May 2023 Summaries

Tailscale has announced three new features at its first community conference, Tailscale Up, aimed at enhancing user experience and addressing community requests. The first feature allows users to invite external users to their tailnet, accommodating family, roommates, or contractors without needing a shared domain or new email addresses; however, it doesn't support login with a GitHub profile. The second feature introduces passkeys for login, offering a more secure and phishing-resistant authentication method, although creating a tailnet with a passkey requires an invitation to an existing one. Lastly, a new VS Code extension lets developers interact with their tailnet directly within the VS Code environment, facilitating easy sharing of local servers using Funnel and proving useful for tasks such as web development and handling webhooks.

May was a significant month for Tailscale, marked by the launch of session recording for Tailscale SSH in beta, which allows recording of terminal output during SSH connections to enhance security compliance. The company also introduced Custom OIDC for all users, enabling seamless authentication integration. Tailscale hosted a webinar introducing Tailscale Enterprise, highlighting features like ACLs and Tailnet lock that support compliance and security while maintaining productivity. The first-ever in-person Tailscale community conference, Tailscale Up, was announced, set for May 31, 2023, in San Francisco, encouraging interaction among users and developers. Community contributions included video tutorials and use-case demonstrations, such as leveraging Tailscale for split DNS and disposable cloud environments. The company is expanding its reach by sponsoring events like LeadDev London and is actively hiring to support its growth, emphasizing a culture of innovation and remote collaboration.

Custom OpenID Connect (OIDC) is now available for all Tailscale users, allowing them to sign in using any identity provider that supports OIDC. To utilize a custom OIDC provider, users must verify domain ownership by setting up a WebFinger endpoint. The Starter plan includes access to free or self-hosted providers, while advanced or enterprise providers are available through the Premium and Enterprise plans. On the Free plan, any custom OIDC provider can be used for up to three users, and users are encouraged to consult the documentation to get started.

Tailscale has introduced a beta version of session recording for Tailscale SSH, allowing users to record terminal outputs during SSH connections within their tailnet. This feature enhances security by helping to detect threats, investigate incidents, and ensure compliance with network policies. The recordings are encrypted and saved in asciinema format, streamed to a dedicated recorder node within the user's tailnet to maintain data privacy. Users can deploy these nodes as Docker containers using an auth key, and recordings can be stored on the file system or in S3-compatible object storage services for resilience. The feature, designed with privacy in mind, is available on Tailscale's Free and Enterprise plans, replacing an older local SSH logging system, which will be supported until at least August 1, 2023.

Reclaim.ai, an intelligent calendar assistant, has enhanced its data security measures by utilizing Tailscale and Indent for efficient and secure access management to its production environment, which processes sensitive customer data. The company faced challenges with its previous manual access control system, leading to inefficiencies and increased security risks. By integrating Tailscale's zero-config VPN and Indent's on-demand access management, Reclaim.ai has streamlined their access provisioning process, reducing latency and improving security by ensuring temporary, justified access to customer data only when needed. This setup not only enhances their security posture by minimizing unnecessary persistent access but also simplifies compliance processes, such as SOC 2 audits, through automated evidence collection. The new system allows rapid access for engineers, maintains strict compliance, and reduces administrative burdens, reflecting Reclaim.ai's commitment to robust information security and customer data protection.

Tailscale has introduced the option for users to sign in using their Apple ID, enhancing its support for major identity providers like Google, GitHub, Microsoft, and Okta. This feature is particularly beneficial for those who prefer managing their credentials through Apple in iCloud and offers the convenience of using TouchID and FaceID for quick access on Mac and iPhone. For other devices, the sign-in process with Apple ID is facilitated through an OIDC web flow. Users can create or access their tailnet by visiting tailscale.com/start and opting for the "Sign up with Apple" option.