How can i access my home linux mini-pc from the internet, without using port forwarding on my router?
I do have my own web server running centos 7 i could use. I am planning to buy a small mini-pc that will be running home assistant and frigate for recording my camera's and integrating AI detection into my smart home. It seems the best installation for that is debian.
I have a router that is using a wireguard vpn, that does not allow port forwarding, so i need an alternative to access the mini-pc.
Now, of course there's some things to be found when googling, but my preference goes to the most easy-to-use solution as i'm not great with linux, i just mess around digging through configs, copy-pasting instructions and getting stuff done that way. This is why I wanted to ask you guys for advice =)
This is what I've done too. I am almost certain it is less performant than some of the other options out there but I like that it is simple and using a tool I know. If this was a major use case of mine, I'd probably do more playing and get it working with something else but this works for now.
I want the whole house to be automatically protected. Incl many smart home devices. So every device that connects to the router, is going through the vpn.
I run Wireguard at my public VPS. I run Wireguard on my clients at home. I have Wireguard on the server configured to route via iptables, the ports I desire to send that traffic to my home machines.
If this pastes correctly, here is a redacted version of my server and client config:
#
# Client (the actual self-host local server)
#
[Interface]
## This Desktop/client's private key ##
PrivateKey =
## Client ip address ##
Address = 10.10.123.2/24
[Peer]
## Ubuntu 20.04 server public key ##
PublicKey =
## set ACL ##
#AllowedIPs = 10.10.123.0/24
# setting to 0.0.0.0/0 routes all outbound through the vpn and out the public vps
AllowedIPs = 0.0.0.0/0
## Your Ubuntu 20.04 LTS server's public IPv4/IPv6 address and port ##
Endpoint = :12345
## Key connection alive ##
PersistentKeepalive = 15
#
# Server (in the Wireguard context, exposed to the Internet)
#
[Interface]
## My VPN server private IP address ##
Address = 10.10.123.1/24
## client VPN IP address (note the /32 subnet) ##
AllowedIPs = 10.10.123.2/32
#
# Server - Ensure these are set in the server if using Ubuntu ufw firewall (or similar?)
#
Anywhere on ens3 ALLOW FWD Anywhere on wg0
Anywhere on wg0 ALLOW FWD Anywhere on ens3
Anywhere on wg0 ALLOW FWD Anywhere on wg0
Anywhere (v6) on ens3 ALLOW FWD Anywhere (v6) on wg0
Anywhere (v6) on wg0 ALLOW FWD Anywhere (v6) on ens3
Anywhere (v6) on wg0 ALLOW FWD Anywhere (v6) on wg0
#
# Server - Ensure ipv4 routing is on (and ipv6 if you're using it)
#
# In /etc/sysctl.conf
net.ipv4.ip_forward=1
If you have a VPN router, your router literally has remote access built in as a feature. The VPN can be connected to remotely, and allow you to access locally hosted services. I use mine for such a purpose. When configured correctly, your VPN connection makes your device get treated like it's on the local network.