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Tailscale

Tailscale is a zero-configuration VPN that makes it easy to connect your devices securely. It creates a secure mesh network between your devices, allowing them to communicate with each other without the need for port forwarding or complex network configurations.

You can use Tailscale to access your homelab services from anywhere, securely and privately.

You can run Tailscale in a Docker container, which simplifies the setup and management of your Tailscale network. Below is an example of how to set up Tailscale using Docker Compose.

compose.yaml
services:
  tailscale:
    image: tailscale/tailscale:latest
    container_name: tailscaled
    volumes:
      - /opt/containers/tailscale/data:/var/lib
      - /dev/net/tun:/dev/net/tun
    environment:
      - TS_HOSTNAME=${TAILSCALE_HOSTNAME} # Usually not necessary for your hostname to be the same name on the tailscale network
      - TS_AUTHKEY=${TAILSCALE_TS_AUTHKEY} # Generate auth keys here: https://login.tailscale.com/admin/settings/keys
      - TS_ROUTES=${TAILSCALE_TS_ROUTES} # Creates a subnet router for Tailscale. Use your subnet's CIDR in the form: 192.168.1.0/24
      - TS_SOCKET=/var/run/tailscale/tailscaled.sock # Specifying the /var/lib/tailscale/tailscaled.sock location allows use of standard Tailscale commands
      - TS_EXTRA_ARGS=--advertise-exit-node # Allows the container to be used as an exit node
      - TS_STATE_DIR=/var/lib/tailscale # Required to create a persistent container state that will survive reboots
    # - TS_ACCEPT_DNS=${TS_ACCEPT_DNS} # Set to false for Pi-hole Docker setups
    cap_add:
      - NET_ADMIN
      - NET_RAW
    restart: unless-stopped
    network_mode: host

Configuration

Section titled “Configuration”

You can configure Tailscale by setting environment variables in the Docker Compose file. The most important variables are:

  • TS_AUTHKEY: This is the authentication key that allows the container to connect to your Tailscale network. You can generate this key from the Tailscale admin console.
  • TS_ROUTES: This variable allows you to specify the routes that Tailscale should advertise. For example, if your home network is `
  • TS_EXTRA_ARGS: This variable allows you to pass additional arguments to the Tailscale daemon. For example, you can use --advertise-exit-node to allow the container to be used as an exit node.
References