> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://ona.com/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Tailscale

With Tailscale you can automatically and securely connect your Gitpod workspace to other development resources, whether in the cloud or on prem, such as a production database behind your company’s firewall. You can also spin up several Gitpod workspaces that can talk to each other.

[Tailscale](https://tailscale.com/) is built on top of the point-to-point open-source [WireGuard](https://www.wireguard.com/) protocol which powers an encrypted mesh network or `tailnet`. At Gitpod we are big fans of their product and recently announced an [official partnership](https://www.gitpod.io/blog/tailscale) with them.

## Integration

<Info>
  Using [Tailscale ssh](https://tailscale.com/kb/1193/tailscale-ssh/) *to* a workspace is not supported right now and *from* requires Tailscale 1.32 or later. If your workspace image was created before 1.32 was available you can [force](/classic/user/configure/workspaces/workspace-image#manually-rebuild-a-workspace-image) a rebuild without having to update your `.gitpod.Dockerfile`.
</Info>

If you’re already using Tailscale, the following steps need to be done (see [https://github.com/gitpod-io/demo-tailscale-with-gitpod](https://github.com/gitpod-io/demo-tailscale-with-gitpod) for a working example):

1. Install `tailscale` through a custom `.gitpod.Dockerfile` by adding the following layer to it.

```Dockerfile theme={null}
RUN curl -fsSL https://pkgs.tailscale.com/stable/ubuntu/focal.gpg | sudo apt-key add - \
     && curl -fsSL https://pkgs.tailscale.com/stable/ubuntu/focal.list | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/tailscale.list \
     && sudo apt-get update -q \
     && sudo apt-get install -yq tailscale jq \
     && sudo update-alternatives --set ip6tables /usr/sbin/ip6tables-nft
```

2. Start `tailscale` on workspace start and maintain the machine state across workspaces by adding the following tasks to your `.gitpod.yml`.

```yml .gitpod.yml theme={null}
tasks:
    - name: tailscaled
      command: |
          if [ -n "${TAILSCALE_STATE_MYPROJECT}" ]; then
            # restore the tailscale state from gitpod user's env vars
            sudo mkdir -p /var/lib/tailscale
            echo "${TAILSCALE_STATE_MYPROJECT}" | sudo tee /var/lib/tailscale/tailscaled.state > /dev/null
          fi
          sudo tailscaled
    - name: tailscale
      command: |
          if [ -n "${TAILSCALE_STATE_MYPROJECT}" ]; then
            sudo -E tailscale up
          else
            sudo -E tailscale up --hostname "gitpod-${GITPOD_GIT_USER_NAME// /-}-$(echo ${GITPOD_WORKSPACE_CONTEXT} | jq -r .repository.name)"
            # store the tailscale state into gitpod user
            gp env TAILSCALE_STATE_MYPROJECT="$(sudo cat /var/lib/tailscale/tailscaled.state)"
          fi
```

This configuration will register a Tailscale node based on the following name scheme: `gitpod-{user-name}-{repo-name}`. On first workspace start you will get asked to login through the terminal. When this was successful a Tailscale machine state will be stored in your Gitpod's account. On subsequent starts of workspaces on this project this machine state will be restored.

IF you enable [Tailscale's Magic DNS](https://tailscale.com/kb/1081/magicdns/) you get a stable domain for your project's services that you can reach from any other Tailscale node (e.g. another workspace or your local machine).

<Warning>Be aware that starting and connecting multiple workspaces for the same project in parallel results in unreliable network connections.</Warning>