Use exit nodes

Advertise a device as an exit node

To use a tailnet device as an exit node, select an OS and complete the steps.

Grant access to use an exit node

By default, any user in your tailnet can use a configured exit node. You don't need to add any grants or ACLs.

This changes if you customize your tailnet's access control policy. For example, suppose you replace the default policy with one that only lets your developers access a few internal servers:

{
  "grants": [
    {
      "src": ["group:developers"],
      "dst": ["tag:prod"],
      "ip": ["*"]
    }
  ]
}

Your developers can still reach the production servers, but they can no longer use an exit node. The policy never grants access to autogroup:internet, so Tailscale has no permission to route internet traffic through the exit node.

A common point of confusion is to add the exit node device itself as the destination. That only permits connections to the exit node, such as SSH. It does not permit using the device as an internet gateway.

To permit exit node use, add a grant or ACL whose dst is autogroup:internet. This grants permission to route internet traffic through any configured exit node rather than to connect to the exit node device itself.

Use an exit node

Each device must enable the exit node separately. The instructions for enabling an exit node vary depending on the device's operating system.

You can turn off routing through an exit node by selecting None from the Exit Node drop-down.