Integrate with Tailscale

What is Tailscale

Tailscale is a mesh VPN service that creates secure, encrypted, peer-to-peer connections between devices across different networks using the WireGuard protocol.

-- https://tailscale.com

Preparation

The following placeholders are used in this guide:

• authentik.company is the FQDN of the authentik installation.

:::info Tailscale requires a properly configured WebFinger endpoint at .well-known/webfinger on the domain used for your email. Set this up according to your web server or application specifications.

Use this JSON template for your WebFinger response:

{
    "links": [
        {
            "href": "https://authentik.company/application/o/<application_slug>/",
            "rel": "http://openid.net/specs/connect/1.0/issuer"
        }
    ],
    "subject": "acct:[email protected]"
}

Important: Replace [email protected] with the administrator email that you will use when creating your Tailnet. The domain in the email address must match the domain where the WebFinger endpoint is served and the domain you will use for Tailscale. :::

:::info This documentation lists only the settings that you need to change from their default values. Be aware that any changes other than those explicitly mentioned in this guide could cause issues accessing your application. :::

authentik configuration

To support the integration of Tailscale with authentik, you need to create an application/provider pair in authentik.

Create an application and provider in authentik

1. Log in to authentik as an administrator and open the authentik Admin interface.

2. Navigate to Applications > Applications and click Create with Provider to create an application and provider pair. (Alternatively you can first create a provider separately, then create the application and connect it with the provider.)

   • Application: provide a descriptive name, an optional group for the type of application, the policy engine mode, and optional UI settings.
   • Choose a Provider type: select OAuth2/OpenID Connect as the provider type.
   • Configure the Provider: provide a name (or accept the auto-provided name), the authorization flow to use for this provider, and the following required configurations.
     • Note the Client ID and Client Secret values because they will be required later.
     • Set a Strict redirect URI to https://login.tailscale.com/a/oauth_response.
     • Select any available signing key.
   • Configure Bindings (optional): you can create a binding (policy, group, or user) to manage the listing and access to applications on a user's My applications page.

3. Click Submit to save the new application and provider.

Tailscale configuration

1. Visit Tailscale's sign up page and click Sign up with OIDC.
2. Enter the administrator email, select authentik as the identity provider type, and click Get OIDC Issuer.
3. Set the following configurations:
   • Client ID: enter the Client ID copied from authentik.
   • Client secret: enter the Client secret copied from authentik.
   • Prompts: keep the default value consent.
4. Click Sign up with OIDC and follow the prompts to complete the Tailscale-specific configuration.

Configuration verification

To verify the integration with Tailscale, log out and attempt to log back in using an email address from your configured SSO domain. You should be redirected to your authentik instance and after successfully logging in, you should be redirected to the Tailscale dashboard.

Resources

• Tailscale SSO documentation