Tailscale: How it works

Understand the entire Tailscale system, how it works, how we built it, and its benefits compared to legacy VPNs. Use this article as a guide to quickly build your own Tailscale replacement.

Trying Tailscale.

Like most folks working in infrastructure engineering in 2014, I really enjoyed Google’s BeyondCorp whitepaper. My foremost personal interest was grounded in the fact that Uber’s contemporaneous security implementation didn’t include a VPN, so it was interesting to see a well-thought description of fostering security without over-reliance on a hardened network for employee devices. I had a second, longer-term, personal interest as well, which was never again having to argue with a coworker about why they needed to log into the VPN before accessing a secure resource.

Headscale

An open source, self-hosted implementation of the Tailscale control server.

The New Internet: Tailscale's Vision for the Future of Connectivity

Tailscale's CEO, Avery Pennarun, explores the future of the internet, discussing the evolution of networking, the issues with today's complex systems, and how Tailscale is simplifying connectivity for developers with a new, more efficient approach. Discover the vision for a New Internet.

The New Internet: Tailscale's Vision for the Future of Connectivity

Tailscale's CEO, Avery Pennarun, explores the future of the internet, discussing the evolution of networking, the issues with today's complex systems, and how Tailscale is simplifying connectivity for developers with a new, more efficient approach. Discover the vision for a New Internet.

Tailscale Funnel

Securely route internet traffic to local services using Tailscale Funnel.

Tailscale Services

Securely connect to and manage access to your internal resources using Tailscale Services.

Tailscale | Secure Connectivity for AI, IoT & Multi-Cloud

The connectivity platform for devs, IT, and security teams. Zero Trust identity-based access that deploys in minutes and scales to every resource. Start free.

How we built a lightweight identity provider using Tailscale's tools

How tsnet, application security grants, and Funnel combined to build a secure authorization app.

Open Source Startup: Why We Give Away All Our IP 🐝

Interview with Richard D. Bartlett, Loomio cofounder. Reposted with permission from Straight Up, a monthly startup resource that tackles…

The Tailscale node you mail to your parents

Securely connect to anything on the internet with Tailscale. Built on WireGuard®️, Tailscale enables you to make finely configurable connections, secured end-to-end according to zero trust principles, between any resources on any infrastructure.

Tailworm

The design choices of the open source tailscale and headscale software have created an environment ripe for risk, while marketing security as its design and purpose. Choices have been made to move away from security-in-depth, removing layers of authentication, and replacing daemons such as OpenSSH which employ privilege-separation with a highly-privileged process. Other findings include broader-than-advertised network security boundaries, which seems to be legitimate bugs, but the missing security and isolation is precisely what users are advertised by these tools.