ACL and access rule samples

This article provides example access controls (ACLs) for common scenarios. For information about the syntax, refer to the tailnet policy syntax.

Example	Description	Uses
Allow all	The default tailnet policy that allows all devices within the tailnet to access other devices in the tailnet.	ACLs, SSH
Resource-level access policies	Allow specific devices to access specific resources within the tailnet.	ACLs, hosts
Restrict based on purpose (tags)	Allow specific devices to access specific resources within the tailnet using tags.	ACLs
Restrict based on group	Manage access to resources using autogroups, custom groups, and provisioned groups.	ACLs, groups
Restrict based on individual users	Manage access to resources for specific users.	ACLs
Starter plan ACL	Let employees access their own devices and devices tagged with `corp` and let admins access devices tagged with `corp` or `prod`.	ACLs, tag owners
Application allowlisting for third-party SaaS apps	Allow traffic to a specific application through a designated exit node.	ACLs, autogroups, tags, tag owners, auto approvers
Access to an internal application (VPN)	Manage user access applications based on their job role.	ACLs, groups, tag owners
Access to an internal application (VPN) with synced groups	Manage access to internal resources using groups synced to an identity provider.	ACLs, groups, tag owners
Remote access to a production environment	Manage user access to the production environment based on their job role.	ACLs, groups, tag owners, tests
VPC access (VPC peering)	Manage access to a virtual private cloud using access control lists.	ACLs, groups, tag owners, auto approvers
Share access with a contractor	Allow a third-party contractor to access shared resources in the development environment.	ACLs, groups, tag owners
Remote development	Manage access to a remote development environment.	ACLs, groups, tag owners
Pair programming	Create a paired programming environment multiple engineers can connect to using SSH.	ACLs, tag owners
CI/CD deployment pipeline	Manage access to resources based on job roles.	ACLs, groups, tag owners
Monitoring access to applications	Allow a monitoring server to access all applications on common ports.	ACLs, groups, tag owners
Application peering	Allow multiple cloud providers or applications to access each other.	ACLs, groups, tag owners

Allow all (default ACL)

When you first create your Tailscale network (called a tailnet), Tailscale initializes it with a default “allow all” access policy to make it easy to connect to and use Tailscale without restricting any traffic in your network.

What this ACL does:

All devices on the tailnet can access all other devices on the tailnet.
All users can establish a Tailscale SSH session to their own devices using check mode, as either root or non-root.
If you have a subnet router initialized with --snat-subnet-routes=false --stateful-filtering=false, then any devices on the same local network as the subnet router can also access all devices on the tailnet.
If you have a device shared from another network in your tailnet, that device cannot access any devices on the tailnet. The device can only respond to incoming connections from the tailnet.

{
  "acls": [
    // Allow all connections.
    { "action": "accept", "src": ["*"], "dst": ["*:*"] },
  ],
  "ssh": [
    // Allow all users to SSH into their own devices in check mode.
    {
      "action": "check",
      "src": ["autogroup:member"],
      "dst": ["autogroup:self"],
      "users": ["autogroup:nonroot", "root"]
    }
  ]
}

In the default ACL, the ssh rule uses autogroup:self for the dst field andautogroup:nonroot in the users field. If you change the dst field fromautogroup:self to some other destination, such as an ACL tag, also consider replacing autogroup:nonroot in the users field. If you don't removeautogroup:nonroot from the users field, then anyone permitted by the src setting will be able to SSH in as any nonroot user on the dst device.

Resource-level access policies

This example is possible with all plans.

You can enable connectivity from one device or network to another using their IP addresses. Additionally, the hosts section lets you define a human-friendly name for an IP address or CIDR range, to make access rules more readable.

What this ACL does:

The device with the IP address 100.3.4.5 can access the device with the IP address 100.101.102.103.
The device with the IP address 100.3.4.5 can access devices in the subnet 10.0.0.0/16 through a subnet router.
The device with the hostname example-host-1 can access devices in the subnet 10.0.0.0/16.
The device with the hostname example-host-1 can access the device with the hostname example-network-1.

{
  "acls": [
    // 100.3.4.5 can access 100.101.102.103
    { "action": "accept", "src": ["100.3.4.5"], "dst": ["100.101.102.103:*"] },
    // 100.3.4.5 can access devices in the subnet 10.0.0.0/16
    { "action": "accept", "src": ["100.3.4.5"], "dst": ["10.0.0.0/16:*"] },
    // Named host example-host-1 can access devices in the subnet 10.0.0.0/16
    { "action": "accept", "src": ["example-host-1"], "dst": ["10.0.0.0/16:*"] },
    // Named host example-host-1 can access named host example-network-1
    { "action": "accept", "src": ["example-host-1"], "dst": ["example-network-1:*"] },
  ],
  // Readable shorthands for devices and networks.
  "hosts": {
    "example-host-1": "100.101.102.103",
    "example-network-1": "10.0.0.0/24",
  },
}

Restrict based on purpose (tags)

This example is possible with all plans.

Tags let you assign an identity to a device that is separate from human users, and use that identity as part of an ACL to restrict access. Tags should be used when adding servers to your Tailscale network, so that their access is based on their purpose, not based on which member of your operations team enrolled them.

What this ACL does:

Devices tagged with tag:frontend can access devices tagged with tag:backend.
Devices tagged with tag:backend can access devices tagged with tag:logging.

{
  "acls": [
    // Devices tagged with tag:frontend can access devices tagged with tag:backend
    { "action": "accept", "src": ["tag:frontend"], "dst": ["tag:backend:*"] }
    // Devices tagged with tag:backend can access devices tagged with tag:logging
    { "action": "accept", "src": ["tag:backend"], "dst": ["tag:logging:*"] },
  ],
}

Restrict based on group

You can enable access to resources on your tailnet with autogroups, custom groups, or groups provisioned from supported identity providers.

With autogroups

This example is possible with all plans.

Autogroups are built-in groups that automatically include users, destinations, or usernames with the same properties.

What this ACL does:

All tailnet members autogroup:member can access devices tagged with tag:frontend.
All Tailscale Admins (autogroup:admin) can access devices tagged with tag:backend or tag:logging.

{
  "acls": [
    // All tailnet members can access devices tagged with tag:fontend
    { "action": "accept", "src": ["autogroup:member"], "dst": ["tag:frontend:*"] }
    // All Tailscale admins can access devices tagged with tag:prod
    { "action": "accept", "src": ["autogroup:admin"], "dst": ["tag:backend:*", "tag:logging:*"] },
  ],
}

With custom groups

This example is possible with the Personal, Premium, and Enterprise plans.

Custom groups let you define a shorthand for a group of users, which you can then use in access rules instead of listing users out explicitly.

What this ACL does:

The Engineering team group:engineering consists of alice@example.com and bob@example.com.
The DevOps team group:engineering consists of amelie@example.com and carl@example.com.
The Engineering team group:engineering can access devices tagged with tag:frontend or tag:backend.
The DevOps team group:devops can access devices tagged with tag:frontend, tag:backend, or tag:logging.

{
  "groups": {
    // Alice and Bob are in group:engineering
    "group:engineering": ["alice@example.com", "bob@example.com"],
    // Amelie and Carl are in group:devops
    "group:devops": ["amelie@example.com", "carl@example.com"],
  },
  "acls": [
    // Users in group:engineering can access devices tagged with tag:frontend or tag:backend
    { "action": "accept", "src": ["group:engineering"], "dst": ["tag:frontend:*", "tag:backend:*"] },
    // Users in group:devops can access devices tagged with tag:frontend or tag:backend or tag:logging
    { "action": "accept", "src": ["group:devops"], "dst": ["tag:frontend:*", "tag:backend:*", "tag:logging:*"] },
  ],
}

With provisioned groups

You can use group provisioning from supported identity providers and avoid maintaining custom groups in your ACLs.

{
  "acls": [
    // Users in group:engineering@example.com can access devices tagged with tag:frontend or tag:backend
    { "action": "accept", "src": ["group:engineering@example.com"], "dst": ["tag:frontend:*", "tag:backend:*"] },
    // Users in group:devops@example.com can access devices tagged with tag:frontend or tag:backend or tag:logging
    { "action": "accept", "src": ["group:devops@example.com"], "dst": ["tag:frontend:*", "tag:backend:*", "tag:logging:*"] },
  ],
}

Restrict based on individual user

This example is possible with the Personal, Premium, and Enterprise plans.

You can enable access to resources based on individual users.

What this ACL does:

User Alice can access devices tagged with tag:frontend.
User Bob can access devices tagged with tag:backend.

{
  "acls": [
    // Alice can access devices tagged with tag:frontend
    { "action": "accept", "src": ["amelie@example.com"], "dst": ["tag:frontend:*"] },
    // Bob can access devices tagged with tag:backend
    { "action": "accept", "src": ["bob@example.com"], "dst": ["tag:backend:*"] },
  ]
}

Starter plan ACL

This example provides remote access to corp and prod devices. It is suitable for many Starter plan use cases and is possible with all plans.

Your team can use Tailscale to access remote devices. In this scenario, all users can access their own remote devices, as well as any common corporate devices, such as servers, that are tagged. Only Tailscale Admins can access production devices. Admins can configure which devices are tagged. No corporate or production devices can access each other, and no shared users can access devices.

What this ACL does:

All employees can access their own devices.
All employees can access corporate devices tagged with tag:corp.
All Tailscale Admins (autogroup:admin) can access devices tagged with tag:prod.
All Tailscale Admins can manage which devices are tagged with tag:corp and tag:prod.

{
   "acls": [
    // All employees can access their own devices
    { "action": "accept", "src": ["autogroup:member"], "dst": ["autogroup:self:*"] },
    // All employees can access devices tagged with tag:corp
    { "action": "accept", "src": ["autogroup:member"], "dst": ["tag:corp:*"] },
    // All Tailscale admins can access devices tagged with tag:prod
    { "action": "accept", "src": ["autogroup:admin"], "dst": ["tag:prod:*"] },
   ],
  "tagOwners": {
    // All Tailscale admins can manage which devices are tagged tag:corp and tag:prod
    "tag:corp": ["autogroup:admin"],
    "tag:prod": ["autogroup:admin"],
   },
 }

Application allowlisting for third-party SaaS application (IP allowlisting)

This example is possible with all plans.

You can use Tailscale to allow users access to third-party hosted applications, where access is restricted using IP application allowlisting. In this scenario, traffic for a certain application, www.example-saas-app.com, is allowed for your organization’s resources only if coming from a known set of fixed IP addresses. You can host an exit node in your network to route all traffic leaving your network, and use that node’s IP address as part of an application allowlist. You can also use auto approvers to automatically approve exit nodes.

What this ACL does:

All Tailscale Admins (autogroup:admin) (such as the IT team) can access the devices tagged withtag:application-exit-node (for maintenance).
All employees can access the public internet through an exit node in the network. They do not need access to the exit node itself to use it.
All Tailscale Admins (autogroup:admin) (such as the IT team) can manage which devices are tagged with tag:application-exit-node.
All Tailscale Admins (autogroup:admin) and devices tagged with tag:application-exit-node can auto-approve exit nodes.

{
  "groups": {
    // Dave has the admin role in Tailscale, so in autogroup:admin
  },
  "acls": [
    // Users who are Tailscale admins can access devices tagged with tag:application-exit-node
    { "action": "accept", "src": ["autogroup:admin"], "dst": ["tag:application-exit-node:*"] },
    // All employees can use exit nodes
    { "action": "accept", "src": ["autogroup:member"], "dst": ["autogroup:internet:*"] },
  ],
  "tagOwners": {
    // Users who are Tailscale admins can apply the tag tag:application-exit-node
    "tag:application-exit-node": ["autogroup:admin"],
  },
  "autoApprovers": {
    // Exit nodes advertised by users who are Tailscale admins or devices tagged
    // with tag:application-exit-node will be automatically approved
    "exitNode": ["tag:application-exit-node", "autogroup:admin"],
  }
}

Access to an internal application (VPN)

This example is possible with the Personal, Premium, and Enterprise plans.

You can use Tailscale to allow users to access internal applications, including both custom internal applications and third-party applications hosted internally. In this scenario, users in your tailnet can access applications based on their job role. The IT team can set up internal applications.

What this ACL does:

Members of the engineering team group:engineering can access the devices tagged with tag:engineering.
Members of the finance team group:finance can access the devices tagged with tag:finance.
Members of the legal team group:legal can access the devices tagged with tag:legal.
All employees can access the devices tagged with tag:internal.
All Tailscale Admins (autogroup:admin) (such as the IT team) can manage which devices are tagged with tag:engineering, tag:finance, tag:legal, and tag:internal

{
  "groups": {
    // Alice is in group:engineering
    "group:engineering": ["alice@example.com",],
    // Bob is in group:finance
    "group:finance": ["bob@example.com",],
    // Carl is in group:legal
    "group:legal": ["carl@example.com",],
    // Dave has the admin role in Tailscale, so in autogroup:admin
  },
  "acls": [
    // Users in group:engineering can access devices tagged with tag:engineering
    { "action": "accept", "src": ["group:engineering"], "dst": ["tag:engineering:*"] },
    // Users in group:finance can access devices tagged with tag:finance
    { "action": "accept", "src": ["group:finance"], "dst": ["tag:finance:*"] },
    // Users in group:legal can access devices tagged with tag:legal
    { "action": "accept", "src": ["group:legal"], "dst": ["tag:legal:*"] },
    // All employees can access devices tagged with tag:internal
    { "action": "accept", "src": ["autogroup:member"], "dst": ["tag:internal:*"] },
  ],
  "tagOwners": {
    // Users who are Tailscale admins can apply the tag tag:engineering
    "tag:engineering": ["autogroup:admin"],
    // Users who are Tailscale admins can apply the tag tag:finance
    "tag:finance": ["autogroup:admin"],
    // Users who are Tailscale admins can apply the tag tag:legal
    "tag:legal": ["autogroup:admin"],
    // Users who are Tailscale admins can apply the tag tag:internal
    "tag:internal": ["autogroup:admin"],
  },
}

Access to an internal application (VPN) with synced groups

This example is possible with the Enterprise plan.

You can use user and group provisioning to include groups synced from your identity provider in access rules. Tailscale treats synced group names as lowercase. They can include spaces, but not the @ symbol.

What this ACL does:

Members of the engineering team in the synced group group:engineering@example.com can access the devices tagged with tag:engineering.
Members of the finance team in the synced group group:finance team@example.com can access the devices tagged with tag:finance.
Members of the legal team in the synced group group:Legal@example.com can access the devices tagged with tag:legal.
All employees can access the devices tagged with tag:internal.
All Tailscale Admins (autogroup:admin) (such as the IT team) can manage which devices are tagged with tag:engineering, tag:finance, tag:legal, and tag:internal.

{
  "groups": {
    // Alice is in group:engineering@example.com, synced with user & group provisioning
    // Bob is in group:finance team@example.com, synced with user & group provisioning
    // Carl is in group:Legal@example.com, synced with user & group provisioning
    // Dave has the admin role in Tailscale, so in autogroup:admin
  },
  "acls": [
    // Users in synced group:engineering@example.com can access devices tagged with tag:engineering
    { "action": "accept", "src": ["group:engineering@example.com"], "dst": ["tag:engineering:*"] },
    // Users in synced group:finance team@example.com can access devices tagged with tag:finance
    { "action": "accept", "src": ["group:finance team@example.com"], "dst": ["tag:finance:*"] },
    // Users in synced group:Legal@example.com can access devices tagged with tag:legal
    { "action": "accept", "src": ["group:legal@example.com"], "dst": ["tag:legal:*"] },
    // All employees can access devices tagged with tag:internal
    { "action": "accept", "src": ["autogroup:member"], "dst": ["tag:internal:*"] },
  ],
  "tagOwners": {
    // Users who are Tailscale admins can apply the tag tag:engineering
    "tag:engineering": ["autogroup:admin"],
    // Users who are Tailscale admins can apply the tag tag:finance
    "tag:finance": ["autogroup:admin"],
    // Users who are Tailscale admins can apply the tag tag:legal
    "tag:legal": ["autogroup:admin"],
    // Users who are Tailscale admins can apply the tag tag:internal
    "tag:internal": ["autogroup:admin"],
  },
}

Remote access to production environment

This example is possible with the Personal, Premium, and Enterprise plans. If only your dev team is using Tailscale, use autogroup:member instead of group:dev to use this example on the Starter plan.

Your DevOps, infrastructure, or SRE team can use Tailscale to access their sensitive and highly protected production environment. In this scenario, a DevOps team might be able to access the production environment, whereas other developers might only be able to access resources in a development environment. All developers are able to access monitoring tools, such as Grafana.

What this ACL does:

All employees can access their own devices (such as remote workstations).
Members of the development team group:dev can access the devices tagged with tag:dev (such as license servers).
All Tailscale Admins (autogroup:admin) (such as members of the DevOps team) can access the devices tagged with tag:prod (such as the production environment).
All employees can access devices tagged with tag:monitoring on ports 80 and 443 (such as monitoring dashboards).
All Tailscale Admins (autogroup:admin) can manage which devices are tagged with tag:dev, tag:prod, and tag:monitoring
Tests ensure that if ACLs change:
- Carl will still be able to access devices tagged with tag:prod on port 80.
- Alice will atill be able to access devices tagged with tag:dev (but not devices tagged with tag:prod) on port 80.

{
  "groups": {
    // Alice and Bob are in group:dev
    "group:dev": ["alice@example.com", "bob@example.com",],
    // Carl has the admin role in Tailscale, so in autogroup:admin
  },
  "acls": [
    // All employees can access their own devices
    { "action": "accept", "src": ["autogroup:member"], "dst": ["autogroup:self:*"] },
    // Users in group:dev can access devices tagged with tag:dev
    { "action": "accept", "src": ["group:dev"], "dst": ["tag:dev:*"] },
    // Users who are Tailscale admins can access devices tagged with tag:prod
    { "action": "accept", "src": ["autogroup:admin"], "dst": ["tag:prod:*"] },
     // All employees can access devices tagged with tag:monitoring on
     // ports 80 and 443
    { "action": "accept", "src": ["autogroup:member"], "dst": ["tag:monitoring:80,443"] },
  ],
  "tagOwners": {
     // Users who are Tailscale admins can apply the tag tag:monitoring
    "tag:monitoring": ["autogroup:admin"],
    // Users who are Tailscale admins can apply the tag tag:dev
    "tag:dev": ["autogroup:admin"],
    // Users who are Tailscale admins can apply the tag tag:prod
    "tag:prod": ["autogroup:admin"],
  },
  "tests": [
    {
      "src": "carl@example.com",
      // Test that Carl can access devices tagged with tag:prod on port 80
      "accept": ["tag:prod:80"],
    },
    {
      "src": "alice@example.com",
      // Test that Alice can access devices tagged with tag:dev on port 80
      "accept": ["tag:dev:80"],
      // Test that Alice cannot access devices tagged with tag:prod on port 80
      "deny": ["tag:prod:80"],
    },
  ],
}

VPC access (VPC peering)

Your DevOps team can use Tailscale to allow developers to access existing internal applications running in a Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) on a private or hosted cloud provider. In this scenario, developers can access resources in the VPC, and the DevOps team is able to manage access to the VPC. VPCs can be peered to each other if they don’t have overlapping IP ranges. To connect an existing subnet to your Tailscale network without installing Tailscale on every node, you can use a subnet router. Run a subnet router in the subnet, and advertise the routes so that Tailscale can route traffic for the subnet to the device for forwarding. For devices on a subnet to connect to devices on your tailnet, disable subnet route masquerading. You can also use auto approvers to automatically approve routes.

What this ACL does:

All Tailscale Admins (autogroup:admin) (such as the IT team) can access the devices tagged with tag:vpc-peering (for maintenance).
Members of the development team group:dev can access devices in the subnets 10.0.0.0/16 and 10.128.0.0/24.
The subnet 10.0.0.0/16 can access the subnet 10.128.0.0/24 and vice versa (if subnet route masquerading is disabled).
All Tailscale Admins (autogroup:admin) (such as the IT team) can manage which devices are tagged with tag:vpc-peering.
All Tailscale Admins (autogroup:admin) and devices tagged with tag:vpc-peering can auto-approve routes for 10.0.0.0/16 and 10.128.0.0/24.

{
  "groups": {
    // Alice and Bob are in group:dev
    "group:dev": ["alice@example.com", "bob@example.com",],
    // Dave has the admin role in Tailscale, so in autogroup:admin
  },
  "acls": [
    // Users who are Tailscale admins can access devices tagged with tag:vpc-peering
    { "action": "accept", "src": ["autogroup:admin"], "dst": ["tag:vpc-peering:*"] },
    // Users in group:dev, and devices in subnets 10.0.0.0/16 and
    // 10.128.0.0/24 can access devices in subnets 10.0.0.0/16 and
    // 10.128.0.0/24
    { "action": "accept", "src": ["group:dev","10.0.0.0/16", "10.128.0.0/24"], "dst": ["10.0.0.0/16:*", "10.128.0.0/24:*"] },
  ],
  "tagOwners": {
    // Users who are Tailscale admins can apply the tag tag:vpc-peering
    "tag:vpc-peering": ["autogroup:admin"],
  },
  "autoApprovers": {
    "routes": {
      // Subnets included in 10.0.0.0/16 advertised by devices tagged
      // with tag:vpc-peering or users who are Tailscale admins will be automatically approved
      "10.0.0.0/16": ["tag:vpc-peering", "autogroup:admin"],
      // Subnets included in 10.128.0.0/24 advertised by devices tagged with
      // tag:vpc-peering or users who are Tailscale admins will be automatically approved
      "10.128.0.0/24": ["tag:vpc-peering", "autogroup:admin"],
    },
  },
}

Your development team can use Tailscale to share access to specific resources, such as a database or a hosted code repository, with a contractor. In this scenario, developers can access internal development resources. Specific devices can be shared with a contractor as part of their job.

What this ACL does:

All employees can access their own devices.
Members of the development team group:dev can access devices tagged with tag:dev (such as package registries and databases)
Contractors who have accepted a share invite can access devices tagged with tag:dev (that have been shared with them).

{
  "groups": {
    // Alice and Bob are in group:dev
    "group:dev": ["alice@example.com", "bob@example.com",],
  },
  "acls": [
    // All employees can access their own devices
    { "action": "accept", "src": ["autogroup:member"], "dst": ["autogroup:self:*"] },
    // Users in group:dev and contractors who have accepted a share invite can
    // access devices tagged with tag:dev
    { "action": "accept", "src": ["group:dev","autogroup:shared"], "dst": ["tag:dev:*"] },
  ],
  "tagOwners": {
    // Users in group:dev can apply the tag tag:dev
    "tag:dev": ["group:dev"],
  },
}

Remote development

Your development team can use Tailscale as part of their remote development setup. In this scenario, a developer might have a local device, like a laptop, and use it to access a remote workstation, hosted in the cloud or hosted on another device in their network. This is useful if you’re accessing a workstation with more processing power, for example, for machine learning or for building. You might also use a remote code environment like GitHub Codespaces, Gitpod, or Coder. From your development environment, you might access a license server, a package registry, a production database, or another development or build resource. You might also access a self-hosted or private code repository.

What this ACL does:

All employees can access their own devices.
Members of the development team group:dev can access devices tagged with tag:dev (such as package registries and databases).
The development team group:dev can manage which devices are tagged with tag:dev.

{
  "groups": {
    // Alice and Bob are in group:dev
    "group:dev": ["alice@example.com", "bob@example.com",],
  },
  "acls": [
     // All employees can access their own devices
    { "action": "accept", "src": ["autogroup:member"], "dst": ["autogroup:self:*"] },
    // Users in group:dev can access devices tagged with tag:dev
    { "action": "accept", "src": ["group:dev"], "dst": ["tag:dev:*"] },
  ],
  "tagOwners": {
    // Users in group:dev can apply the tag tag:dev
    "tag:dev": ["group:dev"],
  },
}

Pair programming

This example is possible with the Personal, Premium, and Enterprise plans. If only Alice and Bob are using Tailscale, use autogroup:member and autogroup:admin instead of named users to use this example on the Starter plan.

Your development team can use Tailscale to pair program on the same device remotely. In this scenario, two or more developers can use SSH to connect to a corporate device, such as a virtual machine (VM), and share a terminal (such as a tmux session).

What this ACL does:

Users Alice and Bob can access the corporate device tagged tag:pair-programming on port 22 (for SSH).
Bob can manage which devices are tagged tag:pair-programming.

{
  "acls": [
    // Alice and Bob can access devices tagged with tag:pair-programming on
    // port 22
    { "action": "accept", "src": ["alice@example.com", "bob@example.com"], "dst": ["tag:pair-programming:22"] },
  ],
  "tagOwners": {
     // Bob can apply the tag tag:pair-programming
    "tag:pair-programming": ["bob@example.com"],
  },
}

CI/CD deployment pipeline

This example is possible with the Personal, Premium, and Enterprise plans.

Your DevOps or infrastructure team can use Tailscale to restrict access to your deployment pipeline. In this scenario, developers can access your development tools, such as your code repository. Then, an automated CI/CD pipeline builds and deploys code. The DevOps team can access the deployment pipeline and production environment.

What this ACL does:

Members of the development team group:dev can access the devices tagged with tag:dev (such as code repositories and license servers).
Members of the DevOps team group:devops can access the devices tagged with tag:ci (such as the build tooling) and tag:prod (such as the production environment).
The DevOps team group:devops can manage which devices are tagged with tag:dev, tag:ci, and tag:prod.
The tag tag:ci can manage which device are tagged with tag:prod and tag:dev (to apply tags as part of the deployment pipeline).

{
  "groups": {
    // Alice and Bob are in group:dev
    "group:dev": ["alice@example.com", "bob@example.com",],
    // Carl is in group:devops
    "group:devops": ["carl@example.com",],
  },
  "acls": [
    // Users in group:dev can access devices tagged with tag:dev
    { "action": "accept", "src": ["group:dev"], "dst": ["tag:dev:*"] },
    // Users in group:devops can access devices tagged with tag:ci or
    // tagged eith tag:prod
    { "action": "accept", "src": ["group:devops"], "dst": ["tag:ci:*", "tag:prod:*"] },
  ],
  "tagOwners": {
    // Users in group:devops can apply the tag tag:ci
    "tag:ci": ["group:devops"],
    // Users in group:devops or devices tagged with tag:ci can apply the tag tag:dev
    "tag:dev": ["group:devops", "tag:ci"],
    // Users in group:devops or devices tagged with tag:ci can apply the tag tag:prod
    "tag:prod": ["group:devops", "tag:ci"],
  },
}

Monitoring access to applications

This example is possible with the Personal, Premium, and Enterprise plans. If only your DevOps team is using Tailscale, use autogroup:member instead of group:devops to use this example on the Starter plan.

Your DevOps team can use Tailscale to query logs from services in your network and report these as part of your monitoring tooling. In this scenario, your monitoring server (such as Prometheus) can access all applications in your network on common ports.

What this ACL does:

Devices tagged with tag:monitoring can access services on ports 80, 443, 9100.
Devices tagged with tag:monitoring can access services tagged tag:logging.
The DevOps team group:devops can access devices tagged with tag:monitoring and tag:logging.
The DevOps team group:devops can manage which devices are tagged with tag:monitoring and tag:logging.

{
  "groups": {
    // Carl is in group:devops
    "group:devops": ["carl@example.com",],
  },
  "acls": [
    // Devices tagged with tag:monitoring can access all devices in the network on
    // ports 80, 443, and 9100, and devices tagged with tag:logging on all ports
    { "action": "accept", "src": ["tag:monitoring"], "dst": ["*:80,443,9100", "tag:logging:*"] },
    // Users in group:devops can access devices tagged with tag:monitoring and
    // tag:logging
    { "action": "accept", "src": ["group:devops"], "dst": ["tag:monitoring:*", "tag:logging:*"] },
  ],
  "tagOwners": {
    // Users in group:devops can apply the tag tag:monitoring
    "tag:monitoring": ["group:devops"],
    // Users in group:devops can apply the tag tag:logging
    "tag:logging": ["group:devops"],
  },
}

Application peering

This example is possible with the Personal, Premium, and Enterprise plans. If only your infrastructure team is using Tailscale, use autogroup:member instead of group:infra to use this example on the Starter plan.

Your infrastructure team can use Tailscale to connect applications or services running in multiple cloud providers or SaaS applications together. In this scenario, one application can connect with another application in your network, for example, to stream from one database to another, such as with Materialize.

What this ACL does:

Devices tagged with tag:database can access other devices tagged with tag:database.
Devices tagged with tag:gcp and tag:aws can access devices tagged with tag:database, but not vice versa.
The infrastructure team group:infra can manage which devices are tagged with tag:database, tag:gcp, and tag:aws.

{
  "groups": {
    // Carl is in group:infra
    "group:infra": ["carl@example.com",],
  },
  "acls": [
    // Devices tagged with tag:database, tag:gcp, or tag:aws can access devices
    // tagged with tag:database
    { "action": "accept", "src": ["tag:database", "tag:gcp","tag:aws"], "dst": ["tag:database:*"] },
  ],
  "tagOwners": {
    // Users in group:infra can apply the tag tag:database
    "tag:database": ["group:infra"],
    // Users in group:infra can apply the tag tag:gcp
    "tag:gcp": ["group:infra"],
    // Users in group:infra can apply the tag tag:aws
    "tag:aws": ["group:infra"],
  },
}