly on the device.
  • Routes are advertised through another device.
  • Address might be 192.168.42.55:8000.

Method 2: Install Tailscale and Use Serve

• Enhancement: With Tailscale serve, improve service accessibility.
  • Benefits:
    • Automatic HTTPS and TLS support.
    • Simplifies access by proxying to port 443.
    • Access to Tailscale identity headers for user customization.

Integration with Funnel

• Service can be made publicly available with additional commands.
• Address example: rpi.pango-lin.ts.net.

Method 3: Service in a Container with Tailscale Sidecar

• Advanced Setup: Service runs in a Docker container with a Tailscale sidecar.
  • Service receives its own tailnet IP and domain.
  • Improves ACL management and network architecture.
  • Example address: dashboard.pango-lin.ts.net.

Implementation Tips

• Use a dedicated Tailscale sidecar per service.
• Tutorials available, e.g., for Docker Compose.
• TsD Proxy for managing multiple containers with a single Tailscale instance.

Method 4: Integrate Tailscale with tsnet

• Deep Integration: Use the Go library, tsnet, for native Tailscale capabilities.
  • Offers extensive flexibility and configuration.
  • Requires coding in Go.
  • Examples: Internal tools like link-shortening and secrets management apps.

Future Developments

• Plans to support more programming languages, currently experimental.

Conclusion

• Tailscale offers flexibility for different network configurations.
• Users can mix and match approaches as needed or upgrade incrementally.