An open source, self-hosted implementation of the Tailscale control server
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Kristoffer Dalby c8ebbede54
Simplify map session management (#1931)
This PR removes the complicated session management introduced in https://github.com/juanfont/headscale/pull/1791 which kept track of the sessions in a map, in addition to the channel already kept track of in the notifier.

Instead of trying to close the mapsession, it will now be replaced by the new one and closed after so all new updates goes to the right place.

The map session serve function is also split into a streaming and a non-streaming version for better readability.

RemoveNode in the notifier will not remove a node if the channel is not matching the one that has been passed (e.g. it has been replaced with a new one).

A new tuning parameter has been added to added to set timeout before the notifier gives up to send an update to a node.

Add a keep alive resetter so we wait with sending keep alives if a node has just received an update.

In addition it adds a bunch of env debug flags that can be set:

- `HEADSCALE_DEBUG_HIGH_CARDINALITY_METRICS`: make certain metrics include per node.id, not recommended to use in prod. 
- `HEADSCALE_DEBUG_PROFILING_ENABLED`: activate tracing 
- `HEADSCALE_DEBUG_PROFILING_PATH`: where to store traces 
- `HEADSCALE_DEBUG_DUMP_CONFIG`: calls `spew.Dump` on the config object startup
- `HEADSCALE_DEBUG_DEADLOCK`: enable go-deadlock to dump goroutines if it looks like a deadlock has occured, enabled in integration tests.

Signed-off-by: Kristoffer Dalby <kristoffer@tailscale.com>
2024-05-24 10:15:34 +02:00
.github fix preauth key logging in as previous user (#1920) 2024-05-02 11:53:16 +02:00
cmd Initialize log config earlier to prevent trace messages being printed early on (#1939) 2024-05-15 20:40:30 -04:00
docs Fix typos (#1860) 2024-05-19 23:49:27 +02:00
gen Migrate IP fields in database to dedicated columns (#1869) 2024-04-17 07:03:06 +02:00
hscontrol Simplify map session management (#1931) 2024-05-24 10:15:34 +02:00
integration Simplify map session management (#1931) 2024-05-24 10:15:34 +02:00
proto Migrate IP fields in database to dedicated columns (#1869) 2024-04-17 07:03:06 +02:00
.dockerignore Added integration tests for the embedded DERP server 2022-03-05 19:34:06 +01:00
.envrc Add direnv flake support 2022-03-19 09:23:03 +00:00
.gitignore ensure online status and route changes are propagated (#1564) 2023-12-09 18:09:24 +01:00
.golangci.yaml add annoying linter to golangci 2023-09-19 10:20:21 -05:00
.goreleaser.yml move debug image to distroless (#1950) 2024-05-19 11:17:37 +02:00
.prettierignore Fix/improve documentation formatting (#1575) 2024-03-22 19:55:20 +01:00
CHANGELOG.md Fix typos (#1860) 2024-05-19 23:49:27 +02:00
CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md Prettier 2022-08-18 22:32:53 +00:00
CONTRIBUTING.md Apply suggestions from code review 2024-04-29 23:04:02 +02:00
Dockerfile.debug remove multistep build, build go last, allowing cached build layers (#1903) 2024-04-24 07:44:07 +02:00
Dockerfile.tailscale-HEAD Simplify map session management (#1931) 2024-05-24 10:15:34 +02:00
LICENSE Initial commit 2020-06-21 11:21:07 +02:00
Makefile Restore foreign keys and add constraints (#1562) 2024-05-15 20:40:14 -04:00
README.md Fix typos (#1860) 2024-05-19 23:49:27 +02:00
buf.gen.yaml Create an initial gRPC service 2021-10-26 20:37:37 +00:00
config-example.yaml Fix typos (#1860) 2024-05-19 23:49:27 +02:00
derp-example.yaml Fix key name about derp port 2022-04-10 09:53:27 +08:00
flake.lock flake.lock: Update (#1897) 2024-05-16 14:01:34 +00:00
flake.nix Simplify map session management (#1931) 2024-05-24 10:15:34 +02:00
go.mod Simplify map session management (#1931) 2024-05-24 10:15:34 +02:00
go.sum Simplify map session management (#1931) 2024-05-24 10:15:34 +02:00
mkdocs.yml Fix Github Actions docs pipeline (#1622) 2023-11-29 15:11:00 +01:00
swagger.go move swagger to root for now 2023-05-10 20:47:51 +02:00

README.md

headscale logo

ci

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

Join our Discord server for a chat.

Note: Always select the same GitHub tag as the released version you use to ensure you have the correct example configuration and documentation. The main branch might contain unreleased changes.

What is Tailscale

Tailscale is a modern VPN built on top of Wireguard. It works like an overlay network between the computers of your networks - using NAT traversal.

Everything in Tailscale is Open Source, except the GUI clients for proprietary OS (Windows and macOS/iOS), and the control server.

The control server works as an exchange point of Wireguard public keys for the nodes in the Tailscale network. It assigns the IP addresses of the clients, creates the boundaries between each user, enables sharing machines between users, and exposes the advertised routes of your nodes.

A Tailscale network (tailnet) is private network which Tailscale assigns to a user in terms of private users or an organisation.

Design goal

Headscale aims to implement a self-hosted, open source alternative to the Tailscale control server. Headscale's goal is to provide self-hosters and hobbyists with an open-source server they can use for their projects and labs. It implements a narrow scope, a single Tailnet, suitable for a personal use, or a small open-source organisation.

Supporting Headscale

If you like headscale and find it useful, there is a sponsorship and donation buttons available in the repo.

Features

  • Full "base" support of Tailscale's features
  • Configurable DNS
  • Node registration
    • Single-Sign-On (via Open ID Connect)
    • Pre authenticated key
  • Taildrop (File Sharing)
  • Access control lists
  • MagicDNS
  • Support for multiple IP ranges in the tailnet
  • Dual stack (IPv4 and IPv6)
  • Routing advertising (including exit nodes)
  • Ephemeral nodes
  • Embedded DERP server

Client OS support

OS Supports headscale
Linux Yes
OpenBSD Yes
FreeBSD Yes
macOS Yes (see /apple on your headscale for more information)
Windows Yes docs
Android Yes docs
iOS Yes docs

Running headscale

Please note that we do not support nor encourage the use of reverse proxies and container to run Headscale.

Please have a look at the documentation.

Talks

Disclaimer

This project is not associated with Tailscale Inc.

However, one of the active maintainers for Headscale is employed by Tailscale and he is allowed to spend work hours contributing to the project. Contributions from this maintainer are reviewed by other maintainers.

The maintainers work together on setting the direction for the project. The underlying principle is to serve the community of self-hosters, enthusiasts and hobbyists - while having a sustainable project.

Contributing

Please read the CONTRIBUTING.md file.

Requirements

To contribute to headscale you would need the latest version of Go and Buf(Protobuf generator).

We recommend using Nix to setup a development environment. This can be done with nix develop, which will install the tools and give you a shell. This guarantees that you will have the same dev env as headscale maintainers.

Code style

To ensure we have some consistency with a growing number of contributions, this project has adopted linting and style/formatting rules:

The Go code is linted with golangci-lint and formatted with golines (width 88) and gofumpt. Please configure your editor to run the tools while developing and make sure to run make lint and make fmt before committing any code.

The Proto code is linted with buf and formatted with clang-format.

The rest (Markdown, YAML, etc) is formatted with prettier.

Check out the .golangci.yaml and Makefile to see the specific configuration.

Install development tools

  • Go
  • Buf
  • Protobuf tools

Install and activate:

nix develop

Testing and building

Some parts of the project require the generation of Go code from Protobuf (if changes are made in proto/) and it must be (re-)generated with:

make generate

Note: Please check in changes from gen/ in a separate commit to make it easier to review.

To run the tests:

make test

To build the program:

nix build

or

make build

Contributors

Made with contrib.rocks.