Provision, Manage, and Query Tailscale Resources Programmatically as Code

Manually managing network configurations across devices can be a real headache, especially if your organization is growing fast. Integrating Tailscale with your infrastructure as code IaC provider can remove much of this hassle, though.

Tailscale is a business VPN and networking solution that lets devices connect directly to one another. It's secure and simple, especially if your team is spread across the globe. It also works well with existing identity providers to make authentication smoother and safer.

IaC is a practice where infrastructure setup and configuration are written as code scripts that are then executed to provision and manage IT resources automatically. It allows you to reuse code scripts for consistent setups, which ensures uniformity, enhances efficiency, and minimizes manual errors.

Combining Tailscale with your IaC provider allows you to set up and adjust your secure networks using code. This means your network setups remain consistent and secure without manual hassle, even as your organization changes and grows.

This article discusses four of the foremost IaC providers—Terraform, Pulumi, GitHub Actions, and Ansible—and explains how to integrate them with Tailscale to provide a harmonized, efficient, and secure operational environment.

Terraform

Terraform is well-known in the IaC world for its declarative approach.

Its HashiCorp Configuration Language HCL allows you to describe the desired end state of your infrastructure as code without detailing the exact steps to get there. Instead, it determines the best way to achieve it. This approach not only saves you time and effort; a uniform setup also minimizes variations and inconsistencies.

Terraform has an immutable infrastructure, which means that it promotes creating new resources instead of updating existing ones. This ensures that your infrastructure is consistent and avoids potential issues caused by in-place modifications.

It also maintains the state of your infrastructure, allowing you to understand the current configuration and helping you plan changes without disrupting the existing setup.

Terraform boasts a broad range of providers like AWS, Azure, and GCP, which allows users to interact with various services and platforms.

Automating Tailscale with Terraform blends Terraform's deployment efficiency with Tailscale's secure networking, allowing you to automate Tailscale setups and network configurations and manage authentication mechanisms.

Terraform integrates your Tailscale configurations when you deploy or modify your infrastructure to align with your security and networking requirements. This allows you to scale up without the hassle because every device or instance is Tailscale-ready from the get-go.

Pulumi

On the other end of the spectrum, Pulumi gives developers the freedom to use their favorite programming languages to define and manage infrastructure. Pulumi caters to a broad audience, from Python and TypeScript to Go and C#.

This fusion of conventional coding with IaC principles makes Pulumi a particular favorite of developers keen on using their existing programming skills for infrastructure. It's also popular among those who prefer open source tools.

Even though you're doing your own coding with Pulumi, it does provide considerable support:

- Pulumi's reusable cloud architecture libraries allow you to lean on best practices while reducing intricate infrastructure setups to a few lines of code.

- Pulumi's AI assistance lets you generate code for your desired infrastructure through natural language commands and allows iterations on your code, making it easier to adapt and add new resources.

- During deployment, Pulumi provides previews and updates in real time to help catch errors early and make informed decisions before actual deployment.

Its automation API also offers you freedom even from command line interfaces. You can embed IaC directly into your applications so that you manage infrastructure resources without a CLI using only pure code.

Pulumi supports a myriad of clouds, from popular ones like AWS, Azure, and GCP to more specialized ones, allowing for true multicloud deployments. Configuration is consistent across clouds and supports secret management to ensure your sensitive data is always encrypted and safe.

Pulumi's support for standard programming languages means you can embed Tailscale configurations directly into your deployment scripts. As you orchestrate the launch of new resources, Pulumi ensures these resources adhere to your Tailscale security guidelines. Pulumi lets you scale your infrastructure deployments across multiple clouds while remaining consistently secure with Tailscale regardless of location.

Pulumi pairs particularly well with Tailscale because Pulumi takes security seriously. All communication between Pulumi's clients and server is encrypted using TLS, and Pulumi is SOC 2 Type II certified. Combining Pulumi with Tailscale's hardened security makes for a very robust IaC framework.

GitHub Actions

GitHub Actions is a go-to solution for continuous integration and continuous deployment (CI/CD).

GitHub Actions is especially attractive for those already managing their code repositories on GitHub. Native GitHub integration eliminates the need for third-party CI/CD tools, which makes the entire code-to-deployment process smoother.

Users can also extend their workflows with the diverse range of actions available on GitHub Marketplace, catering to various tasks, such as cloud deployments and notifications.

Other noteworthy features of GitHub Actions include the following:

• Event-driven workflows: GitHub Actions triggers workflows based on specific events, such as code pushes, pull requests, or issue comments.
• Matrix builds: This feature allows users to test their code across multiple environments, such as different language versions or operating systems.
• Live logs: Real-time log viewing enhances monitoring and troubleshooting during workflow runs.

One of the strengths of GitHub Actions is its community-powered extendability that lets you automate your entire development workflow. Whether it's deploying to any cloud, integrating with tools like Jira, or publishing packages to npm, the strength of GitHub Actions lies in adaptability.

Deploying Tailscale configurations to various endpoints—such as cloud providers, virtual machines, or on-premises servers—is streamlined with GitHub Actions. The Tailscale GitHub Action, available on GitHub Marketplace, further simplifies this process by directly connecting your to your tailnet from any GitHub Actions workflow.

This integration enables direct access to tailnet nodes from within your workflow to facilitate tasks like secure application deployments or accessing internal test databases. This action operates by using credentials—OAuth client information, stored as GitHub Encrypted Secrets—to spawn an ephemeral node for the workflow's duration, which is automatically removed post-action to ensure security and consistency every step of the way.

Ansible

Ansible's hallmark is its simplicity and ease of use.

Ansible uses YAML, a human-readable data serialization language, which makes for a gentle learning curve for those without a strong programming background.

Ansible is agentless. You don't need to install any agent software on the machines you're managing. All it needs is SSH access, making it lightweight and minimally invasive.

Ansible comes with an extensive library of modules for a wide range of tasks that allows you to script complex operations with ease. Whether it's managing services, installing packages, or handling files, there's likely an Ansible module available for the job.

Ansible also promotes code reusability and consistency with roles—independent, reusable collections of tasks, files, templates, and variables that can be easily shared and used across projects.

To further enhance consistency, Ansible follows the principle of idempotence, which ensures that operations can be repeated without side effects. This guarantees that even if you run a playbook—a set of instructions in Ansible—multiple times, the outcome remains consistent.

Ansible has broad integration capabilities that are not limited to only cloud platforms. It can integrate with solutions across various sectors—from infrastructure components like Windows and VMware to networking solutions by Cisco and Juniper and even specialized DevOps and security tools like Atlassian and Palo Alto.

By integrating Ansible with Tailscale, you enhance Ansible's automation capabilities, allowing for efficient network configurations and device management using Ansible playbooks. This combination streamlines Tailscale deployments, ensuring consistent and reliable configurations. You can define tasks for setting up Tailscale on devices, managing access control lists, and updating network configurations.

Ansible's modular and idempotent nature ensures that your Tailscale setup is consistent across the board. As you scale your infrastructure, integrating Tailscale is as simple as executing a playbook to guarantee that all devices are configured correctly and securely as per your organization's standards.

IaC Tools Compared

Each of the IaC tools discussed caters to specific needs and nuances.

Terraform works well for teams who want a balance between complexity and capability. Its declarative syntax ensures that configurations are both human-readable and consistently reproducible. Furthermore, the plan command offers transparency that reduces the potential for deployment surprises, making infrastructure changes predictable.

Pulumi works well for developers who want the flexibility to use their preferred programming languages. Its AI-assisted code generation makes initiation into IaC more accessible, which is particularly beneficial for rapid onboarding or managing complex setups where automation can significantly streamline tasks.

GitHub Actions benefits from the popularity and ubiquity of GitHub and transforms the platform from only a code repository to a powerful CI/CD tool. It's particularly compelling for projects that are already in the GitHub ecosystem. The immense repository of community-contributed actions ensures that there's a solution to most automation challenges, making it a potent tool for both novices and experts.

Lastly, Ansible excels at versatility. Its wide range of integration capabilities—from cloud services to on-premises hardware and mainstream DevOps tools to specialized security solutions—makes it a universal orchestration tool that's useful for teams or organizations whose work spans across various platforms and tools.

Whichever tool you choose, combining IaC with Tailscale lets you automate your Tailscale setups so that your security protocols evolve in tandem with your infrastructure deployments. This not only enhances operational efficiency but also fortifies the security landscape of your solutions and products.