Tailscale is a vpn tool often used for development to connect into dev environments and enterprises. Unlike more traditional vpn systems it doesn't have a central hub, its more like a mesh network. A group of machines that can talk to eachother is called a tailnet. Each tailnet also contains a coordination server which assigns each device a Tailscale ip address an handles metadata changes and network topology. Because Tailscale is a mesh network, typically machines will talk to eachother directly; when they can't, they'll use another node as a relay. Permissions are managed through an access control list on the coordination server.

Set Up

Download tailscale onto your device and log into your tailscale account. If you don't have one you can log in using your github account or another identity provider.

You can then use the tailscale app to enable your device to be used as an exit node on your tailnet and, if you want, expose the LAN. Doing so enables vpn use to skirt firewalls. For example: accessing your campus network from home. If you enable LAN access then you can have your friends acces your LAN to play minecraft or other games together.