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Using Tailscale As A Traditional VPN
(lemmy.world)
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this post was submitted on 08 Apr 2025
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As someone that struggles with networking, I'd love to hear what you've found and how
Ok my brother, I'm back with great news. It is as easy as everyone in this thread has said it was. Honestly, it wasn't the set up that I was concerned with. My question was more concerned with any additional security considerations I may have to deploy before setting Tailscale up as an exit node and thus using it as a traditional VPN.
First, I am going to assume you already have Tailscale deployed on your server & laptop or desktop. That's going to make it a lot easier....hurr hurr.
So fire up your terminal and point it at your server. You can run
sudo tailscale statusto check the current status of Tailscale. After which you will need to issue this command:tailscale up --advertise-exit-node. This does what it says and tells Tailscale to use the current server as an exit node.Having done that, in the Tailscale console online click the [Machines] tab. Click the [...] option at the far right of your server listing and select [Edit Route Settings]. This brings up a dialogue box. Check [Use As Exit Node].
Assuming a Windows laptop/desktop, click the Tailscale tray icon. You should see your server listed under [Recommended]. Choose that one.
You should now be connected to the server exit node. Check your IP Check your speed. Not too shabby. Conduct a DNS Leak Check
There you go. Jack's a doughnut, Bob's your uncle. To put your server back, use
sudo tailscale up --advertise-exit-node=falseSomebody fact check me. LOL
How about I do the set up first, take my normal notes as I do, and then report back to you. That way I'll have a firmer grip on what needs to be done.
https://tailscale.com/kb/1017/install
It really is super simple