16. Installing Tailscale – For remote access

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16. Installing Tailscale – For remote access

Ok so now I want to be able to access my NAS – Proxmox from anywhere and this is where Tailscale comes in handy. Example, If for some reason I need to check the status of my Proxmox I can use my phone to connect to Proxmox and have a look. The great part is that I do not need to enter the full IP address in the web browser I just use the NAS name instead which will end up being https://pve-n355:8006.

Installation

This will be the end result:

  • Secure remote access from anywhere.
  • No port forwarding on the router.
  • No other DNS work arounds.
  • Encrypted end-to-end.

1. Log in to the Proxmox host shell

You remember how to log into Proxmox right? Well do this and open the shell again so we can make some check prior to installing Tailscale onto Proxmox.

Make sure you are a ROOT user – Overall owner of the system according to permissions.

whoami

The output should show root.

2. Install the required base packages

Run these two commands.

apt update
apt install -y curl gnupg

With any luck the gnupg should be up to date already.

3. Add the Tailscale signing key

Run this command. There will be no output.

curl -fsSL https://pkgs.tailscale.com/stable/debian/bookworm.noarmor.gpg \
| tee /usr/share/keyrings/tailscale-archive-keyring.gpg > /dev/null

4. Add the Tailscale repository

nano /etc/apt/sources.list.d/tailscale.list

Paste in the below exactly and then save and close the nano.

deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/tailscale-archive-keyring.gpg] https://pkgs.tailscale.com/stable/debian bookworm main

5. Install Tailscale software

Run both of these commands.

apt update
apt install -y tailscale

Make sure it installed properly by checking to see if there is a version number.

tailscale version

You will see a long version and a go version then you know it is installed.

6. Start the Tailscale service

Run both of these commands.

systemctl enable tailscaled
systemctl start tailscaled

Check to see if Tailscale is actually running.

systemctl status tailscaled

The output will show Active: active (running) since…. within the body.

7. Join the Proxmox host with the Tailscale network

They need to work together now, run this command.

tailscale up

You will see the shell output some instructions looking like..

To authenticate, visit:
https://login.tailscale.com/a/xxxxxxxxxxxx

8. Authenticate your devices in your web browser

You need to use the address given to you in step 7 and enter it into you web browser, just like you did to access Proxmox for the first time.

Next you need to login to Tailscale via a method shown in the web browser, eg Google. Once logged in your device should connect but you need two devices to work. Sometimes this is tricky and you need to try things like logging in again etc to see your device approved. Once you see the NAS approved you will see a panel on the right showing the NAS name and an IP address that was created for the connection via Tailscale. You do not need to install the Linux again vie the command they provide, you already installed it. But you do need to install Tailscale on a second device and in my case my development pc which is running Windows.

Click on the Windows button and get the address shown and navigate to that address in you web browser and download and install Tailscale.

At some stage after connecting two devices you will need to navigate to https://login.tailscale.com/admin/dns and Make sure you are on the DNS tab.

Look for the MagicDNS and it should be on. This will turn your NAS IP address 192.168.0.1 into pve-n355. I can now login to my NAS Proxmox from anywhere using https://pve-n355:8006. If you saw Enable MagicDNS that means you are required to turn it on via the button.

9. Test out remote access.

Type out the new magic address (https://pve-n355:8006) and you will log into Proxmox again. I opened Tailscale web page on my phone and logged in and then installed Tailscale to my Android phone (added a new device) and can now access Proxmox fro my phone from anywhere. This is a very basic app and not the same as the desktop web login.

The last part of the approved devices can sometimes be quirky but when it shows it is great. If you have any issues just web search your issue and look at different workarounds. Tailscale is reasonably bullet proof in my opinion but there is a lot more it does that I don’t use.

Next post will be about installing the TrueNAS Scale VM onto Proxmox and then doing what is called a Passthrough. Keep reading to see what all of this means.

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