Reverse proxy or consider Netmaker/Zerotier/Tailscale? reddit / selfhosted ---------------------------------------------------------------------- congrairezi · 2023-10-09 14:11 I've set up a few self-hosted services like Nextcloud, BlueIris, and HomeAssistant, all managed through PFSense as my router/firewall. Currently, I access these services when I'm away from home by establishing a VPN connection to PFSense. While it works, it's a bit cumbersome to VPN in every time I need to check something on my server. I was contemplating setting up a reverse proxy on PFSense using HAProxy to streamline access but then, I saw other options like, [Netmaker](https://www.netmaker.io/), [Tailscale](https://github.com/Tailscale/), [ZeroTier](https://github.com/Zerotier/) etc. mentioned, and I'm thinking this sounds ideal. Before I make a decision, I'd like to know if there are any downsides to using the later options. For instance, with ZeroTier, it seems you can only access self-hosted services from devices that you've pre- admitted to the private network. I haven't delved into Netmaker or Tailscale yet. I'm also curious if anyone here uses DNS services like dynudns to resolve domain names to the 10.x.x.x addresses their servers have within these overlay networks. Have you encountered any issues, especially with ISPs that filter out DNS responses containing RFC1918 addresses? Sorry, lots of questions! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ElevenNotes · 2023-10-09 14:19 Why do you need to VPN in? My phone is connected via VPN as soon as I leave my home Wi-Fi. All services accessible just like at home. Draws < 3% battery in a days usage. No need to activate anything by hand (wireguard on iOS). Sure you can use Tailscale but you have VPN already, so what's the point? As for DNS. Why do you need a public DNS to resolve private IPs? If you talk about VPN and DNS, just add your DNS servers at home to your VPN config and your VPN client will use that DNS so that anything you selfhost will resolve to a local address. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Accomplished-Lack721 · 2023-10-09 16:26 A reverse proxy is a good measure if you have a need to explose services to the general Internet. In my case, I do this with NextCloud so I can share links to other people, and because I may occasionally access it from a computer where I can't control a VPN client (like my work desktop). Accessing through VPN is better when you have control over the devices being used to access the service, or when you can realistically expect all users to have the option and ability to use a VPN client. My Portainer instance, for example, has no reason to be accessible by anyone but me, and I'm unlikely to use it from my work machine. There's no reason why you can't do one for some services, and the other for others. Tailscale is a good option for setting up a VPN easily and without opening ports. In my case, I just run a Wireguard server on my router, and that works well enough for me. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- JeremyMcFake · 2023-10-09 16:46 I need to look into setting up wireguard... I have tailscale because it was so easy to set up when I found out about it over a year ago. Feel confident that it'll be simple for me set up wireguard now. Tailscale is really good if you need something fast and simple. The only thing that annoys me, and probably shouldn't be so much of an issue is that I have to manually switch it on everytime I leave my home network... And if you clear all of the open apps on the phone, it'll close the connection as well. I always have a habit of closing all apps on my phone when I finish with something. If wireguard can automatically switch to VPN when not on the home network, and stay on regardless of an app being open, that's enough for me to want to switch. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Veloder · 2023-10-09 17:21 The iOS app can switch automatically, the Android app can't, but there is a workaround with the Automate app. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ElevenNotes · 2023-10-09 17:47 That's what it does. You tell it to switch on automatically except if you are connected to Wi-Fi XYZ. No need to close apps. There is a 2-4 second lag when you leave home and your phone switches, but it works with any app open.