Set up a Tailscale connector

ConductorOne provides identity governance and just-in-time provisioning for Tailscale. Integrate your Tailscale instance with ConductorOne to run user access reviews (UARs), enable just-in-time access requests, and automatically provision and deprovision access.

This is an updated and improved version of the Tailscale connector! If you’re setting up Tailscale with ConductorOne for the first time, you’re in the right place.

Capabilities

Resource	Sync	Provision
Accounts	✅
Roles	✅	✅
Devices	✅
Invites	✅
Groups	✅	✅
ACL rules	✅	✅
SSH rules	✅	✅

Gather Tailscale credentials

Configuring the connector requires you to pass in credentials generated in Tailscale. Gather these credentials before you move on.

A user with the Admin role in Tailscale must perform this task.

Generate a new API key

Log into Tailscale as an Admin user and click Settings.
Click Keys.
Click Generate API key. A Generated new key window opens showing the full value of the newly created key.
Copy and save the API key.

That’s it! Next, move on to the connector configuration instructions.

Configure the Tailscale connector

To complete this task, you’ll need:
The Connector Administrator or Super Administrator role in ConductorOne
Access to the set of Tailscale credentials generated by following the instructions above

Follow these instructions to use a built-in, no-code connector hosted by ConductorOne.

In ConductorOne, navigate to Admin > Connectors and click Add connector.
Search for Tailscale v2 and click Add.
Choose how to set up the new Tailscale connector:
- Add the connector to a currently unmanaged app (select from the list of apps that were discovered in your identity, SSO, or federation provider that aren’t yet managed with ConductorOne)
- Add the connector to a managed app (select from the list of existing managed apps)
- Create a new managed app
Set the owner for this connector. You can manage the connector yourself, or choose someone else from the list of ConductorOne users. Setting multiple owners is allowed.
If you choose someone else, ConductorOne will notify the new connector owner by email that their help is needed to complete the setup process.
Click Next.
Find the Settings area of the page and click Edit.
Paste the API key you into the Tailscale API key field.
In the Tailnet field, enter the name of your Tailscale network.
Find the name of your Tailnet in the top left corner of the Tailscale Admin Panel, next to the Tailscale logo.
Click Save.
The connector’s label changes to Syncing, followed by Connected. You can view the logs to ensure that information is syncing.

That’s it! Your Tailscale connector is now pulling access data into ConductorOne.

Follow these instructions to use the Tailscale connector, hosted and run in your own environment.

When running in service mode on Kubernetes, a self-hosted connector maintains an ongoing connection with ConductorOne, automatically syncing and uploading data at regular intervals. This data is immediately available in the ConductorOne UI for access reviews and access requests.

Step 1: Set up a new Tailscale connector

In ConductorOne, navigate to Connectors > Add connector.
Search for Baton and click Add.
Choose how to set up the new Tailscale connector:
- Add the connector to a currently unmanaged app (select from the list of apps that were discovered in your identity, SSO, or federation provider that aren’t yet managed with ConductorOne)
- Add the connector to a managed app (select from the list of existing managed apps)
- Create a new managed app
Set the owner for this connector. You can manage the connector yourself, or choose someone else from the list of ConductorOne users. Setting multiple owners is allowed.
If you choose someone else, ConductorOne will notify the new connector owner by email that their help is needed to complete the setup process.
Click Next.
In the Settings area of the page, click Edit.
Click Rotate to generate a new Client ID and Secret.
Carefully copy and save these credentials. We’ll use them in Step 2.

Step 2: Create Kubernetes configuration files

Create two Kubernetes manifest files for your Tailscale connector deployment:

Secrets configuration

# baton-tailscale-secrets.yaml
apiVersion: v1
kind: Secret
metadata:
  name: baton-tailscale-secrets
type: Opaque
stringData:
  # ConductorOne credentials
  BATON_CLIENT_ID: <ConductorOne client ID>
  BATON_CLIENT_SECRET: <ConductorOne client secret>
  
  # Tailscale credentials
  BATON_API_KEY: <Tailscale API key>
  BATON_TAILNET: <Tailscale Tailnet (found in the top left corner of the Tailscale Admin Panel)>

See the connector’s README or run --help to see all available configuration flags and environment variables.

Deployment configuration

# baton-tailscale.yaml
apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: baton-tailscale
  labels:
    app: baton-tailscale
spec:
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: baton-tailscale
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: baton-tailscale
        baton: true
        baton-app: tailscale
    spec:
      containers:
      - name: baton-tailscale
        image: ghcr.io/conductorone/baton-tailscale:latest
        imagePullPolicy: IfNotPresent
        envFrom:
        - secretRef:
            name: baton-tailscale-secrets

Step 3: Deploy the connector

Create a namespace in which to run ConductorOne connectors (if desired), then apply the secret config and deployment config files.
Check that the connector data uploaded correctly. In ConductorOne, click Applications. On the Managed apps tab, locate and click the name of the application you added the Tailscale connector to. Tailscale data should be found on the Entitlements and Accounts tabs.

That’s it! Your Tailscale connector is now pulling access data into ConductorOne.