WireGuard Access

Table of Contents

Introduction

In this Threefold Guide, we show how to set up WireGuard to access a 3Node deployment with an SSH connection.

Note that WireGuard provides the connection to the 3Node deployment. It is up to you to decide which SSH client you want to use. This means that the steps to SSH into a 3Node deployment will be similar to the steps proposed in the guides for Open-SSH, PuTTy and WSL. Please refer to this documentation if you have any questions concerning SSH clients. The main difference will be that we connect to the 3Node deployment using a WireGuard connection instead of an IPv4 or a Planetary Network connection.

Prerequisites

Make sure to read the introduction before going further.

Deploy a Weblet with WireGuard Access

For this guide on WireGuard access, we deploy a Full VM. Note that the whole process is similar with other types of ThreeFold weblets on the Dashboard.

  • On the Threefold Dashboard, go to: Deploy -> Virtual Machines -> Full Virtual Machine
  • Choose the parameters you want
    • Minimum CPU: 1 vCore
    • Minimum Memory: 512 Mb
    • Minimum Disk Size: 15 Gb
  • Select Add WireGuard Access in Network
  • In Node Selection, click on Load Nodes
  • Click Deploy

Once the Full VM is deployed, a window named Details will appear. You will need to take note of the WireGuard Config to set the WireGuard configurations and the WireGuard IP to SSH into the deployment.

Note: At anytime, you can open the Details window by clicking on the button Show Details under Actions on the Dashboard weblet page.

Install WireGuard

To install WireGuard, please refer to the official WireGuard installation documentation.

Set the WireGuard Configurations

When it comes to setting the WireGuard configurations, the steps are similar for Linux and MAC, but differ slightly for Windows. For Linux and MAC, we will be using the CLI. For Windows, we will be using the WireGuard GUI app.

Linux and MAC

To set the WireGuard connection on Linux or MAC, create a WireGuard configuration file and run WireGuard via the command line:

  • Copy the content WireGuard Config from the Dashboard Details window
  • Paste the content to a file with the extension .conf (e.g. wg.conf) in the directory /etc/wireguard 
    • sudo nano /etc/wireguard/wg.conf
  • Start WireGuard with the command wg-quick and, as a parameter, pass the configuration file without the extension (e.g. wg.conf -> wg) 
    • wg-quick up wg
    • Note that you can also specify a config file by path, stored in any location 
      • wg-quick up /etc/wireguard/wg.conf
  • If you want to stop the WireGuard service, you can write the following in the terminal 
    • wg-quick down wg

Note: If it doesn't work and you already did a WireGuard connection with the same file, write on the terminal wg-quick down wg, then wg-quick up wg to reset the connection with new configurations.

Windows

To set the WireGuard connection on Windows, add and activate a tunnel with the WireGuard app:

  • Open the WireGuard GUI app
  • Click on Add Tunnel and then Add empty tunnel
  • Choose a name for the tunnel
  • Erase the content of the main window and paste the content WireGuard Config from the Dashboard Details window
  • Click Save and then click on Activate.

Test the WireGuard Connection

As a test, you can ping the virtual IP address of the VM to make sure the WireGuard connection is properly established. Make sure to replace VM_WireGuard_IP with the proper WireGuard IP address:

  • Ping the deployment 
    • ping VM_WireGuard_IP

SSH into the Deployment with Wireguard

To SSH into the deployment with Wireguard, use the WireGuard IP shown in the Dashboard Details window.

  • SSH into the deployment 
    • ssh root@VM_WireGuard_IP

You now have access to the deployment over a WireGuard SSH connection.

Questions and Feedback

If you have any questions, let us know by writing a post on the Threefold Forum or by reaching out to the ThreeFold Grid Tester Community on Telegram.

Last change: 2024-03-06