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<a href="https://foo.zone">Home</a> | <a href="https://codeberg.org/snonux/foo.zone/src/branch/content-md/gemfeed/2025-05-11-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-5.md">Markdown</a> | <a href="gemini://foo.zone/gemfeed/2025-05-11-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-5.gmi">Gemini</a>
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<h1 style='display: inline' id='f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd---part-5-wireguard-mesh-network'>f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 5: WireGuard mesh network</h1><br />
<br />
<span class='quote'>Published at 2025-05-11T11:35:57+03:00, last updated Thu 15 Jan 19:30:46 EET 2026</span><br />
<br />
<span>This is the fifth blog post about my f3s series for my self-hosting demands in my home lab. f3s? The "f" stands for FreeBSD, and the "3s" stands for k3s, the Kubernetes distribution I will use on FreeBSD-based physical machines.</span><br />
<br />
<span>I will post a new entry every month or so (there are too many other side projects for more frequent updates — I bet you can understand).</span><br />
<br />
<span class='quote'>This post has been updated to include two roaming clients (<span class='inlinecode'>earth</span> - Fedora laptop, <span class='inlinecode'>pixel7pro</span> - Android phone) that connect to the mesh via the internet gateways. The updated content is integrated throughout the post.</span><br />
<br />
<span>These are all the posts so far:</span><br />
<br />
<a class='textlink' href='./2024-11-17-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-1.html'>2024-11-17 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 1: Setting the stage</a><br />
<a class='textlink' href='./2024-12-03-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-2.html'>2024-12-03 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 2: Hardware and base installation</a><br />
<a class='textlink' href='./2025-02-01-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-3.html'>2025-02-01 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 3: Protecting from power cuts</a><br />
<a class='textlink' href='./2025-04-05-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-4.html'>2025-04-05 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 4: Rocky Linux Bhyve VMs</a><br />
<a class='textlink' href='./2025-05-11-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-5.html'>2025-05-11 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 5: WireGuard mesh network (You are currently reading this)</a><br />
<a class='textlink' href='./2025-07-14-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-6.html'>2025-07-14 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 6: Storage</a><br />
<a class='textlink' href='./2025-10-02-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-7.html'>2025-10-02 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 7: k3s and first pod deployments</a><br />
<a class='textlink' href='./2025-12-07-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-8.html'>2025-12-07 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 8: Observability</a><br />
<br />
<a href='./f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-1/f3slogo.png'><img alt='f3s logo' title='f3s logo' src='./f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-1/f3slogo.png' /></a><br />
<br />
<span class='quote'>ChatGPT generated logo.</span><br />
<br />
<span>Let's begin...</span><br />
<br />
<h2 style='display: inline' id='table-of-contents'>Table of Contents</h2><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><a href='#f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd---part-5-wireguard-mesh-network'>f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 5: WireGuard mesh network</a></li>
<li>⇢ <a href='#introduction'>Introduction</a></li>
<li>⇢ ⇢ <a href='#expected-traffic-flow'>Expected traffic flow</a></li>
<li>⇢ <a href='#deciding-on-wireguard'>Deciding on WireGuard</a></li>
<li>⇢ <a href='#base-configuration'>Base configuration</a></li>
<li>⇢ ⇢ <a href='#freebsd'>FreeBSD</a></li>
<li>⇢ ⇢ <a href='#rocky-linux'>Rocky Linux</a></li>
<li>⇢ ⇢ <a href='#openbsd'>OpenBSD</a></li>
<li>⇢ <a href='#wireguard-configuration'>WireGuard configuration</a></li>
<li>⇢ ⇢ <a href='#example-wg0conf'>Example <span class='inlinecode'>wg0.conf</span></a></li>
<li>⇢ ⇢ <a href='#nat-traversal-and-keepalive'>NAT traversal and keepalive</a></li>
<li>⇢ ⇢ <a href='#preshared-key'>Preshared key</a></li>
<li>⇢ <a href='#mesh-network-generator'>Mesh network generator</a></li>
<li>⇢ ⇢ <a href='#wireguardmeshgeneratoryaml'><span class='inlinecode'>wireguardmeshgenerator.yaml</span></a></li>
<li>⇢ ⇢ <a href='#wireguardmeshgeneratorrb-overview'><span class='inlinecode'>wireguardmeshgenerator.rb</span> overview</a></li>
<li>⇢ <a href='#invoking-the-mesh-network-generator'>Invoking the mesh network generator</a></li>
<li>⇢ ⇢ <a href='#generating-the-wg0conf-files-and-keys'>Generating the <span class='inlinecode'>wg0.conf</span> files and keys</a></li>
<li>⇢ ⇢ <a href='#installing-the-wg0conf-files'>Installing the <span class='inlinecode'>wg0.conf</span> files</a></li>
<li>⇢ ⇢ <a href='#re-generating-mesh-and-installing-the-wg0conf-files-again'>Re-generating mesh and installing the <span class='inlinecode'>wg0.conf</span> files again</a></li>
<li>⇢ ⇢ <a href='#setting-up-roaming-clients'>Setting up roaming clients</a></li>
<li>⇢ <a href='#adding-ipv6-support-to-the-mesh'>Adding IPv6 support to the mesh</a></li>
<li>⇢ ⇢ <a href='#ipv6-addressing-scheme'>IPv6 addressing scheme</a></li>
<li>⇢ ⇢ <a href='#updating-the-mesh-generator-for-ipv6'>Updating the mesh generator for IPv6</a></li>
<li>⇢ ⇢ <a href='#ipv6-nat-on-openbsd-gateways'>IPv6 NAT on OpenBSD gateways</a></li>
<li>⇢ ⇢ <a href='#manual-openbsd-interface-configuration'>Manual OpenBSD interface configuration</a></li>
<li>⇢ ⇢ <a href='#verifying-dual-stack-connectivity'>Verifying dual-stack connectivity</a></li>
<li>⇢ ⇢ <a href='#benefits-of-dual-stack'>Benefits of dual-stack</a></li>
<li>⇢ <a href='#happy-wireguard-ing'>Happy WireGuard-ing</a></li>
<li>⇢ <a href='#managing-roaming-client-tunnels'>Managing Roaming Client Tunnels</a></li>
<li>⇢ ⇢ <a href='#manual-gateway-failover-configuration'>Manual gateway failover configuration</a></li>
<li>⇢ ⇢ <a href='#starting-and-stopping-on-earth-fedora-laptop'>Starting and stopping on earth (Fedora laptop)</a></li>
<li>⇢ ⇢ <a href='#starting-and-stopping-on-pixel7pro-android-phone'>Starting and stopping on pixel7pro (Android phone)</a></li>
<li>⇢ ⇢ <a href='#verifying-connectivity'>Verifying connectivity</a></li>
<li>⇢ <a href='#conclusion'>Conclusion</a></li>
</ul><br />
<h2 style='display: inline' id='introduction'>Introduction</h2><br />
<br />
<span>By default, traffic within my home LAN, including traffic inside a k3s cluster, is not encrypted. While it resides in the "secure" home LAN, adopting a zero-trust policy means encryption is still preferable to ensure confidentiality and security. So we decide to secure all the traffic of all f3s participating hosts by building a mesh network:</span><br />
<br />
<a href='./f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-5/wireguard-full-mesh-with-roaming.svg'><img alt='WireGuard mesh network topology' title='WireGuard mesh network topology' src='./f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-5/wireguard-full-mesh-with-roaming.svg' /></a><br />
<br />
<span>The mesh network consists of eight infrastructure hosts and two roaming clients:</span><br />
<br />
<span>Infrastructure hosts (full mesh):</span><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><span class='inlinecode'>f0</span>, <span class='inlinecode'>f1</span>, and <span class='inlinecode'>f2</span> are the FreeBSD base hosts in my home LAN</li>
<li><span class='inlinecode'>r0</span>, <span class='inlinecode'>r1</span>, and <span class='inlinecode'>r2</span> are the Rocky Linux Bhyve VMs running on the FreeBSD hosts</li>
<li><span class='inlinecode'>blowfish</span> and <span class='inlinecode'>fishfinger</span> are two OpenBSD systems running on the internet (as mentioned in the first blog of this series—these systems are already built; in fact, this very blog is served by those OpenBSD systems)</li>
</ul><br />
<span>oaming clients (gateway-only connections):</span><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><span class='inlinecode'>earth</span> is my Fedora laptop (192.168.2.200) which connects only to the internet gateways for remote access</li>
<li><span class='inlinecode'>pixel7pro</span> is my Android phone (192.168.2.201) which routes all traffic through the VPN when activated</li>
</ul><br />
<span>As we can see from the diagram, the eight infrastructure hosts form a true full-mesh network, where every host has a VPN tunnel to every other host. The benefit is that we do not need to route traffic through intermediate hosts (significantly simplifying the routing configuration). However, the downside is that there is some overhead in configuring and managing all the tunnels. The roaming clients take a simpler approach—they only connect to the two internet-facing gateways (<span class='inlinecode'>blowfish</span> and <span class='inlinecode'>fishfinger</span>), which is sufficient for remote access and internet connectivity.</span><br />
<br />
<span>For simplicity, we also establish VPN tunnels between <span class='inlinecode'>f0 <-> r0</span>, <span class='inlinecode'>f1 <-> r1</span>, and <span class='inlinecode'>f2 <-> r2</span>. Technically, this wouldn't be strictly required since the VMs <span class='inlinecode'>rN</span> are running on the hosts <span class='inlinecode'>fN</span>, and no network traffic is leaving the box. However, it simplifies the configuration as we don't have to account for exceptions, and we are going to automate the mesh network configuration anyway (read on).</span><br />
<br />
<h3 style='display: inline' id='expected-traffic-flow'>Expected traffic flow</h3><br />
<br />
<span>The traffic is expected to flow between the host groups through the mesh network as follows:</span><br />
<br />
<span>nfrastructure mesh traffic:</span><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><span class='inlinecode'>fN <-> rN</span>: The traffic between the FreeBSD hosts and the Rocky Linux VMs will be routed through the VPN tunnels for persistent storage. In a later post in this series, we will set up an NFS server on the <span class='inlinecode'>fN</span> hosts.</li>
<li><span class='inlinecode'>fN <-> blowfish,fishfinger</span>: The traffic between the FreeBSD hosts and the OpenBSD host <span class='inlinecode'>blowfish,fishfinger</span> will be routed through the VPN tunnels for management. We may want to log in via the internet to set it up remotely. The VPN tunnel will also be used for monitoring purposes.</li>
<li><span class='inlinecode'>rN <-> blowfish,fishfinger</span>: The traffic between the Rocky Linux VMs and the OpenBSD host <span class='inlinecode'>blowfish,fishfinger</span> will be routed through the VPN tunnels for usage traffic. Since k3s will be running on the <span class='inlinecode'>rN</span> hosts, the OpenBSD servers will route the traffic through <span class='inlinecode'>relayd</span> to the services running in Kubernetes.</li>
<li><span class='inlinecode'>fN <-> fM</span>: The traffic between the FreeBSD hosts may be later used for data replication for the NFS storage.</li>
<li><span class='inlinecode'>rN <-> rM</span>: The traffic between the Rocky Linux VMs will later be used by the k3s cluster itself, as every <span class='inlinecode'>rN</span> will be a Kubernetes worker node.</li>
<li><span class='inlinecode'>blowfish <-> fishfinger</span>: The traffic between the OpenBSD hosts isn't strictly required for this setup, but I set it up anyway for future use cases.</li>
</ul><br />
<span>oaming client traffic:</span><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><span class='inlinecode'>earth,pixel7pro <-> blowfish,fishfinger</span>: The roaming clients connect exclusively to the two internet gateways. All traffic from these clients (0.0.0.0/0) is routed through the VPN, providing secure internet access and the ability to reach services running in the mesh (via the gateways). The gateways use NAT to allow roaming clients to access the internet using the gateway's public IP address. The roaming clients cannot be reached by the LAN hosts—they are client-only and initiate all connections.</li>
</ul><br />
<span>We won't cover all the details in this blog post, as we only focus on setting up the Mesh network in this blog post. Subsequent posts in this series will cover the other details.</span><br />
<br />
<h2 style='display: inline' id='deciding-on-wireguard'>Deciding on WireGuard</h2><br />
<br />
<span>I have decided to use WireGuard as the VPN technology for this purpose.</span><br />
<br />
<span>WireGuard is a lightweight, modern, and secure VPN protocol designed for simplicity, speed, and strong cryptography. It is an excellent choice due to its minimal codebase, ease of configuration, high performance, and robust security, utilizing state-of-the-art encryption standards. WireGuard is supported on various operating systems, and its implementations are compatible with each other. Therefore, establishing WireGuard VPN tunnels between FreeBSD, Linux, and OpenBSD is seamless. This cross-platform availability makes it suitable for setups like the one described in this blog series.</span><br />
<br />
<span>We could have used Tailscale for an easy to set up and manage the WireGuard network, but the benefits of creating our own mesh network are:</span><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Learning about WireGuard configuration details</li>
<li>Have full control over the setup</li>
<li>Don't rely on an external provider like Tailscale (even if some of the components are open-source)</li>
<li>Have even more fun along the way</li>
<li>WireGuard is easy to configure on my target operating systems and, therefore, easier to maintain in the long run.</li>
<li>There are no official Tailscale packages available for OpenBSD and FreeBSD. However, getting Tailscale running on these systems is still possible, though some tinkering would be required. Instead, we use that tinkering time to set up WireGuard tunnels ourselves.</li>
</ul><br />
<a class='textlink' href='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WireGuard'>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WireGuard</a><br />
<a class='textlink' href='https://www.wireguard.com/'>https://www.wireguard.com/</a><br />
<a class='textlink' href='https://tailscale.com/'>https://tailscale.com/</a><br />
<br />
<a href='./f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-5/wireguard.svg'><img alt='WireGuard Logo' title='WireGuard Logo' src='./f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-5/wireguard.svg' /></a><br />
<br />
<h2 style='display: inline' id='base-configuration'>Base configuration</h2><br />
<br />
<span>In the following, we prepare the base configuration for the WireGuard mesh network. We will use a similar configuration on all participating hosts, with the exception of the host IP addresses and the private keys.</span><br />
<br />
<h3 style='display: inline' id='freebsd'>FreeBSD</h3><br />
<br />
<span>On the FreeBSD hosts <span class='inlinecode'>f0</span>, <span class='inlinecode'>f1</span> and <span class='inlinecode'>f2</span>, similar as last time, first, we bring the system up to date:</span><br />
<br />
<!-- Generator: GNU source-highlight 3.1.9
by Lorenzo Bettini
http://www.lorenzobettini.it
http://www.gnu.org/software/src-highlite -->
<pre>paul@f0:~ % doas freebsd-update fetch
paul@f0:~ % doas freebsd-update install
paul@f0:~ % doas shutdown -r now
..
..
paul@f0:~ % doas pkg update
paul@f0:~ % doas pkg upgrade
paul@f0:~ % reboot
</pre>
<br />
<span>Next, we install <span class='inlinecode'>wireguard-tools</span> and configure the WireGuard service:</span><br />
<br />
<!-- Generator: GNU source-highlight 3.1.9
by Lorenzo Bettini
http://www.lorenzobettini.it
http://www.gnu.org/software/src-highlite -->
<pre>paul@f0:~ % doas pkg install wireguard-tools
paul@f0:~ % doas sysrc wireguard_interfaces=wg0
wireguard_interfaces: -> wg0
paul@f0:~ % doas sysrc wireguard_enable=YES
wireguard_enable: -> YES
paul@f0:~ % doas mkdir -p /usr/local/etc/wireguard
paul@f0:~ % doas touch /usr/local/etc/wireguard/wg<font color="#000000">0</font>.conf
paul@f0:~ % doas service wireguard start
paul@f0:~ % doas wg show
interface: wg0
public key: L+V9o0fNYkMVKNqsX7spBzD/9oSvxM/C7ZCZX1jLO3Q=
private key: (hidden)
listening port: <font color="#000000">20246</font>
</pre>
<br />
<span>We now have the WireGuard up and running, but it is not yet in any functional configuration. We will come back to that later.</span><br />
<br />
<span>Next, we add all the participating WireGuard IPs to the <span class='inlinecode'>hosts</span> file. This is only convenience, so we don't have to manage an external DNS server for this:</span><br />
<br />
<!-- Generator: GNU source-highlight 3.1.9
by Lorenzo Bettini
http://www.lorenzobettini.it
http://www.gnu.org/software/src-highlite -->
<pre>paul@f0:~ % cat <<END | doas tee -a /etc/hosts
<font color="#000000">192.168</font>.<font color="#000000">1.120</font> r0 r0.lan r0.lan.buetow.org
<font color="#000000">192.168</font>.<font color="#000000">1.121</font> r1 r1.lan r1.lan.buetow.org
<font color="#000000">192.168</font>.<font color="#000000">1.122</font> r2 r2.lan r2.lan.buetow.org
<font color="#000000">192.168</font>.<font color="#000000">2.130</font> f0.wg0 f0.wg0.wan.buetow.org
<font color="#000000">192.168</font>.<font color="#000000">2.131</font> f1.wg0 f1.wg0.wan.buetow.org
<font color="#000000">192.168</font>.<font color="#000000">2.132</font> f2.wg0 f2.wg0.wan.buetow.org
<font color="#000000">192.168</font>.<font color="#000000">2.120</font> r0.wg0 r0.wg0.wan.buetow.org
<font color="#000000">192.168</font>.<font color="#000000">2.121</font> r1.wg0 r1.wg0.wan.buetow.org
<font color="#000000">192.168</font>.<font color="#000000">2.122</font> r2.wg0 r2.wg0.wan.buetow.org
<font color="#000000">192.168</font>.<font color="#000000">2.110</font> blowfish.wg0 blowfish.wg0.wan.buetow.org
<font color="#000000">192.168</font>.<font color="#000000">2.111</font> fishfinger.wg0 fishfinger.wg0.wan.buetow.org
fd42:beef:cafe:<font color="#000000">2</font>::<font color="#000000">130</font> f0.wg0 f0.wg0.wan.buetow.org
fd42:beef:cafe:<font color="#000000">2</font>::<font color="#000000">131</font> f1.wg0 f1.wg0.wan.buetow.org
fd42:beef:cafe:<font color="#000000">2</font>::<font color="#000000">132</font> f2.wg0 f2.wg0.wan.buetow.org
fd42:beef:cafe:<font color="#000000">2</font>::<font color="#000000">120</font> r0.wg0 r0.wg0.wan.buetow.org
fd42:beef:cafe:<font color="#000000">2</font>::<font color="#000000">121</font> r1.wg0 r1.wg0.wan.buetow.org
fd42:beef:cafe:<font color="#000000">2</font>::<font color="#000000">122</font> r2.wg0 r2.wg0.wan.buetow.org
fd42:beef:cafe:<font color="#000000">2</font>::<font color="#000000">110</font> blowfish.wg0 blowfish.wg0.wan.buetow.org
fd42:beef:cafe:<font color="#000000">2</font>::<font color="#000000">111</font> fishfinger.wg0 fishfinger.wg0.wan.buetow.org
END
</pre>
<br />
<span>As you can see, <span class='inlinecode'>192.168.1.0/24</span> is the network used in my LAN (with the <span class='inlinecode'>fN</span> and <span class='inlinecode'>rN</span> hosts) and <span class='inlinecode'>192.168.2.0/24</span> is the network used for the WireGuard mesh network. The <span class='inlinecode'>wg0</span> interface will be used for all WireGuard traffic.</span><br />
<br />
<h3 style='display: inline' id='rocky-linux'>Rocky Linux</h3><br />
<br />
<span>We bring the Rocky Linux VMs up to date as well with the following:</span><br />
<br />
<!-- Generator: GNU source-highlight 3.1.9
by Lorenzo Bettini
http://www.lorenzobettini.it
http://www.gnu.org/software/src-highlite -->
<pre>[root@r0 ~] dnf update -y
[root@r0 ~] reboot
</pre>
<br />
<span>Next, we prepare WireGuard on them. Same as on the FreeBSD hosts, we will only prepare WireGuard without any useful configuration yet:</span><br />
<span> </span><br />
<!-- Generator: GNU source-highlight 3.1.9
by Lorenzo Bettini
http://www.lorenzobettini.it
http://www.gnu.org/software/src-highlite -->
<pre>[root@r0 ~] dnf install -y wireguard-tools
[root@r0 ~] mkdir -p /etc/wireguard
[root@r0 ~] touch /etc/wireguard/wg<font color="#000000">0</font>.conf
[root@r0 ~] systemctl <b><u><font color="#000000">enable</font></u></b> wg-quick@wg0.service
[root@r0 ~] systemctl start wg-quick@wg0.service
[root@r0 ~] systemctl disable firewalld
</pre>
<br />
<span>We also update the <span class='inlinecode'>hosts</span> file accordingly:</span><br />
<br />
<!-- Generator: GNU source-highlight 3.1.9
by Lorenzo Bettini
http://www.lorenzobettini.it
http://www.gnu.org/software/src-highlite -->
<pre>[root@r0 ~] cat <<END >>/etc/hosts
<font color="#000000">192.168</font>.<font color="#000000">1.130</font> f0 f0.lan f0.lan.buetow.org
<font color="#000000">192.168</font>.<font color="#000000">1.131</font> f1 f1.lan f1.lan.buetow.org
<font color="#000000">192.168</font>.<font color="#000000">1.132</font> f2 f2.lan f2.lan.buetow.org
<font color="#000000">192.168</font>.<font color="#000000">2.130</font> f0.wg0 f0.wg0.wan.buetow.org
<font color="#000000">192.168</font>.<font color="#000000">2.131</font> f1.wg0 f1.wg0.wan.buetow.org
<font color="#000000">192.168</font>.<font color="#000000">2.132</font> f2.wg0 f2.wg0.wan.buetow.org
<font color="#000000">192.168</font>.<font color="#000000">2.120</font> r0.wg0 r0.wg0.wan.buetow.org
<font color="#000000">192.168</font>.<font color="#000000">2.121</font> r1.wg0 r1.wg0.wan.buetow.org
<font color="#000000">192.168</font>.<font color="#000000">2.122</font> r2.wg0 r2.wg0.wan.buetow.org
<font color="#000000">192.168</font>.<font color="#000000">2.110</font> blowfish.wg0 blowfish.wg0.wan.buetow.org
<font color="#000000">192.168</font>.<font color="#000000">2.111</font> fishfinger.wg0 fishfinger.wg0.wan.buetow.org
fd42:beef:cafe:<font color="#000000">2</font>::<font color="#000000">130</font> f0.wg0 f0.wg0.wan.buetow.org
fd42:beef:cafe:<font color="#000000">2</font>::<font color="#000000">131</font> f1.wg0 f1.wg0.wan.buetow.org
fd42:beef:cafe:<font color="#000000">2</font>::<font color="#000000">132</font> f2.wg0 f2.wg0.wan.buetow.org
fd42:beef:cafe:<font color="#000000">2</font>::<font color="#000000">120</font> r0.wg0 r0.wg0.wan.buetow.org
fd42:beef:cafe:<font color="#000000">2</font>::<font color="#000000">121</font> r1.wg0 r1.wg0.wan.buetow.org
fd42:beef:cafe:<font color="#000000">2</font>::<font color="#000000">122</font> r2.wg0 r2.wg0.wan.buetow.org
fd42:beef:cafe:<font color="#000000">2</font>::<font color="#000000">110</font> blowfish.wg0 blowfish.wg0.wan.buetow.org
fd42:beef:cafe:<font color="#000000">2</font>::<font color="#000000">111</font> fishfinger.wg0 fishfinger.wg0.wan.buetow.org
END
</pre>
<br />
<span>Unfortunately, the SELinux policy on Rocky Linux blocks WireGuard's operation. By making the <span class='inlinecode'>wireguard_t</span> domain permissive using <span class='inlinecode'>semanage permissive -a wireguard_t</span>, SELinux will no longer enforce restrictions for WireGuard, allowing it to work as intended:</span><br />
<br />
<!-- Generator: GNU source-highlight 3.1.9
by Lorenzo Bettini
http://www.lorenzobettini.it
http://www.gnu.org/software/src-highlite -->
<pre>[root@r0 ~] dnf install -y policycoreutils-python-utils
[root@r0 ~] semanage permissive -a wireguard_t
[root@r0 ~] reboot
</pre>
<br />
<a class='textlink' href='https://github.com/angristan/wireguard-install/discussions/499'>https://github.com/angristan/wireguard-install/discussions/499</a><br />
<br />
<h3 style='display: inline' id='openbsd'>OpenBSD</h3><br />
<br />
<span>Other than the FreeBSD and Rocky Linux hosts involved, my OpenBSD hosts (<span class='inlinecode'>blowfish</span> and <span class='inlinecode'>fishfinger</span>, which are running at OpenBSD Amsterdam and Hetzner on the internet) have been running already for longer, so I can't provide you with the "from scratch" installation details here. In the following, we will only focus on the additional configuration needed to set up WireGuard:</span><br />
<br />
<!-- Generator: GNU source-highlight 3.1.9
by Lorenzo Bettini
http://www.lorenzobettini.it
http://www.gnu.org/software/src-highlite -->
<pre>blowfish$ doas pkg_add wireguard-tools
blowfish$ doas mkdir /etc/wireguard
blowfish$ doas touch /etc/wireguard/wg<font color="#000000">0</font>.conf
blowsish$ cat <<END | doas tee /etc/hostname.wg0
inet <font color="#000000">192.168</font>.<font color="#000000">2.110</font> <font color="#000000">255.255</font>.<font color="#000000">255.0</font> NONE
up
!/usr/local/bin/wg setconf wg0 /etc/wireguard/wg<font color="#000000">0</font>.conf
END
</pre>
<br />
<span>Note that on <span class='inlinecode'>blowfish</span>, we configure <span class='inlinecode'>192.168.2.110</span> here in the <span class='inlinecode'>hostname.wg</span>, and on <span class='inlinecode'>fishfinger</span>, we configure <span class='inlinecode'>192.168.2.111</span>. Those are the IP addresses of the WireGuard interfaces on those hosts.</span><br />
<br />
<span>And here, we also update the <span class='inlinecode'>hosts</span> file accordingly:</span><br />
<br />
<!-- Generator: GNU source-highlight 3.1.9
by Lorenzo Bettini
http://www.lorenzobettini.it
http://www.gnu.org/software/src-highlite -->
<pre>blowfish$ cat <<END | doas tee -a /etc/hosts
<font color="#000000">192.168</font>.<font color="#000000">2.130</font> f0.wg0 f0.wg0.wan.buetow.org
<font color="#000000">192.168</font>.<font color="#000000">2.131</font> f1.wg0 f1.wg0.wan.buetow.org
<font color="#000000">192.168</font>.<font color="#000000">2.132</font> f2.wg0 f2.wg0.wan.buetow.org
<font color="#000000">192.168</font>.<font color="#000000">2.120</font> r0.wg0 r0.wg0.wan.buetow.org
<font color="#000000">192.168</font>.<font color="#000000">2.121</font> r1.wg0 r1.wg0.wan.buetow.org
<font color="#000000">192.168</font>.<font color="#000000">2.122</font> r2.wg0 r2.wg0.wan.buetow.org
<font color="#000000">192.168</font>.<font color="#000000">2.110</font> blowfish.wg0 blowfish.wg0.wan.buetow.org
<font color="#000000">192.168</font>.<font color="#000000">2.111</font> fishfinger.wg0 fishfinger.wg0.wan.buetow.org
<font color="#000000">192.168</font>.<font color="#000000">2.200</font> earth.wg0 earth.wg0.wan.buetow.org
<font color="#000000">192.168</font>.<font color="#000000">2.201</font> pixel7pro.wg0 pixel7pro.wg0.wan.buetow.org
fd42:beef:cafe:<font color="#000000">2</font>::<font color="#000000">130</font> f0.wg0 f0.wg0.wan.buetow.org
fd42:beef:cafe:<font color="#000000">2</font>::<font color="#000000">131</font> f1.wg0 f1.wg0.wan.buetow.org
fd42:beef:cafe:<font color="#000000">2</font>::<font color="#000000">132</font> f2.wg0 f2.wg0.wan.buetow.org
fd42:beef:cafe:<font color="#000000">2</font>::<font color="#000000">120</font> r0.wg0 r0.wg0.wan.buetow.org
fd42:beef:cafe:<font color="#000000">2</font>::<font color="#000000">121</font> r1.wg0 r1.wg0.wan.buetow.org
fd42:beef:cafe:<font color="#000000">2</font>::<font color="#000000">122</font> r2.wg0 r2.wg0.wan.buetow.org
fd42:beef:cafe:<font color="#000000">2</font>::<font color="#000000">110</font> blowfish.wg0 blowfish.wg0.wan.buetow.org
fd42:beef:cafe:<font color="#000000">2</font>::<font color="#000000">111</font> fishfinger.wg0 fishfinger.wg0.wan.buetow.org
fd42:beef:cafe:<font color="#000000">2</font>::<font color="#000000">200</font> earth.wg0 earth.wg0.wan.buetow.org
fd42:beef:cafe:<font color="#000000">2</font>::<font color="#000000">201</font> pixel7pro.wg0 pixel7pro.wg0.wan.buetow.org
END
</pre>
<br />
<span>To enable roaming clients (like <span class='inlinecode'>earth</span> and <span class='inlinecode'>pixel7pro</span>) to access the internet through the VPN, we need to configure NAT on the OpenBSD gateways. This allows the roaming clients to use the gateway's public IP address for outbound traffic. We add the following to <span class='inlinecode'>/etc/pf.conf</span> on both <span class='inlinecode'>blowfish</span> and <span class='inlinecode'>fishfinger</span>:</span><br />
<br />
<!-- Generator: GNU source-highlight 3.1.9
by Lorenzo Bettini
http://www.lorenzobettini.it
http://www.gnu.org/software/src-highlite -->
<pre><i><font color="silver"># NAT for WireGuard clients to access internet</font></i>
match out on vio0 from <font color="#000000">192.168</font>.<font color="#000000">2.0</font>/<font color="#000000">24</font> to any nat-to (vio0)
<i><font color="silver"># Allow inbound traffic on WireGuard interface</font></i>
pass <b><u><font color="#000000">in</font></u></b> on wg0
<i><font color="silver"># Allow all UDP traffic on WireGuard port</font></i>
pass <b><u><font color="#000000">in</font></u></b> inet proto udp from any to any port <font color="#000000">56709</font>
</pre>
<br />
<span>The NAT rule translates outgoing traffic from the WireGuard network (192.168.2.0/24) to the gateway's public IP. The firewall rules permit WireGuard traffic on the wg0 interface and UDP port 56709. After updating <span class='inlinecode'>/etc/pf.conf</span>, reload the firewall:</span><br />
<br />
<!-- Generator: GNU source-highlight 3.1.9
by Lorenzo Bettini
http://www.lorenzobettini.it
http://www.gnu.org/software/src-highlite -->
<pre>blowfish$ doas pfctl -f /etc/pf.conf
</pre>
<br />
<h2 style='display: inline' id='wireguard-configuration'>WireGuard configuration</h2><br />
<br />
<span>So far, we have only started WireGuard on all participating hosts without any useful configuration. This means that no VPN tunnel has been established yet between any of the hosts.</span><br />
<br />
<h3 style='display: inline' id='example-wg0conf'>Example <span class='inlinecode'>wg0.conf</span></h3><br />
<br />
<span>Generally speaking, a <span class='inlinecode'>wg0.conf</span> looks like this (example from <span class='inlinecode'>f0</span> host):</span><br />
<br />
<pre>
[Interface]
# f0.wg0.wan.buetow.org
Address = 192.168.2.130
PrivateKey = **************************
ListenPort = 56709
[Peer]
# f1.lan.buetow.org as f1.wg0.wan.buetow.org
PublicKey = **************************
PresharedKey = **************************
AllowedIPs = 192.168.2.131/32
Endpoint = 192.168.1.131:56709
# No KeepAlive configured
[Peer]
# f2.lan.buetow.org as f2.wg0.wan.buetow.org
PublicKey = **************************
PresharedKey = **************************
AllowedIPs = 192.168.2.132/32
Endpoint = 192.168.1.132:56709
# No KeepAlive configured
[Peer]
# r0.lan.buetow.org as r0.wg0.wan.buetow.org
PublicKey = **************************
PresharedKey = **************************
AllowedIPs = 192.168.2.120/32
Endpoint = 192.168.1.120:56709
# No KeepAlive configured
[Peer]
# r1.lan.buetow.org as r1.wg0.wan.buetow.org
PublicKey = **************************
PresharedKey = **************************
AllowedIPs = 192.168.2.121/32
Endpoint = 192.168.1.121:56709
# No KeepAlive configured
[Peer]
# r2.lan.buetow.org as r2.wg0.wan.buetow.org
PublicKey = **************************
PresharedKey = **************************
AllowedIPs = 192.168.2.122/32
Endpoint = 192.168.1.122:56709
# No KeepAlive configured
[Peer]
# blowfish.buetow.org as blowfish.wg0.wan.buetow.org
PublicKey = **************************
PresharedKey = **************************
AllowedIPs = 192.168.2.110/32
Endpoint = 23.88.35.144:56709
PersistentKeepalive = 25
[Peer]
# fishfinger.buetow.org as fishfinger.wg0.wan.buetow.org
PublicKey = **************************
PresharedKey = **************************
AllowedIPs = 192.168.2.111/32
Endpoint = 46.23.94.99:56709
PersistentKeepalive = 25
</pre>
<br />
<span>For roaming clients like <span class='inlinecode'>pixel7pro</span> (Android phone) or <span class='inlinecode'>earth</span> (Fedora laptop), the configuration looks different because they route all traffic through the VPN and only connect to the internet gateways:</span><br />
<br />
<pre>
[Interface]
# pixel7pro.wg0.wan.buetow.org
Address = 192.168.2.201
PrivateKey = **************************
ListenPort = 56709
DNS = 1.1.1.1, 8.8.8.8
[Peer]
# blowfish.buetow.org as blowfish.wg0.wan.buetow.org
PublicKey = **************************
PresharedKey = **************************
AllowedIPs = 0.0.0.0/0, ::/0
Endpoint = 23.88.35.144:56709
PersistentKeepalive = 25
[Peer]
# fishfinger.buetow.org as fishfinger.wg0.wan.buetow.org
PublicKey = **************************
PresharedKey = **************************
AllowedIPs = 0.0.0.0/0, ::/0
Endpoint = 46.23.94.99:56709
PersistentKeepalive = 25
</pre>
<br />
<span>Note the key differences for roaming clients:</span><br />
<ul>
<li><span class='inlinecode'>DNS</span> is configured to use external DNS servers (Cloudflare and Google)</li>
<li><span class='inlinecode'>AllowedIPs = 0.0.0.0/0, ::/0</span> routes all traffic (IPv4 and IPv6) through the VPN</li>
<li>Only two peers are configured (the internet gateways), not the full mesh</li>
<li><span class='inlinecode'>PersistentKeepalive = 25</span> is used for both peers to maintain NAT traversal</li>
</ul><br />
<span>Whereas there are two main sections. One is <span class='inlinecode'>[Interface]</span>, which configures the current host (here: <span class='inlinecode'>f0</span> or <span class='inlinecode'>pixel7pro</span>):</span><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><span class='inlinecode'>Address</span>: Local virtual IP address on the WireGuard interface.</li>
<li><span class='inlinecode'>PrivateKey</span>: Private key for this node.</li>
<li><span class='inlinecode'>ListenPort</span>: Port on which this WireGuard interface listens for incoming connections.</li>
</ul><br />
<span>And in the following, there is one <span class='inlinecode'>[Peer]</span> section for every peer node on the mesh network:</span><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><span class='inlinecode'>PublicKey</span>: The public key of the remote peer is used to authenticate their identity.</li>
<li><span class='inlinecode'>PresharedKey</span>: An optional symmetric key is used to enhance security (used in addition to PublicKey).</li>
<li><span class='inlinecode'>AllowedIPs</span>: IPs or subnets routed through this peer (traffic is allowed to/from these IPs).</li>
<li><span class='inlinecode'>Endpoint</span>: The public IP:port combination of the remote peer for connection.</li>
<li><span class='inlinecode'>PersistentKeepalive</span>: Keeps the tunnel alive by sending periodic packets; used for NAT traversal.</li>
</ul><br />
<h3 style='display: inline' id='nat-traversal-and-keepalive'>NAT traversal and keepalive</h3><br />
<br />
<span>As all participating hosts, except for <span class='inlinecode'>blowfish</span> and <span class='inlinecode'>fishfinger</span> (which are on the internet), are behind a NAT gateway (my home router), we need to use <span class='inlinecode'>PersistentKeepalive</span> to establish and maintain the VPN tunnel from the LAN to the internet because:</span><br />
<br />
<span class='quote'>By default, WireGuard tries to be as silent as possible when not being used; it is not a chatty protocol. For the most part, it only transmits data when a peer wishes to send packets. When it's not being asked to send packets, it stops sending packets until it is asked again. In the majority of configurations, this works well. However, when a peer is behind NAT or a firewall, it might wish to be able to receive incoming packets even when it is not sending any packets. Because NAT and stateful firewalls keep track of "connections", if a peer behind NAT or a firewall wishes to receive incoming packets, he must keep the NAT/firewall mapping valid, by periodically sending keepalive packets. This is called persistent keepalives. When this option is enabled, a keepalive packet is sent to the server endpoint once every interval seconds. A sensible interval that works with a wide variety of firewalls is 25 seconds. Setting it to 0 turns the feature off, which is the default, since most users will not need this, and it makes WireGuard slightly more chatty. This feature may be specified by adding the PersistentKeepalive = field to a peer in the configuration file, or setting persistent-keepalive at the command line. If you don't need this feature, don't enable it. But if you're behind NAT or a firewall and you want to receive incoming connections long after network traffic has gone silent, this option will keep the "connection" open in the eyes of NAT.</span><br />
<br />
<span>That's why you see <span class='inlinecode'>PersistentKeepAlive = 25</span> in the <span class='inlinecode'>blowfish</span> and <span class='inlinecode'>fishfinger</span> peer configurations. This means that every 25 seconds, a keep-alive signal is sent over the tunnel to maintain its connection. If the tunnel is not yet established, it will be created within 25 seconds latest.</span><br />
<br />
<span>Without this, we might never have a VPN tunnel open, as the systems in the LAN may not actively attempt to contact <span class='inlinecode'>blowfish</span> and <span class='inlinecode'>fishfinger</span> on their own. In fact, the opposite would likely occur, with the traffic flowing inward instead of outward (this is beyond the scope of this blog post but will be covered in a later post in this series!).</span><br />
<br />
<h3 style='display: inline' id='preshared-key'>Preshared key</h3><br />
<br />
<span>In a WireGuard configuration, the PSK (preshared key) is an optional additional layer of symmetric encryption used alongside the standard public key cryptography. It is a shared secret known to both peers that enhances security by requiring an attacker to compromise both the private keys and the PSK to decrypt communication. While optional, using a PSK is better as it strengthens the cryptographic security, mitigating risks of potential vulnerabilities in the key exchange process.</span><br />
<br />
<span>So, because it's better, we are using it.</span><br />
<br />
<h2 style='display: inline' id='mesh-network-generator'>Mesh network generator</h2><br />
<br />
<span>Manually generating <span class='inlinecode'>wg0.conf</span> files for every peer in a mesh network setup is cumbersome because each peer requires its own unique public/private key pair and a preshared key for each VPN tunnel (resulting in 29 preshared keys for 8 hosts). This complexity scales almost exponentially with the number of peers as the relationships between all peers must be explicitly defined, including their unique configurations such as <span class='inlinecode'>AllowedIPs</span> and <span class='inlinecode'>Endpoint</span> and optional settings like <span class='inlinecode'>PersistentKeepalive</span>. Automating the process ensures consistency, reduces human error, saves considerable time, and allows for centralized management of configuration files.</span><br />
<br />
<span>Instead, a script can handle key generation, coordinate relationships, and generate all necessary configuration files simultaneously, making it scalable and far less error-prone.</span><br />
<br />
<span>I have written a Ruby script <span class='inlinecode'>wireguardmeshgenerator.rb</span> to do this for our purposes:</span><br />
<br />
<a class='textlink' href='https://codeberg.org/snonux/wireguardmeshgenerator'>https://codeberg.org/snonux/wireguardmeshgenerator</a><br />
<br />
<span>I use Fedora Linux as my main driver on my personal Laptop, so the script was developed and tested only on Fedora Linux. However, it should also work on other Linux and Unix-like systems.</span><br />
<br />
<span>To set up the mesh generator on Fedora Linux, we run the following:</span><br />
<br />
<!-- Generator: GNU source-highlight 3.1.9
by Lorenzo Bettini
http://www.lorenzobettini.it
http://www.gnu.org/software/src-highlite -->
<pre>> git clone https://codeberg.org/snonux/wireguardmeshgenerator
> cd ./wireguardmeshgenerator
> bundle install
> sudo dnf install -y wireguard-tools
</pre>
<br />
<span>This assumes that Ruby and the <span class='inlinecode'>bundler</span> gem are already installed. If not, refer to the docs of your distribution.</span><br />
<br />
<h3 style='display: inline' id='wireguardmeshgeneratoryaml'><span class='inlinecode'>wireguardmeshgenerator.yaml</span></h3><br />
<br />
<span>The file <span class='inlinecode'>wireguardmeshgenerator.yaml</span> configures the mesh generator script.</span><br />
<br />
<pre>
---
hosts:
f0:
os: FreeBSD
ssh:
user: paul
conf_dir: /usr/local/etc/wireguard
sudo_cmd: doas
reload_cmd: service wireguard reload
lan:
domain: 'lan.buetow.org'
ip: '192.168.1.130'
wg0:
domain: 'wg0.wan.buetow.org'
ip: '192.168.2.130'
ipv6: 'fd42:beef:cafe:2::130'
exclude_peers:
- earth
- pixel7pro
f1:
os: FreeBSD
ssh:
user: paul
conf_dir: /usr/local/etc/wireguard
sudo_cmd: doas
reload_cmd: service wireguard reload
lan:
domain: 'lan.buetow.org'
ip: '192.168.1.131'
wg0:
domain: 'wg0.wan.buetow.org'
ip: '192.168.2.131'
ipv6: 'fd42:beef:cafe:2::131'
exclude_peers:
- earth
- pixel7pro
f2:
os: FreeBSD
ssh:
user: paul
conf_dir: /usr/local/etc/wireguard
sudo_cmd: doas
reload_cmd: service wireguard reload
lan:
domain: 'lan.buetow.org'
ip: '192.168.1.132'
wg0:
domain: 'wg0.wan.buetow.org'
ip: '192.168.2.132'
ipv6: 'fd42:beef:cafe:2::132'
exclude_peers:
- earth
- pixel7pro
r0:
os: Linux
ssh:
user: root
conf_dir: /etc/wireguard
sudo_cmd:
reload_cmd: systemctl reload wg-quick@wg0.service
lan:
domain: 'lan.buetow.org'
ip: '192.168.1.120'
wg0:
domain: 'wg0.wan.buetow.org'
ip: '192.168.2.120'
ipv6: 'fd42:beef:cafe:2::120'
exclude_peers:
- earth
- pixel7pro
r1:
os: Linux
ssh:
user: root
conf_dir: /etc/wireguard
sudo_cmd:
reload_cmd: systemctl reload wg-quick@wg0.service
lan:
domain: 'lan.buetow.org'
ip: '192.168.1.121'
wg0:
domain: 'wg0.wan.buetow.org'
ip: '192.168.2.121'
ipv6: 'fd42:beef:cafe:2::121'
exclude_peers:
- earth
- pixel7pro
r2:
os: Linux
ssh:
user: root
conf_dir: /etc/wireguard
sudo_cmd:
reload_cmd: systemctl reload wg-quick@wg0.service
lan:
domain: 'lan.buetow.org'
ip: '192.168.1.122'
wg0:
domain: 'wg0.wan.buetow.org'
ip: '192.168.2.122'
ipv6: 'fd42:beef:cafe:2::122'
exclude_peers:
- earth
- pixel7pro
blowfish:
os: OpenBSD
ssh:
user: rex
port: 2
conf_dir: /etc/wireguard
sudo_cmd: doas
reload_cmd: sh /etc/netstart wg0
internet:
domain: 'buetow.org'
ip: '23.88.35.144'
wg0:
domain: 'wg0.wan.buetow.org'
ip: '192.168.2.110'
ipv6: 'fd42:beef:cafe:2::110'
exclude_peers:
- earth
- pixel7pro
fishfinger:
os: OpenBSD
ssh:
user: rex
port: 2
conf_dir: /etc/wireguard
sudo_cmd: doas
reload_cmd: sh /etc/netstart wg0
internet:
domain: 'buetow.org'
ip: '46.23.94.99'
wg0:
domain: 'wg0.wan.buetow.org'
ip: '192.168.2.111'
ipv6: 'fd42:beef:cafe:2::111'
exclude_peers:
- earth
- pixel7pro
earth:
os: Linux
wg0:
domain: 'wg0.wan.buetow.org'
ip: '192.168.2.200'
ipv6: 'fd42:beef:cafe:2::200'
exclude_peers:
- f0
- f1
- f2
- r0
- r1
- r2
- pixel7pro
pixel7pro:
os: Android
wg0:
domain: 'wg0.wan.buetow.org'
ip: '192.168.2.201'
ipv6: 'fd42:beef:cafe:2::201'
exclude_peers:
- f0
- f1
- f2
- r0
- r1
- r2
- earth
</pre>
<br />
<span>The file specifies details such as SSH user settings, configuration directories, sudo or reload commands, and IP/domain assignments for both internal LAN-facing interfaces and WireGuard (<span class='inlinecode'>wg0</span>) interfaces. Each host is assigned specific roles, including internal participants and publicly accessible nodes with internet-facing IPs, enabling the creation of a fully connected mesh VPN.</span><br />
<br />
<span>Roaming clients: Note the <span class='inlinecode'>earth</span> and <span class='inlinecode'>pixel7pro</span> entries—these are configured differently from the infrastructure hosts. They have no <span class='inlinecode'>lan</span> or <span class='inlinecode'>internet</span> sections, which signals to the generator that they are roaming clients. The <span class='inlinecode'>exclude_peers</span> configuration ensures they only connect to the internet gateways (<span class='inlinecode'>blowfish</span> and <span class='inlinecode'>fishfinger</span>) and are not reachable by LAN hosts. The generator automatically configures these clients with <span class='inlinecode'>AllowedIPs = 0.0.0.0/0, ::/0</span> to route all traffic through the VPN, includes DNS configuration (<span class='inlinecode'>1.1.1.1, 8.8.8.8</span>), and enables <span class='inlinecode'>PersistentKeepalive</span> for NAT traversal.</span><br />
<br />
<h3 style='display: inline' id='wireguardmeshgeneratorrb-overview'><span class='inlinecode'>wireguardmeshgenerator.rb</span> overview</h3><br />
<br />
<span>The <span class='inlinecode'>wireguardmeshgenerator.rb</span> script consists of the following base classes:</span><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><span class='inlinecode'>KeyTool</span>: Manages WireGuard key generation and retrieval. It ensures the presence of public/private key pairs and preshared keys (PSKs). If keys are missing, it generates them using the <span class='inlinecode'>wg</span> tool. It provides methods to read the public/private keys and retrieve or generate a PSK for communication with a peer. The keys are stored in a temp directory on the system from where the generator is run.</li>
<li><span class='inlinecode'>PeerSnippet</span>: A <span class='inlinecode'>Struct</span> representing the configuration for a single WireGuard peer in the mesh. Based on the provided attributes and configuration, it generates the peer's WireGuard configuration, including public key, PSK, allowed IPs, endpoint, and keepalive settings.</li>
<li><span class='inlinecode'>WireguardConfig</span>: This function generates WireGuard configuration files for the specified host in the mesh network. It includes the <span class='inlinecode'>[Interface]</span> section for the host itself and the <span class='inlinecode'>[Peer]</span> sections for all other peers. It can also clean up generated files and directories and create the required directory structure for storing configuration files locally on the system from which the script is run.</li>
<li><span class='inlinecode'>InstallConfig</span>: Handles uploading, installing, and restarting the WireGuard service on remote hosts using SSH and SCP. It ensures the configuration file is uploaded to the remote machine, the necessary directories are present and correctly configured, and the WireGuard service reloads with the new configuration.</li>
</ul><br />
<span>At the end (if you want to see the code for the stuff listed above, go to the Git repo and have a look), we glue it all together in this block:</span><br />
<br />
<!-- Generator: GNU source-highlight 3.1.9
by Lorenzo Bettini
http://www.lorenzobettini.it
http://www.gnu.org/software/src-highlite -->
<pre><b><u><font color="#000000">begin</font></u></b>
options = { hosts: [] }
OptionParser.new <b><u><font color="#000000">do</font></u></b> |opts|
opts.banner = <font color="#808080">'Usage: wireguardmeshgenerator.rb [options]'</font>
opts.on(<font color="#808080">'--generate'</font>, <font color="#808080">'Generate Wireguard configs'</font>) <b><u><font color="#000000">do</font></u></b>
options[:generate] = <b><u><font color="#000000">true</font></u></b>
<b><u><font color="#000000">end</font></u></b>
opts.on(<font color="#808080">'--install'</font>, <font color="#808080">'Install Wireguard configs'</font>) <b><u><font color="#000000">do</font></u></b>
options[:install] = <b><u><font color="#000000">true</font></u></b>
<b><u><font color="#000000">end</font></u></b>
opts.on(<font color="#808080">'--clean'</font>, <font color="#808080">'Clean Wireguard configs'</font>) <b><u><font color="#000000">do</font></u></b>
options[:clean] = <b><u><font color="#000000">true</font></u></b>
<b><u><font color="#000000">end</font></u></b>
opts.on(<font color="#808080">'--hosts=HOSTS'</font>, <font color="#808080">'Comma separated hosts to configure'</font>) <b><u><font color="#000000">do</font></u></b> |hosts|
options[:hosts] = hosts.split(<font color="#808080">','</font>)
<b><u><font color="#000000">end</font></u></b>
<b><u><font color="#000000">end</font></u></b>.parse!
conf = YAML.load_file(<font color="#808080">'wireguardmeshgenerator.yaml'</font>).freeze
conf[<font color="#808080">'hosts'</font>].keys.select { options[:hosts].empty? || options[:hosts].<b><u><font color="#000000">include</font></u></b>?(_1) }
.each <b><u><font color="#000000">do</font></u></b> |host|
<i><font color="silver"># Generate Wireguard configuration for the host reload!</font></i>
WireguardConfig.new(host, conf[<font color="#808080">'hosts'</font>]).generate! <b><u><font color="#000000">if</font></u></b> options[:generate]
<i><font color="silver"># Install Wireguard configuration for the host.</font></i>
InstallConfig.new(host, conf[<font color="#808080">'hosts'</font>]).upload!.install!.reload! <b><u><font color="#000000">if</font></u></b> options[:install]
<i><font color="silver"># Clean Wireguard configuration for the host.</font></i>
WireguardConfig.new(host, conf[<font color="#808080">'hosts'</font>]).clean! <b><u><font color="#000000">if</font></u></b> options[:clean]
<b><u><font color="#000000">end</font></u></b>
<b><u><font color="#000000">rescue</font></u></b> StandardError => e
puts <font color="#808080">"Error: #{e.message}"</font>
puts e.backtrace.join(<font color="#808080">"\n"</font>)
exit <font color="#000000">2</font>
<b><u><font color="#000000">end</font></u></b>
</pre>
<br />
<span>And we also have a <span class='inlinecode'>Rakefile</span>:</span><br />
<br />
<!-- Generator: GNU source-highlight 3.1.9
by Lorenzo Bettini
http://www.lorenzobettini.it
http://www.gnu.org/software/src-highlite -->
<pre>task :generate <b><u><font color="#000000">do</font></u></b>
ruby <font color="#808080">'wireguardmeshgenerator.rb'</font>, <font color="#808080">'--generate'</font>
<b><u><font color="#000000">end</font></u></b>
task :clean <b><u><font color="#000000">do</font></u></b>
ruby <font color="#808080">'wireguardmeshgenerator.rb'</font>, <font color="#808080">'--clean'</font>
<b><u><font color="#000000">end</font></u></b>
task :install <b><u><font color="#000000">do</font></u></b>
ruby <font color="#808080">'wireguardmeshgenerator.rb'</font>, <font color="#808080">'--install'</font>
<b><u><font color="#000000">end</font></u></b>
task default: :generate
</pre>
<br />
<br />
<h2 style='display: inline' id='invoking-the-mesh-network-generator'>Invoking the mesh network generator</h2><br />
<br />
<h3 style='display: inline' id='generating-the-wg0conf-files-and-keys'>Generating the <span class='inlinecode'>wg0.conf</span> files and keys</h3><br />
<br />
<span>To generate everything (the <span class='inlinecode'>wg0.conf</span> of all participating hosts, including all keys involved), we run the following:</span><br />
<br />
<!-- Generator: GNU source-highlight 3.1.9
by Lorenzo Bettini
http://www.lorenzobettini.it
http://www.gnu.org/software/src-highlite -->
<pre>> rake generate
/usr/bin/ruby wireguardmeshgenerator.rb --generate
Generating dist/f<font color="#000000">0</font>/etc/wireguard/wg<font color="#000000">0</font>.conf
Generating dist/f<font color="#000000">1</font>/etc/wireguard/wg<font color="#000000">0</font>.conf
Generating dist/f<font color="#000000">2</font>/etc/wireguard/wg<font color="#000000">0</font>.conf
Generating dist/r<font color="#000000">0</font>/etc/wireguard/wg<font color="#000000">0</font>.conf
Generating dist/r<font color="#000000">1</font>/etc/wireguard/wg<font color="#000000">0</font>.conf
Generating dist/r<font color="#000000">2</font>/etc/wireguard/wg<font color="#000000">0</font>.conf
Generating dist/blowfish/etc/wireguard/wg<font color="#000000">0</font>.conf
Generating dist/fishfinger/etc/wireguard/wg<font color="#000000">0</font>.conf
Generating dist/earth/etc/wireguard/wg<font color="#000000">0</font>.conf
Generating dist/pixel7pro/etc/wireguard/wg<font color="#000000">0</font>.conf
</pre>
<br />
<span>It generated all the <span class='inlinecode'>wg0.conf</span> files listed in the output, plus those keys:</span><br />
<br />
<!-- Generator: GNU source-highlight 3.1.9
by Lorenzo Bettini
http://www.lorenzobettini.it
http://www.gnu.org/software/src-highlite -->
<pre>> find keys/ -type f
keys/f<font color="#000000">0</font>/priv.key
keys/f<font color="#000000">0</font>/pub.key
keys/psk/f0_f1.key
keys/psk/f0_f2.key
keys/psk/f0_r0.key
keys/psk/f0_r1.key
keys/psk/f0_r2.key
keys/psk/blowfish_f0.key
keys/psk/f0_fishfinger.key
keys/psk/f1_f2.key
keys/psk/f1_r0.key
keys/psk/f1_r1.key
keys/psk/f1_r2.key
keys/psk/blowfish_f1.key
keys/psk/f1_fishfinger.key
keys/psk/f2_r0.key
keys/psk/f2_r1.key
keys/psk/f2_r2.key
keys/psk/blowfish_f2.key
keys/psk/f2_fishfinger.key
keys/psk/r0_r1.key
keys/psk/r0_r2.key
keys/psk/blowfish_r0.key
keys/psk/fishfinger_r0.key
keys/psk/r1_r2.key
keys/psk/blowfish_r1.key
keys/psk/fishfinger_r1.key
keys/psk/blowfish_r2.key
keys/psk/fishfinger_r2.key
keys/psk/blowfish_fishfinger.key
keys/psk/blowfish_earth.key
keys/psk/earth_fishfinger.key
keys/psk/blowfish_pixel7pro.key
keys/psk/fishfinger_pixel7pro.key
keys/f<font color="#000000">1</font>/priv.key
keys/f<font color="#000000">1</font>/pub.key
keys/f<font color="#000000">2</font>/priv.key
keys/f<font color="#000000">2</font>/pub.key
keys/r<font color="#000000">0</font>/priv.key
keys/r<font color="#000000">0</font>/pub.key
keys/r<font color="#000000">1</font>/priv.key
keys/r<font color="#000000">1</font>/pub.key
keys/r<font color="#000000">2</font>/priv.key
keys/r<font color="#000000">2</font>/pub.key
keys/blowfish/priv.key
keys/blowfish/pub.key
keys/fishfinger/priv.key
keys/fishfinger/pub.key
keys/earth/priv.key
keys/earth/pub.key
keys/pixel7pro/priv.key
keys/pixel7pro/pub.key
</pre>
<br />
<span>Those keys are embedded in the resulting <span class='inlinecode'>wg0.conf</span>, so later, we only need to install the <span class='inlinecode'>wg0.conf</span> files and not all the keys individually.</span><br />
<br />
<h3 style='display: inline' id='installing-the-wg0conf-files'>Installing the <span class='inlinecode'>wg0.conf</span> files</h3><br />
<br />
<span>Uploading the <span class='inlinecode'>wg0.conf</span> files to the participating hosts and reloading WireGuard on them is then just a matter of executing (this expects, that all participating hosts are up and running):</span><br />
<br />
<!-- Generator: GNU source-highlight 3.1.9
by Lorenzo Bettini
http://www.lorenzobettini.it
http://www.gnu.org/software/src-highlite -->
<pre>> rake install
/usr/bin/ruby wireguardmeshgenerator.rb --install
Uploading dist/f<font color="#000000">0</font>/etc/wireguard/wg<font color="#000000">0</font>.conf to f0.lan.buetow.org:.
Installing Wireguard config on f0
Uploading cmd.sh to f0.lan.buetow.org:.
+ [ ! -d /usr/local/etc/wireguard ]
+ doas chmod <font color="#000000">700</font> /usr/local/etc/wireguard
+ doas mv -v wg0.conf /usr/local/etc/wireguard
wg0.conf -> /usr/local/etc/wireguard/wg<font color="#000000">0</font>.conf
+ doas chmod <font color="#000000">644</font> /usr/local/etc/wireguard/wg<font color="#000000">0</font>.conf
+ rm cmd.sh
Reloading Wireguard on f0
Uploading cmd.sh to f0.lan.buetow.org:.
+ doas service wireguard reload
+ rm cmd.sh
Uploading dist/f<font color="#000000">1</font>/etc/wireguard/wg<font color="#000000">0</font>.conf to f1.lan.buetow.org:.
Installing Wireguard config on f1
Uploading cmd.sh to f1.lan.buetow.org:.
+ [ ! -d /usr/local/etc/wireguard ]
+ doas chmod <font color="#000000">700</font> /usr/local/etc/wireguard
+ doas mv -v wg0.conf /usr/local/etc/wireguard
wg0.conf -> /usr/local/etc/wireguard/wg<font color="#000000">0</font>.conf
+ doas chmod <font color="#000000">644</font> /usr/local/etc/wireguard/wg<font color="#000000">0</font>.conf
+ rm cmd.sh
Reloading Wireguard on f1
Uploading cmd.sh to f1.lan.buetow.org:.
+ doas service wireguard reload
+ rm cmd.sh
Uploading dist/f<font color="#000000">2</font>/etc/wireguard/wg<font color="#000000">0</font>.conf to f2.lan.buetow.org:.
Installing Wireguard config on f2
Uploading cmd.sh to f2.lan.buetow.org:.
+ [ ! -d /usr/local/etc/wireguard ]
+ doas chmod <font color="#000000">700</font> /usr/local/etc/wireguard
+ doas mv -v wg0.conf /usr/local/etc/wireguard
wg0.conf -> /usr/local/etc/wireguard/wg<font color="#000000">0</font>.conf
+ doas chmod <font color="#000000">644</font> /usr/local/etc/wireguard/wg<font color="#000000">0</font>.conf
+ rm cmd.sh
Reloading Wireguard on f2
Uploading cmd.sh to f2.lan.buetow.org:.
+ doas service wireguard reload
+ rm cmd.sh
Uploading dist/r<font color="#000000">0</font>/etc/wireguard/wg<font color="#000000">0</font>.conf to r0.lan.buetow.org:.
Installing Wireguard config on r0
Uploading cmd.sh to r0.lan.buetow.org:.
+ <font color="#808080">'['</font> <font color="#808080">'!'</font> -d /etc/wireguard <font color="#808080">']'</font>
+ chmod <font color="#000000">700</font> /etc/wireguard
+ mv -v wg0.conf /etc/wireguard
renamed <font color="#808080">'wg0.conf'</font> -> <font color="#808080">'/etc/wireguard/wg0.conf'</font>
+ chmod <font color="#000000">644</font> /etc/wireguard/wg<font color="#000000">0</font>.conf
+ rm cmd.sh
Reloading Wireguard on r0
Uploading cmd.sh to r0.lan.buetow.org:.
+ systemctl reload wg-quick@wg0.service
+ rm cmd.sh
Uploading dist/r<font color="#000000">1</font>/etc/wireguard/wg<font color="#000000">0</font>.conf to r1.lan.buetow.org:.
Installing Wireguard config on r1
Uploading cmd.sh to r1.lan.buetow.org:.
+ <font color="#808080">'['</font> <font color="#808080">'!'</font> -d /etc/wireguard <font color="#808080">']'</font>
+ chmod <font color="#000000">700</font> /etc/wireguard
+ mv -v wg0.conf /etc/wireguard
renamed <font color="#808080">'wg0.conf'</font> -> <font color="#808080">'/etc/wireguard/wg0.conf'</font>
+ chmod <font color="#000000">644</font> /etc/wireguard/wg<font color="#000000">0</font>.conf
+ rm cmd.sh
Reloading Wireguard on r1
Uploading cmd.sh to r1.lan.buetow.org:.
+ systemctl reload wg-quick@wg0.service
+ rm cmd.sh
Uploading dist/r<font color="#000000">2</font>/etc/wireguard/wg<font color="#000000">0</font>.conf to r2.lan.buetow.org:.
Installing Wireguard config on r2
Uploading cmd.sh to r2.lan.buetow.org:.
+ <font color="#808080">'['</font> <font color="#808080">'!'</font> -d /etc/wireguard <font color="#808080">']'</font>
+ chmod <font color="#000000">700</font> /etc/wireguard
+ mv -v wg0.conf /etc/wireguard
renamed <font color="#808080">'wg0.conf'</font> -> <font color="#808080">'/etc/wireguard/wg0.conf'</font>
+ chmod <font color="#000000">644</font> /etc/wireguard/wg<font color="#000000">0</font>.conf
+ rm cmd.sh
Reloading Wireguard on r2
Uploading cmd.sh to r2.lan.buetow.org:.
+ systemctl reload wg-quick@wg0.service
+ rm cmd.sh
Uploading dist/blowfish/etc/wireguard/wg<font color="#000000">0</font>.conf to blowfish.buetow.org:.
Installing Wireguard config on blowfish
Uploading cmd.sh to blowfish.buetow.org:.
+ [ ! -d /etc/wireguard ]
+ doas chmod <font color="#000000">700</font> /etc/wireguard
+ doas mv -v wg0.conf /etc/wireguard
wg0.conf -> /etc/wireguard/wg<font color="#000000">0</font>.conf
+ doas chmod <font color="#000000">644</font> /etc/wireguard/wg<font color="#000000">0</font>.conf
+ rm cmd.sh
Reloading Wireguard on blowfish
Uploading cmd.sh to blowfish.buetow.org:.
+ doas sh /etc/netstart wg0
+ rm cmd.sh
Uploading dist/fishfinger/etc/wireguard/wg<font color="#000000">0</font>.conf to fishfinger.buetow.org:.
Installing Wireguard config on fishfinger
Uploading cmd.sh to fishfinger.buetow.org:.
+ [ ! -d /etc/wireguard ]
+ doas chmod <font color="#000000">700</font> /etc/wireguard
+ doas mv -v wg0.conf /etc/wireguard
wg0.conf -> /etc/wireguard/wg<font color="#000000">0</font>.conf
+ doas chmod <font color="#000000">644</font> /etc/wireguard/wg<font color="#000000">0</font>.conf
+ rm cmd.sh
Reloading Wireguard on fishfinger
Uploading cmd.sh to fishfinger.buetow.org:.
+ doas sh /etc/netstart wg0
+ rm cmd.sh
</pre>
<br />
<h3 style='display: inline' id='re-generating-mesh-and-installing-the-wg0conf-files-again'>Re-generating mesh and installing the <span class='inlinecode'>wg0.conf</span> files again</h3><br />
<br />
<span>The mesh network can be re-generated and re-installed as follows:</span><br />
<br />
<!-- Generator: GNU source-highlight 3.1.9
by Lorenzo Bettini
http://www.lorenzobettini.it
http://www.gnu.org/software/src-highlite -->
<pre>> rake clean
> rake generate
> rake install
</pre>
<br />
<span>That would also delete and re-generate all the keys involved.</span><br />
<br />
<h3 style='display: inline' id='setting-up-roaming-clients'>Setting up roaming clients</h3><br />
<br />
<span>For roaming clients like <span class='inlinecode'>earth</span> (Fedora laptop) and <span class='inlinecode'>pixel7pro</span> (Android phone), the setup process differs slightly since these devices are not always accessible via SSH:</span><br />
<br />
<span>Android phone (<span class='inlinecode'>pixel7pro</span>):</span><br />
<br />
<span>The configuration is transferred to the phone using a QR code. The official WireGuard Android app (from Google Play Store) can scan and import the configuration:</span><br />
<br />
<!-- Generator: GNU source-highlight 3.1.9
by Lorenzo Bettini
http://www.lorenzobettini.it
http://www.gnu.org/software/src-highlite -->
<pre>> sudo dnf install qrencode
> qrencode -t ansiutf8 < dist/pixel7pro/etc/wireguard/wg<font color="#000000">0</font>.conf
</pre>
<br />
<span>Scan the QR code with the WireGuard app to import the configuration. The phone will then route all traffic through the VPN when the tunnel is activated. Note that WireGuard does not support automatic failover between the two gateways (<span class='inlinecode'>blowfish</span> and <span class='inlinecode'>fishfinger</span>)—if one fails, manual disconnection and reconnection is required to switch to the other.</span><br />
<br />
<span>Fedora laptop (<span class='inlinecode'>earth</span>):</span><br />
<br />
<span>For the laptop, manually copy the generated configuration:</span><br />
<br />
<!-- Generator: GNU source-highlight 3.1.9
by Lorenzo Bettini
http://www.lorenzobettini.it
http://www.gnu.org/software/src-highlite -->
<pre>> sudo cp dist/earth/etc/wireguard/wg<font color="#000000">0</font>.conf /etc/wireguard/
> sudo chmod <font color="#000000">600</font> /etc/wireguard/wg<font color="#000000">0</font>.conf
> sudo systemctl start wg-quick@wg0.service <i><font color="silver"># Start manually</font></i>
> sudo systemctl disable wg-quick@wg0.service <i><font color="silver"># Prevent auto-start</font></i>
</pre>
<br />
<span>The service is disabled from auto-start so the VPN is only active when manually started. This allows selective VPN usage based on need.</span><br />
<br />
<h2 style='display: inline' id='adding-ipv6-support-to-the-mesh'>Adding IPv6 support to the mesh</h2><br />
<br />
<span>After setting up the IPv4-only mesh network, I decided to add dual-stack IPv6 support to enable more networking capabilities and prepare for the future. All 10 hosts (8 infrastructure + 2 roaming clients) now have both IPv4 and IPv6 addresses on their WireGuard interfaces.</span><br />
<br />
<h3 style='display: inline' id='ipv6-addressing-scheme'>IPv6 addressing scheme</h3><br />
<br />
<span>We use ULA (Unique Local Address) private IPv6 space, analogous to RFC1918 private IPv4 addresses:</span><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Prefix: <span class='inlinecode'>fd42:beef:cafe::/48</span></li>
<li>Subnet: <span class='inlinecode'>fd42:beef:cafe:2::/64</span> (wg0 interfaces)</li>
</ul><br />
<span>All hosts receive dual-stack addresses:</span><br />
<br />
<pre>
fd42:beef:cafe:2::110/64 - blowfish.wg0 (OpenBSD gateway)
fd42:beef:cafe:2::111/64 - fishfinger.wg0 (OpenBSD gateway)
fd42:beef:cafe:2::120/64 - r0.wg0 (Rocky Linux VM)
fd42:beef:cafe:2::121/64 - r1.wg0 (Rocky Linux VM)
fd42:beef:cafe:2::122/64 - r2.wg0 (Rocky Linux VM)
fd42:beef:cafe:2::130/64 - f0.wg0 (FreeBSD host)
fd42:beef:cafe:2::131/64 - f1.wg0 (FreeBSD host)
fd42:beef:cafe:2::132/64 - f2.wg0 (FreeBSD host)
fd42:beef:cafe:2::200/64 - earth.wg0 (roaming laptop)
fd42:beef:cafe:2::201/64 - pixel7pro.wg0 (roaming phone)
</pre>
<br />
<h3 style='display: inline' id='updating-the-mesh-generator-for-ipv6'>Updating the mesh generator for IPv6</h3><br />
<br />
<span>The mesh generator required two modifications to support dual-stack configurations:</span><br />
<br />
<span>**1. Address generation (<span class='inlinecode'>address</span> method)**</span><br />
<br />
<span>The generator now outputs multiple <span class='inlinecode'>Address</span> directives when IPv6 is present:</span><br />
<br />
<!-- Generator: GNU source-highlight 3.1.9
by Lorenzo Bettini
http://www.lorenzobettini.it
http://www.gnu.org/software/src-highlite -->
<pre><b><u><font color="#000000">def</font></u></b> address
<b><u><font color="#000000">return</font></u></b> <font color="#808080">'# No Address = ... for OpenBSD here'</font> <b><u><font color="#000000">if</font></u></b> hosts[myself][<font color="#808080">'os'</font>] == <font color="#808080">'OpenBSD'</font>
ipv4 = hosts[myself][<font color="#808080">'wg0'</font>][<font color="#808080">'ip'</font>]
ipv6 = hosts[myself][<font color="#808080">'wg0'</font>][<font color="#808080">'ipv6'</font>]
<i><font color="silver"># WireGuard supports multiple Address directives for dual-stack</font></i>
<b><u><font color="#000000">if</font></u></b> ipv6
<font color="#808080">"Address = #{ipv4}\nAddress = #{ipv6}/64"</font>
<b><u><font color="#000000">else</font></u></b>
<font color="#808080">"Address = #{ipv4}"</font>
<b><u><font color="#000000">end</font></u></b>
<b><u><font color="#000000">end</font></u></b>
</pre>
<br />
<span>**2. AllowedIPs generation (<span class='inlinecode'>peers</span> method)**</span><br />
<br />
<span>For mesh peers, both IPv4 and IPv6 addresses are included in AllowedIPs:</span><br />
<br />
<!-- Generator: GNU source-highlight 3.1.9
by Lorenzo Bettini
http://www.lorenzobettini.it
http://www.gnu.org/software/src-highlite -->
<pre><b><u><font color="#000000">if</font></u></b> is_roaming
allowed_ips = <font color="#808080">'0.0.0.0/0, ::/0'</font>
<b><u><font color="#000000">else</font></u></b>
<i><font color="silver"># For mesh peers, allow both IPv4 and IPv6 if present</font></i>
ipv4 = data[<font color="#808080">'wg0'</font>][<font color="#808080">'ip'</font>]
ipv6 = data[<font color="#808080">'wg0'</font>][<font color="#808080">'ipv6'</font>]
allowed_ips = ipv6 ? <font color="#808080">"#{ipv4}/32, #{ipv6}/128"</font> : <font color="#808080">"#{ipv4}/32"</font>
<b><u><font color="#000000">end</font></u></b>
</pre>
<br />
<span>Roaming clients keep <span class='inlinecode'>AllowedIPs = 0.0.0.0/0, ::/0</span> to route all traffic (IPv4 and IPv6) through the VPN.</span><br />
<br />
<h3 style='display: inline' id='ipv6-nat-on-openbsd-gateways'>IPv6 NAT on OpenBSD gateways</h3><br />
<br />
<span>To allow roaming clients to access the internet via IPv6, we added NAT66 rules to the OpenBSD gateways' <span class='inlinecode'>pf.conf</span>:</span><br />
<br />
<pre>
# NAT for WireGuard clients to access internet (IPv4)
match out on vio0 from 192.168.2.0/24 to any nat-to (vio0)
# NAT66 for WireGuard clients to access internet (IPv6)
# Uses NPTv6 (Network Prefix Translation) to translate ULA to public IPv6
match out on vio0 inet6 from fd42:beef:cafe:2::/64 to any nat-to (vio0)
# Allow all UDP traffic on WireGuard port (IPv4 and IPv6)
pass in inet proto udp from any to any port 56709
pass in inet6 proto udp from any to any port 56709
</pre>
<br />
<span>OpenBSD's PF firewall supports IPv6 NAT with the same syntax as IPv4, using NPTv6 (RFC 6296) to translate the ULA addresses to the gateway's public IPv6 address.</span><br />
<br />
<h3 style='display: inline' id='manual-openbsd-interface-configuration'>Manual OpenBSD interface configuration</h3><br />
<br />
<span>Since OpenBSD doesn't use the <span class='inlinecode'>Address</span> directive in WireGuard configs, IPv6 must be manually configured on the wg0 interfaces. On <span class='inlinecode'>blowfish</span>:</span><br />
<br />
<!-- Generator: GNU source-highlight 3.1.9
by Lorenzo Bettini
http://www.lorenzobettini.it
http://www.gnu.org/software/src-highlite -->
<pre>rex@blowfish:~ $ doas vi /etc/hostname.wg0
</pre>
<br />
<span>Add the IPv6 address (note the order - IPv6 must be configured before <span class='inlinecode'>up</span>):</span><br />
<br />
<pre>
inet 192.168.2.110 255.255.255.0 NONE
inet6 fd42:beef:cafe:2::110 64
up
!/usr/local/bin/wg setconf wg0 /etc/wireguard/wg0.conf
</pre>
<br />
<span>Important: The IPv6 address must be specified before the <span class='inlinecode'>up</span> directive. This ensures the interface has both addresses configured before WireGuard peers are loaded.</span><br />
<br />
<span>Apply the configuration:</span><br />
<br />
<!-- Generator: GNU source-highlight 3.1.9
by Lorenzo Bettini
http://www.lorenzobettini.it
http://www.gnu.org/software/src-highlite -->
<pre>rex@blowfish:~ $ doas sh /etc/netstart wg0
rex@blowfish:~ $ ifconfig wg0 | grep inet6
inet6 fd42:beef:cafe:<font color="#000000">2</font>::<font color="#000000">110</font> prefixlen <font color="#000000">64</font>
</pre>
<br />
<span>Repeat for <span class='inlinecode'>fishfinger</span> with address <span class='inlinecode'>fd42:beef:cafe:2::111</span>.</span><br />
<br />
<span>After reboot, the interface will automatically come up with both IPv4 and IPv6 addresses. WireGuard peers may take 30-60 seconds to establish handshakes after boot.</span><br />
<br />
<h3 style='display: inline' id='verifying-dual-stack-connectivity'>Verifying dual-stack connectivity</h3><br />
<br />
<span>After regenerating and deploying the configurations, both IPv4 and IPv6 work across the mesh:</span><br />
<br />
<!-- Generator: GNU source-highlight 3.1.9
by Lorenzo Bettini
http://www.lorenzobettini.it
http://www.gnu.org/software/src-highlite -->
<pre><i><font color="silver"># From r0 (Rocky Linux VM)</font></i>
root@r0:~ <i><font color="silver"># ping -c 2 192.168.2.130 # IPv4 to f0</font></i>
<font color="#000000">64</font> bytes from <font color="#000000">192.168</font>.<font color="#000000">2.130</font>: icmp_seq=<font color="#000000">1</font> ttl=<font color="#000000">64</font> time=<font color="#000000">2.12</font> ms
<font color="#000000">64</font> bytes from <font color="#000000">192.168</font>.<font color="#000000">2.130</font>: icmp_seq=<font color="#000000">2</font> ttl=<font color="#000000">64</font> time=<font color="#000000">0.681</font> ms
root@r0:~ <i><font color="silver"># ping6 -c 2 fd42:beef:cafe:2::130 # IPv6 to f0</font></i>
<font color="#000000">64</font> bytes from fd42:beef:cafe:<font color="#000000">2</font>::<font color="#000000">130</font>: icmp_seq=<font color="#000000">1</font> ttl=<font color="#000000">64</font> time=<font color="#000000">2.16</font> ms
<font color="#000000">64</font> bytes from fd42:beef:cafe:<font color="#000000">2</font>::<font color="#000000">130</font>: icmp_seq=<font color="#000000">2</font> ttl=<font color="#000000">64</font> time=<font color="#000000">0.909</font> ms
</pre>
<br />
<span>The dual-stack configuration is backward compatible—hosts without the <span class='inlinecode'>ipv6</span> field in the YAML configuration will continue to generate IPv4-only configs.</span><br />
<br />
<h3 style='display: inline' id='benefits-of-dual-stack'>Benefits of dual-stack</h3><br />
<br />
<span>Adding IPv6 to the mesh network provides:</span><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Future-proofing: Ready for IPv6-only services and networks</li>
<li>Compatibility: Dual-stack maintains full IPv4 compatibility</li>
<li>Learning: Hands-on experience with IPv6 networking</li>
<li>Flexibility: Roaming clients can access both IPv4 and IPv6 internet resources</li>
</ul><br />
<h2 style='display: inline' id='happy-wireguard-ing'>Happy WireGuard-ing</h2><br />
<br />
<span>All is set up now. E.g. on <span class='inlinecode'>f0</span>:</span><br />
<br />
<!-- Generator: GNU source-highlight 3.1.9
by Lorenzo Bettini
http://www.lorenzobettini.it
http://www.gnu.org/software/src-highlite -->
<pre>paul@f0:~ % doas wg show
interface: wg0
public key: Jm6YItMt94++dIeOyVi1I9AhNt2qQcryxCZezoX7X2Y=
private key: (hidden)
listening port: <font color="#000000">56709</font>
peer: 8PvGZH1NohHpZPVJyjhctBX9xblsNvYBhpg68FsFcns=
preshared key: (hidden)
endpoint: <font color="#000000">46.23</font>.<font color="#000000">94.99</font>:<font color="#000000">56709</font>
allowed ips: <font color="#000000">192.168</font>.<font color="#000000">2.111</font>/<font color="#000000">32</font>, fd42:beef:cafe:<font color="#000000">2</font>::<font color="#000000">111</font>/<font color="#000000">128</font>
latest handshake: <font color="#000000">1</font> minute, <font color="#000000">46</font> seconds ago
transfer: <font color="#000000">124</font> B received, <font color="#000000">1.75</font> KiB sent
persistent keepalive: every <font color="#000000">25</font> seconds
peer: Xow+d3qVXgUMk4pcRSQ6Fe+vhYBa3VDyHX/4jrGoKns=
preshared key: (hidden)
endpoint: <font color="#000000">23.88</font>.<font color="#000000">35.144</font>:<font color="#000000">56709</font>
allowed ips: <font color="#000000">192.168</font>.<font color="#000000">2.110</font>/<font color="#000000">32</font>, fd42:beef:cafe:<font color="#000000">2</font>::<font color="#000000">110</font>/<font color="#000000">128</font>
latest handshake: <font color="#000000">1</font> minute, <font color="#000000">52</font> seconds ago
transfer: <font color="#000000">124</font> B received, <font color="#000000">1.60</font> KiB sent
persistent keepalive: every <font color="#000000">25</font> seconds
peer: s3e93XoY7dPUQgLiVO4d8x/SRCFgEew+/wP<font color="#000000">7</font>+zwgehI=
preshared key: (hidden)
endpoint: <font color="#000000">192.168</font>.<font color="#000000">1.120</font>:<font color="#000000">56709</font>
allowed ips: <font color="#000000">192.168</font>.<font color="#000000">2.120</font>/<font color="#000000">32</font>, fd42:beef:cafe:<font color="#000000">2</font>::<font color="#000000">120</font>/<font color="#000000">128</font>
peer: 2htXdNcxzpI2FdPDJy4T4VGtm1wpMEQu1AkQHjNY6F8=
preshared key: (hidden)
endpoint: <font color="#000000">192.168</font>.<font color="#000000">1.131</font>:<font color="#000000">56709</font>
allowed ips: <font color="#000000">192.168</font>.<font color="#000000">2.131</font>/<font color="#000000">32</font>, fd42:beef:cafe:<font color="#000000">2</font>::<font color="#000000">131</font>/<font color="#000000">128</font>
peer: 0Y/H20W8YIbF7DA1sMwMacLI8WS9yG+<font color="#000000">1</font>/QO7m2oyllg=
preshared key: (hidden)
endpoint: <font color="#000000">192.168</font>.<font color="#000000">1.122</font>:<font color="#000000">56709</font>
allowed ips: <font color="#000000">192.168</font>.<font color="#000000">2.122</font>/<font color="#000000">32</font>, fd42:beef:cafe:<font color="#000000">2</font>::<font color="#000000">122</font>/<font color="#000000">128</font>
peer: Hhy9kMPOOjChXV2RA5WeCGs+J0FE3rcNPDw/TLSn7i8=
preshared key: (hidden)
endpoint: <font color="#000000">192.168</font>.<font color="#000000">1.121</font>:<font color="#000000">56709</font>
allowed ips: <font color="#000000">192.168</font>.<font color="#000000">2.121</font>/<font color="#000000">32</font>, fd42:beef:cafe:<font color="#000000">2</font>::<font color="#000000">121</font>/<font color="#000000">128</font>
peer: SlGVsACE1wiaRoGvCR3f7AuHfRS+1jjhS+YwEJ2HvF0=
preshared key: (hidden)
endpoint: <font color="#000000">192.168</font>.<font color="#000000">1.132</font>:<font color="#000000">56709</font>
allowed ips: <font color="#000000">192.168</font>.<font color="#000000">2.132</font>/<font color="#000000">32</font>, fd42:beef:cafe:<font color="#000000">2</font>::<font color="#000000">132</font>/<font color="#000000">128</font>
</pre>
<br />
<span>All the hosts are pingable as well, e.g.:</span><br />
<br />
<!-- Generator: GNU source-highlight 3.1.9
by Lorenzo Bettini
http://www.lorenzobettini.it
http://www.gnu.org/software/src-highlite -->
<pre>paul@f0:~ % foreach peer ( f1 f2 r0 r1 r2 blowfish fishfinger )
foreach? ping -c<font color="#000000">2</font> $peer.wg0
foreach? echo
foreach? end
PING f1.wg0 (<font color="#000000">192.168</font>.<font color="#000000">2.131</font>): <font color="#000000">56</font> data bytes
<font color="#000000">64</font> bytes from <font color="#000000">192.168</font>.<font color="#000000">2.131</font>: icmp_seq=<font color="#000000">0</font> ttl=<font color="#000000">64</font> time=<font color="#000000">0.334</font> ms
<font color="#000000">64</font> bytes from <font color="#000000">192.168</font>.<font color="#000000">2.131</font>: icmp_seq=<font color="#000000">1</font> ttl=<font color="#000000">64</font> time=<font color="#000000">0.260</font> ms
--- f1.wg0 ping statistics ---
<font color="#000000">2</font> packets transmitted, <font color="#000000">2</font> packets received, <font color="#000000">0.0</font>% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = <font color="#000000">0.260</font>/<font color="#000000">0.297</font>/<font color="#000000">0.334</font>/<font color="#000000">0.037</font> ms
PING f2.wg0 (<font color="#000000">192.168</font>.<font color="#000000">2.132</font>): <font color="#000000">56</font> data bytes
<font color="#000000">64</font> bytes from <font color="#000000">192.168</font>.<font color="#000000">2.132</font>: icmp_seq=<font color="#000000">0</font> ttl=<font color="#000000">64</font> time=<font color="#000000">0.323</font> ms
<font color="#000000">64</font> bytes from <font color="#000000">192.168</font>.<font color="#000000">2.132</font>: icmp_seq=<font color="#000000">1</font> ttl=<font color="#000000">64</font> time=<font color="#000000">0.303</font> ms
--- f2.wg0 ping statistics ---
<font color="#000000">2</font> packets transmitted, <font color="#000000">2</font> packets received, <font color="#000000">0.0</font>% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = <font color="#000000">0.303</font>/<font color="#000000">0.313</font>/<font color="#000000">0.323</font>/<font color="#000000">0.010</font> ms
PING r0.wg0 (<font color="#000000">192.168</font>.<font color="#000000">2.120</font>): <font color="#000000">56</font> data bytes
<font color="#000000">64</font> bytes from <font color="#000000">192.168</font>.<font color="#000000">2.120</font>: icmp_seq=<font color="#000000">0</font> ttl=<font color="#000000">64</font> time=<font color="#000000">0.716</font> ms
<font color="#000000">64</font> bytes from <font color="#000000">192.168</font>.<font color="#000000">2.120</font>: icmp_seq=<font color="#000000">1</font> ttl=<font color="#000000">64</font> time=<font color="#000000">0.406</font> ms
--- r0.wg0 ping statistics ---
<font color="#000000">2</font> packets transmitted, <font color="#000000">2</font> packets received, <font color="#000000">0.0</font>% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = <font color="#000000">0.406</font>/<font color="#000000">0.561</font>/<font color="#000000">0.716</font>/<font color="#000000">0.155</font> ms
PING r1.wg0 (<font color="#000000">192.168</font>.<font color="#000000">2.121</font>): <font color="#000000">56</font> data bytes
<font color="#000000">64</font> bytes from <font color="#000000">192.168</font>.<font color="#000000">2.121</font>: icmp_seq=<font color="#000000">0</font> ttl=<font color="#000000">64</font> time=<font color="#000000">0.639</font> ms
<font color="#000000">64</font> bytes from <font color="#000000">192.168</font>.<font color="#000000">2.121</font>: icmp_seq=<font color="#000000">1</font> ttl=<font color="#000000">64</font> time=<font color="#000000">0.629</font> ms
--- r1.wg0 ping statistics ---
<font color="#000000">2</font> packets transmitted, <font color="#000000">2</font> packets received, <font color="#000000">0.0</font>% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = <font color="#000000">0.629</font>/<font color="#000000">0.634</font>/<font color="#000000">0.639</font>/<font color="#000000">0.005</font> ms
PING r2.wg0 (<font color="#000000">192.168</font>.<font color="#000000">2.122</font>): <font color="#000000">56</font> data bytes
<font color="#000000">64</font> bytes from <font color="#000000">192.168</font>.<font color="#000000">2.122</font>: icmp_seq=<font color="#000000">0</font> ttl=<font color="#000000">64</font> time=<font color="#000000">0.569</font> ms
<font color="#000000">64</font> bytes from <font color="#000000">192.168</font>.<font color="#000000">2.122</font>: icmp_seq=<font color="#000000">1</font> ttl=<font color="#000000">64</font> time=<font color="#000000">0.479</font> ms
--- r2.wg0 ping statistics ---
<font color="#000000">2</font> packets transmitted, <font color="#000000">2</font> packets received, <font color="#000000">0.0</font>% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = <font color="#000000">0.479</font>/<font color="#000000">0.524</font>/<font color="#000000">0.569</font>/<font color="#000000">0.045</font> ms
PING blowfish.wg0 (<font color="#000000">192.168</font>.<font color="#000000">2.110</font>): <font color="#000000">56</font> data bytes
<font color="#000000">64</font> bytes from <font color="#000000">192.168</font>.<font color="#000000">2.110</font>: icmp_seq=<font color="#000000">0</font> ttl=<font color="#000000">255</font> time=<font color="#000000">35.745</font> ms
<font color="#000000">64</font> bytes from <font color="#000000">192.168</font>.<font color="#000000">2.110</font>: icmp_seq=<font color="#000000">1</font> ttl=<font color="#000000">255</font> time=<font color="#000000">35.481</font> ms
--- blowfish.wg0 ping statistics ---
<font color="#000000">2</font> packets transmitted, <font color="#000000">2</font> packets received, <font color="#000000">0.0</font>% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = <font color="#000000">35.481</font>/<font color="#000000">35.613</font>/<font color="#000000">35.745</font>/<font color="#000000">0.132</font> ms
PING fishfinger.wg0 (<font color="#000000">192.168</font>.<font color="#000000">2.111</font>): <font color="#000000">56</font> data bytes
<font color="#000000">64</font> bytes from <font color="#000000">192.168</font>.<font color="#000000">2.111</font>: icmp_seq=<font color="#000000">0</font> ttl=<font color="#000000">255</font> time=<font color="#000000">33.992</font> ms
<font color="#000000">64</font> bytes from <font color="#000000">192.168</font>.<font color="#000000">2.111</font>: icmp_seq=<font color="#000000">1</font> ttl=<font color="#000000">255</font> time=<font color="#000000">33.751</font> ms
--- fishfinger.wg0 ping statistics ---
<font color="#000000">2</font> packets transmitted, <font color="#000000">2</font> packets received, <font color="#000000">0.0</font>% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = <font color="#000000">33.751</font>/<font color="#000000">33.872</font>/<font color="#000000">33.992</font>/<font color="#000000">0.120</font> ms
</pre>
<br />
<span>Note that the loop above is a <span class='inlinecode'>tcsh</span> loop, the default shell used in FreeBSD. Of course, all other peers can ping their peers as well!</span><br />
<br />
<span>After the first ping, VPN tunnels now also show handshakes and the amount of data transferred through them:</span><br />
<br />
<!-- Generator: GNU source-highlight 3.1.9
by Lorenzo Bettini
http://www.lorenzobettini.it
http://www.gnu.org/software/src-highlite -->
<pre>paul@f0:~ % doas wg show
interface: wg0
public key: Jm6YItMt94++dIeOyVi1I9AhNt2qQcryxCZezoX7X2Y=
private key: (hidden)
listening port: <font color="#000000">56709</font>
peer: 0Y/H20W8YIbF7DA1sMwMacLI8WS9yG+<font color="#000000">1</font>/QO7m2oyllg=
preshared key: (hidden)
endpoint: <font color="#000000">192.168</font>.<font color="#000000">1.122</font>:<font color="#000000">56709</font>
allowed ips: <font color="#000000">192.168</font>.<font color="#000000">2.122</font>/<font color="#000000">32</font>, fd42:beef:cafe:<font color="#000000">2</font>::<font color="#000000">122</font>/<font color="#000000">128</font>
latest handshake: <font color="#000000">10</font> seconds ago
transfer: <font color="#000000">440</font> B received, <font color="#000000">532</font> B sent
peer: Hhy9kMPOOjChXV2RA5WeCGs+J0FE3rcNPDw/TLSn7i8=
preshared key: (hidden)
endpoint: <font color="#000000">192.168</font>.<font color="#000000">1.121</font>:<font color="#000000">56709</font>
allowed ips: <font color="#000000">192.168</font>.<font color="#000000">2.121</font>/<font color="#000000">32</font>, fd42:beef:cafe:<font color="#000000">2</font>::<font color="#000000">121</font>/<font color="#000000">128</font>
latest handshake: <font color="#000000">12</font> seconds ago
transfer: <font color="#000000">440</font> B received, <font color="#000000">564</font> B sent
peer: s3e93XoY7dPUQgLiVO4d8x/SRCFgEew+/wP<font color="#000000">7</font>+zwgehI=
preshared key: (hidden)
endpoint: <font color="#000000">192.168</font>.<font color="#000000">1.120</font>:<font color="#000000">56709</font>
allowed ips: <font color="#000000">192.168</font>.<font color="#000000">2.120</font>/<font color="#000000">32</font>, fd42:beef:cafe:<font color="#000000">2</font>::<font color="#000000">120</font>/<font color="#000000">128</font>
latest handshake: <font color="#000000">14</font> seconds ago
transfer: <font color="#000000">440</font> B received, <font color="#000000">564</font> B sent
peer: SlGVsACE1wiaRoGvCR3f7AuHfRS+1jjhS+YwEJ2HvF0=
preshared key: (hidden)
endpoint: <font color="#000000">192.168</font>.<font color="#000000">1.132</font>:<font color="#000000">56709</font>
allowed ips: <font color="#000000">192.168</font>.<font color="#000000">2.132</font>/<font color="#000000">32</font>, fd42:beef:cafe:<font color="#000000">2</font>::<font color="#000000">132</font>/<font color="#000000">128</font>
latest handshake: <font color="#000000">17</font> seconds ago
transfer: <font color="#000000">472</font> B received, <font color="#000000">564</font> B sent
peer: Xow+d3qVXgUMk4pcRSQ6Fe+vhYBa3VDyHX/4jrGoKns=
preshared key: (hidden)
endpoint: <font color="#000000">23.88</font>.<font color="#000000">35.144</font>:<font color="#000000">56709</font>
allowed ips: <font color="#000000">192.168</font>.<font color="#000000">2.110</font>/<font color="#000000">32</font>, fd42:beef:cafe:<font color="#000000">2</font>::<font color="#000000">110</font>/<font color="#000000">128</font>
latest handshake: <font color="#000000">55</font> seconds ago
transfer: <font color="#000000">472</font> B received, <font color="#000000">596</font> B sent
persistent keepalive: every <font color="#000000">25</font> seconds
peer: 8PvGZH1NohHpZPVJyjhctBX9xblsNvYBhpg68FsFcns=
preshared key: (hidden)
endpoint: <font color="#000000">46.23</font>.<font color="#000000">94.99</font>:<font color="#000000">56709</font>
allowed ips: <font color="#000000">192.168</font>.<font color="#000000">2.111</font>/<font color="#000000">32</font>, fd42:beef:cafe:<font color="#000000">2</font>::<font color="#000000">111</font>/<font color="#000000">128</font>
latest handshake: <font color="#000000">55</font> seconds ago
transfer: <font color="#000000">472</font> B received, <font color="#000000">596</font> B sent
persistent keepalive: every <font color="#000000">25</font> seconds
peer: 2htXdNcxzpI2FdPDJy4T4VGtm1wpMEQu1AkQHjNY6F8=
preshared key: (hidden)
endpoint: <font color="#000000">192.168</font>.<font color="#000000">1.131</font>:<font color="#000000">56709</font>
allowed ips: <font color="#000000">192.168</font>.<font color="#000000">2.131</font>/<font color="#000000">32</font>, fd42:beef:cafe:<font color="#000000">2</font>::<font color="#000000">131</font>/<font color="#000000">128</font>
</pre>
<br />
<h2 style='display: inline' id='managing-roaming-client-tunnels'>Managing Roaming Client Tunnels</h2><br />
<br />
<span>Since roaming clients like <span class='inlinecode'>earth</span> and <span class='inlinecode'>pixel7pro</span> connect on-demand rather than being always-on like the infrastructure hosts, it's useful to know how to configure and manage the WireGuard tunnels.</span><br />
<br />
<h3 style='display: inline' id='manual-gateway-failover-configuration'>Manual gateway failover configuration</h3><br />
<br />
<span>The default configuration for roaming clients includes both gateways (blowfish and fishfinger) with <span class='inlinecode'>AllowedIPs = 0.0.0.0/0, ::/0</span>. However, WireGuard doesn't automatically failover between multiple peers with identical <span class='inlinecode'>AllowedIPs</span> routes. When both gateways are configured this way, WireGuard uses the first peer with a recent handshake. If that gateway goes down, traffic won't automatically switch to the backup gateway.</span><br />
<br />
<span>To enable manual failover, separate configuration files can be created for roaming clients (earth laptop and pixel7pro phone), each containing only a single gateway peer. This provides explicit control over which gateway handles traffic.</span><br />
<br />
<span>Configuration files for pixel7pro (phone):</span><br />
<br />
<span>Two separate configs in <span class='inlinecode'>/home/paul/git/wireguardmeshgenerator/dist/pixel7pro/etc/wireguard/</span>:</span><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>wg0-blowfish.conf - Routes all traffic through blowfish gateway (23.88.35.144)</li>
<li>wg0-fishfinger.conf - Routes all traffic through fishfinger gateway (46.23.94.99)</li>
</ul><br />
<span>Generate QR codes for importing into the WireGuard Android app:</span><br />
<br />
<!-- Generator: GNU source-highlight 3.1.9
by Lorenzo Bettini
http://www.lorenzobettini.it
http://www.gnu.org/software/src-highlite -->
<pre>qrencode -t ansiutf8 < dist/pixel7pro/etc/wireguard/wg<font color="#000000">0</font>-blowfish.conf
qrencode -t ansiutf8 < dist/pixel7pro/etc/wireguard/wg<font color="#000000">0</font>-fishfinger.conf
</pre>
<br />
<span>Import both QR codes using the WireGuard app to create two separate tunnel profiles. You can then manually enable/disable each tunnel to select which gateway to use. Only enable one tunnel at a time.</span><br />
<br />
<span>Configuration files for earth (laptop):</span><br />
<br />
<span>Two separate configs in <span class='inlinecode'>/home/paul/git/wireguardmeshgenerator/dist/earth/etc/wireguard/</span>:</span><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>wg0-blowfish.conf - Routes all traffic through blowfish gateway</li>
<li>wg0-fishfinger.conf - Routes all traffic through fishfinger gateway</li>
</ul><br />
<span>Install both configurations:</span><br />
<br />
<!-- Generator: GNU source-highlight 3.1.9
by Lorenzo Bettini
http://www.lorenzobettini.it
http://www.gnu.org/software/src-highlite -->
<pre>sudo cp dist/earth/etc/wireguard/wg<font color="#000000">0</font>-blowfish.conf /etc/wireguard/
sudo cp dist/earth/etc/wireguard/wg<font color="#000000">0</font>-fishfinger.conf /etc/wireguard/
</pre>
<br />
<span>This approach provides explicit control over which gateway handles roaming client traffic, useful when one gateway needs maintenance or experiences connectivity issues.</span><br />
<br />
<h3 style='display: inline' id='starting-and-stopping-on-earth-fedora-laptop'>Starting and stopping on earth (Fedora laptop)</h3><br />
<br />
<span>On the Fedora laptop, WireGuard is managed via systemd. Using the separate gateway configs:</span><br />
<br />
<!-- Generator: GNU source-highlight 3.1.9
by Lorenzo Bettini
http://www.lorenzobettini.it
http://www.gnu.org/software/src-highlite -->
<pre><i><font color="silver"># Start with blowfish gateway</font></i>
earth$ sudo systemctl start wg-quick@wg0-blowfish.service
<i><font color="silver"># Or start with fishfinger gateway</font></i>
earth$ sudo systemctl start wg-quick@wg0-fishfinger.service
<i><font color="silver"># Check tunnel status (example with blowfish gateway)</font></i>
earth$ sudo wg show
interface: wg0
public key: Mc1CpSS3rbLN9A2w9c75XugQyXUkGPHKI2iCGbh8DRo=
private key: (hidden)
listening port: <font color="#000000">56709</font>
fwmark: <font color="#000000">0xca6c</font>
peer: Xow+d3qVXgUMk4pcRSQ6Fe+vhYBa3VDyHX/4jrGoKns=
preshared key: (hidden)
endpoint: <font color="#000000">23.88</font>.<font color="#000000">35.144</font>:<font color="#000000">56709</font>
allowed ips: <font color="#000000">0.0</font>.<font color="#000000">0.0</font>/<font color="#000000">0</font>, ::/<font color="#000000">0</font>
latest handshake: <font color="#000000">5</font> seconds ago
transfer: <font color="#000000">15.89</font> KiB received, <font color="#000000">32.15</font> KiB sent
persistent keepalive: every <font color="#000000">25</font> seconds
</pre>
<br />
<span>Stopping the tunnel:</span><br />
<br />
<!-- Generator: GNU source-highlight 3.1.9
by Lorenzo Bettini
http://www.lorenzobettini.it
http://www.gnu.org/software/src-highlite -->
<pre>earth$ sudo systemctl stop wg-quick@wg0-blowfish.service
<i><font color="silver"># Or if using fishfinger:</font></i>
earth$ sudo systemctl stop wg-quick@wg0-fishfinger.service
earth$ sudo wg show
<i><font color="silver"># No output - WireGuard interface is down</font></i>
</pre>
<br />
<span>Switching between gateways:</span><br />
<br />
<!-- Generator: GNU source-highlight 3.1.9
by Lorenzo Bettini
http://www.lorenzobettini.it
http://www.gnu.org/software/src-highlite -->
<pre><i><font color="silver"># Switch from blowfish to fishfinger</font></i>
earth$ sudo systemctl stop wg-quick@wg0-blowfish.service
earth$ sudo systemctl start wg-quick@wg0-fishfinger.service
</pre>
<br />
<span>The services remain <span class='inlinecode'>disabled</span> to prevent auto-start on boot, allowing manual control of when the VPN is active and which gateway to use.</span><br />
<br />
<h3 style='display: inline' id='starting-and-stopping-on-pixel7pro-android-phone'>Starting and stopping on pixel7pro (Android phone)</h3><br />
<br />
<span>On Android using the official WireGuard app, you now have two tunnel profiles (wg0-blowfish and wg0-fishfinger) after importing the QR codes:</span><br />
<br />
<span>Starting a tunnel:</span><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>1. Open the WireGuard app</li>
<li>2. Tap the toggle switch next to either <span class='inlinecode'>wg0-blowfish</span> or <span class='inlinecode'>wg0-fishfinger</span> tunnel configuration</li>
<li>3. The switch turns blue/green and shows "Active"</li>
<li>4. A key icon appears in the notification bar indicating VPN is active</li>
<li>5. All traffic now routes through the selected gateway</li>
</ul><br />
<span>Stopping the tunnel:</span><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>1. Open the WireGuard app</li>
<li>2. Tap the toggle switch again to disable it</li>
<li>3. The switch turns gray and shows "Inactive"</li>
<li>4. The notification bar key icon disappears</li>
<li>5. Normal internet routing resumes</li>
</ul><br />
<span>Switching between gateways:</span><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>1. Disable the currently active tunnel (e.g., wg0-blowfish)</li>
<li>2. Enable the other tunnel (e.g., wg0-fishfinger)</li>
<li>Only enable one tunnel at a time</li>
</ul><br />
<span>Quick toggling from notification:</span><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Pull down the notification shade</li>
<li>Tap the WireGuard notification to quickly enable/disable the tunnel without opening the app</li>
</ul><br />
<span>The WireGuard Android app supports automatically activating tunnels based on:</span><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Mobile data connection (e.g., enable VPN when on cellular)</li>
<li>WiFi SSID (e.g., disable VPN when on trusted home network)</li>
<li>Ethernet connection status</li>
</ul><br />
<span>These settings can be configured by tapping the pencil icon next to the tunnel name, then scrolling to "Toggle on/off based on" options.</span><br />
<br />
<h3 style='display: inline' id='verifying-connectivity'>Verifying connectivity</h3><br />
<br />
<span>Once the tunnel is active on either device, verify connectivity:</span><br />
<br />
<!-- Generator: GNU source-highlight 3.1.9
by Lorenzo Bettini
http://www.lorenzobettini.it
http://www.gnu.org/software/src-highlite -->
<pre><i><font color="silver"># From earth laptop:</font></i>
earth$ ping -c<font color="#000000">2</font> blowfish.wg0
earth$ ping -c<font color="#000000">2</font> fishfinger.wg0
earth$ curl https://ifconfig.me <i><font color="silver"># Should show gateway's public IP</font></i>
</pre>
<br />
<span>Check which gateway is active: Check the transfer statistics with <span class='inlinecode'>sudo wg show</span> on earth to see which peer shows recent handshakes and increasing transfer bytes. On Android, the WireGuard app shows the active tunnel with data transfer statistics.</span><br />
<br />
<h2 style='display: inline' id='conclusion'>Conclusion</h2><br />
<br />
<span>Having a mesh network on our hosts is great for securing all the traffic between them for our future k3s setup. A self-managed WireGuard mesh network is better than Tailscale as it eliminates reliance on a third party and provides full control over the configuration. It reduces unnecessary abstraction and "magic," enabling easier debugging and ensuring full ownership of our network.</span><br />
<br />
<span>Read the next post of this series:</span><br />
<br />
<a class='textlink' href='./2025-07-14-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-6.html'>f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 6: Storage</a><br />
<br />
<span>Other *BSD-related posts:</span><br />
<br />
<a class='textlink' href='./2025-12-07-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-8.html'>2025-12-07 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 8: Observability</a><br />
<a class='textlink' href='./2025-10-02-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-7.html'>2025-10-02 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 7: k3s and first pod deployments</a><br />
<a class='textlink' href='./2025-07-14-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-6.html'>2025-07-14 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 6: Storage</a><br />
<a class='textlink' href='./2025-05-11-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-5.html'>2025-05-11 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 5: WireGuard mesh network (You are currently reading this)</a><br />
<a class='textlink' href='./2025-04-05-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-4.html'>2025-04-05 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 4: Rocky Linux Bhyve VMs</a><br />
<a class='textlink' href='./2025-02-01-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-3.html'>2025-02-01 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 3: Protecting from power cuts</a><br />
<a class='textlink' href='./2024-12-03-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-2.html'>2024-12-03 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 2: Hardware and base installation</a><br />
<a class='textlink' href='./2024-11-17-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-1.html'>2024-11-17 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 1: Setting the stage</a><br />
<a class='textlink' href='./2024-04-01-KISS-high-availability-with-OpenBSD.html'>2024-04-01 KISS high-availability with OpenBSD</a><br />
<a class='textlink' href='./2024-01-13-one-reason-why-i-love-openbsd.html'>2024-01-13 One reason why I love OpenBSD</a><br />
<a class='textlink' href='./2022-10-30-installing-dtail-on-openbsd.html'>2022-10-30 Installing DTail on OpenBSD</a><br />
<a class='textlink' href='./2022-07-30-lets-encrypt-with-openbsd-and-rex.html'>2022-07-30 Let's Encrypt with OpenBSD and Rex</a><br />
<a class='textlink' href='./2016-04-09-jails-and-zfs-on-freebsd-with-puppet.html'>2016-04-09 Jails and ZFS with Puppet on FreeBSD</a><br />
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