How to setup remote access for a station

Summary

As of client version v1.6.0 the Tailscale remote access VPN client is now embedded in the Wingbits client. This means that you can now setup remote access to your Hyfix devices using Tailscale and view the device's WebUI, tar1090/graphs1090 (if enabled), and any future exposed web based ports.

If you are running a BYOD station and already have Tailscale setup, you can use this method but be aware that your access will be more limited such as ssh not being usable. Most BYOD users will probably want to keep an existing Tailscale setup.

Prerequisites

While this can be done before or after the below setup, you will also need to have Tailscale installed on any other device you wish to use when connecting to the station. This can be a PC or a mobile device (using the Tailscale app).

Basically, Tailscale makes a vpn between any devices you setup, so they can all connect to each other like they are on a local network together.

Setup

To facilitate this feature, there are some changes that have been made to the dashboard to enable the setup and linking with your Tailscale account.

You can follow the below steps to get it setup:

1. If you do not already have a Tailscale account, you will first need to create one by going to tailscale.com and create a new account.

2. Go to the My Stations page of the Wingbits dashboard and click on your Hyfix station

3. Select the Configuration option and click on “Get your key here” in orange. If you are still logged into the Tailscale site it will take you to directly to the Keys section. If not you will need to login when prompted.

   

1. On the Tailscale Admin Console, in the Settings - Keys section, click “Generate auth key”

1. Give the key a name and leave the rest of the settings at defaults and click “Generate key”

1. Copy the key to the clipboard by pressing the boxes at the end of the line.

1. Go back to the Wingbits dashboard and paste the key and hit the “Save Changes” button to save.

   

1. Give it 30mins for the station client to pick up the Tailscale config and then you can try to access it. When the station client has associated, you will see it come up in your Tailscale Admin Console under the Machines section.

2. For that Machine in Tailscale, you probably want to disable key expiry by selecting the three dots icon at the end of the line and choose “Disable key expiry” otherwise the key will auto expire in the future, and you will have to set it up again.

   

3. Once the station is linked in Tailscale, you can access it with the links on the Configuration page. Note: The first time after linking or a reboot, they can take some time to respond, especially the Tar1090 page and it may require a refresh after it times out.