Netclient Setup¶

The Netclient manages WireGuard on client devices (nodes). This document walks through setting up the netclient on machines, including install, management, and uninstall.

The Netclient is supported on the following operating systems: - Linux (most distributions) - Windows - Mac - FreeBSD

For unsupported devices, please use the external client, which is just a static, vanilla, WireGuard configuration file, which can be added to any device that supports WireGuard.

Installation¶

Before adding the machine to a network, the netclient must be installed. A successful installation sets up the netclient executable on the machine and adds it as a system daemon. The daemon will listen for changes for any network it joins.

The client install does not add the client as a member of any network. Once the client is installed, you must run:

netclient join -t <token>

The following are install instructions for most operating systems.

Linux¶

Debian Distros (debian/ubuntu/mint/pop-os)¶

curl -sL 'https://apt.netmaker.org/gpg.key' | sudo tee /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/netclient.asc
curl -sL 'https://apt.netmaker.org/debian.deb.txt' | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/netclient.list
sudo apt update
sudo apt install netclient

Red Hat Distros (fedora/redhat/centos/rocky)¶

curl -sL 'https://rpm.netmaker.org/gpg.key' | sudo tee /tmp/gpg.key
curl -sL 'https://rpm.netmaker.org/netclient-repo' | sudo tee /etc/yum.repos.d/netclient.repo
sudo rpm --import /tmp/gpg.key
sudo dnf check-update
sudo dnf install netclient

Arch Distros (arch/manjaro/endeavouros)¶

yay -S netclient

OpenWRT Distros (mips/mipsle)¶

curl -sfL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/gravitl/netmaker/master/scripts/netclient-install.sh | VERSION="<your netmaker version>" sh -

In case of failure refer to Advanced Client Installation Notes on OpenWRT

Windows¶

PowerShell script¶

. { iwr -useb  https://raw.githubusercontent.com/gravitl/netmaker/master/scripts/netclient-install.ps1 } | iex; Netclient-Install -version "<your netmaker version>"

MSI Installer¶

Download Link: https://fileserver.netmaker.org/latest/windows/netclient_x86.msi

Mac¶

Brew Install¶

brew tap gravitl/netclient
(optional) brew audit netclient
brew install netclient

GUI Installer¶

Download Link: https://fileserver.netmaker.org/latest/darwin/Netclient.pkg

FreeBSD¶

A FreeBSD package is coming soon. In the meantime, please use this install script:

curl -sfL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/gravitl/netmaker/master/scripts/netclient-install.sh | VERSION="<your netmaker version>" sh -

Docker¶

You can run Netclient using Docker instead of installing it on your local machine. To ensure that the correct commands are present in order to use Docker use these steps:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y docker.io docker-compose

After that you can proceed to join the network using the docker command from the access key for the network you wish to join. The docker command is available from the access key view in the Netmaker UI. To have the netclient docker container restart (eg after the system reboots) you’ll want to use the following option when running docker run:

--restart=always

If you prefer (e.g., when specifying a lot of environment variables), you can use a docker-compose.yml file such as the following instead of the docker run command:

version: "3.4"

services:
    netclient:
        network_mode: host
        privileged: true
        restart: always
        environment:
            - TOKEN=<networktoken>
        volumes:
            - '/etc/netclient:/etc/netclient'
        container_name: netclient
        image: 'gravitl/netclient:v0.16.3'

where <networktoken> is the Access Token available from the “Viewing your Access Key Details” window in the Netmaker UI.

Environment Variable	Docker Option Example	Description
NETCLIENT_NETWORK	-e NETCLIENT_NETWORK=’mynet’	Network to perform specified action against. (default: “all”)
NETCLIENT_PASSWORD	-e NETCLIENT_PASSWORD=’passwordvalueexample’	Password for authenticating with netmaker.
NETCLIENT_ENDPOINT	-e NETCLIENT_ENDPOINT=’1.2.3.4’	Reachable (usually public) address for WireGuard (not the private WG address).
NETCLIENT_MACADDRESS	-e NETCLIENT_MACADDRESS=’00:11:22:33:44:55’	Mac Address for this machine. Used as a unique identifier within Netmaker network.
NETCLIENT_PUBLICKEY	-e NETCLIENT_PUBLICKEY=’pubkeyexample’	Public Key for WireGuard Interface.
NETCLIENT_PRIVATEKEY	-e NETCLIENT_PRIVATEKEY=’privatekeyexample’	Private Key for WireGuard Interface.
NETCLIENT_PORT	-e NETCLIENT_PORT=’43210’	Port for WireGuard Interface.
NETCLIENT_KEEPALIVE	-e NETCLIENT_KEEPALIVE=’15’	Default PersistentKeepAlive for Peers in WireGuard Interface. (default: 0)
NETCLIENT_OS	-e NETCLIENT_OS=’linux’	Operating system of machine (linux, darwin, windows, freebsd)
NETCLIENT_IP_SERVICE	-e NETCLIENT_IP_SERVICE=’myipservice.com’	The service to call to obtain the public IP of the machine that is running netclient.
NETCLIENT_NAME	-e NETCLIENT_NAME=’netmakermachinename’	Identifiable name for machine within Netmaker network. (default: “do-docs-netclient”)
NETCLIENT_LOCALADDRESS	-e NETCLIENT_LOCALADDRESS=’192.168.0.15’	Local address for machine. Can be used in place of Endpoint for machines on the same LAN.
NETCLIENT_IS_STATIC	-e NETCLIENT_IS_STATIC=’yes’	Indicates if client is static by default (will not change addresses automatically).
NETCLIENT_ADDRESS	-e NETCLIENT_ADDRESS=’5.6.7.8’	WireGuard address for machine within Netmaker network.
NETCLIENT_ADDRESSIPV6	-e NETCLIENT_ADDRESSIPV6=’2001:0db8:85a3:0000:0000:8a2e:0370:7334’	WireGuard address for machine within Netmaker network.
NETCLIENT_INTERFACE	-e NETCLIENT_INTERFACE=’myif’	WireGuard local network interface name.
NETCLIENT_API_SERVER	-e NETCLIENT_API_SERVER=’1.2.3.4:8081’	Address + API Port (e.g. 1.2.3.4:8081) of Netmaker server.
NETCLIENT_ACCESSKEY	-e NETCLIENT_ACCESSKEY=’47e5364ebc00dc0b’	Access Key for signing up machine with Netmaker server during initial ‘add’.
NETCLIENT_ACCESSTOKEN	-e NETCLIENT_ACCESSTOKEN=’accesstokenhere’	Access Token for signing up machine with Netmaker server during initial ‘add’.
HOST_SERVER	-e HOST_SERVER=’api.example.com’	Host server (domain of API) [Example: api.example.com]. Do not include “http(s)://” use it for the Single Sign-on along with the network parameter
USER_NAME	-e USER_NAME=’myuser’	User name provided upon joins if joining over basic auth is desired.
NETCLIENT_LOCALRANGE	-e NETCLIENT_LOCALRANGE=’192.168.1.0/24’	Local Range if network is local, for instance 192.168.1.0/24.
NETCLIENT_DNS	-e NETCLIENT_DNS=’yes’	Sets private dns if ‘yes’. Ignores if ‘no’. Will retrieve from network if unset. (default: “yes”)
NETCLIENT_IS_LOCAL	-e NETCLIENT_IS_LOCAL=’no’	Sets endpoint to local address if ‘yes’. Ignores if ‘no’. Will retrieve from network if unset.
NETCLIENT_UDP_HOLEPUNCH	-e NETCLIENT_UDP_HOLEPUNCH=’yes’	Turns on udp holepunching if ‘yes’. Ignores if ‘no’. Will retrieve from network if unset.
NETCLIENT_IPFORWARDING	-e NETCLIENT_IPFORWARDING=’on’	Sets ip forwarding on if ‘on’. Ignores if ‘off’. On by default. (default: “on”)
NETCLIENT_POSTUP	-e NETCLIENT_POSTUP=’postupcommandhere’	Sets PostUp command for WireGuard.
NETCLIENT_POSTDOWN	-e NETCLIENT_POSTDOWN=’postdowncommandhere’	Sets PostDown command for WireGuard.
NETCLIENT_DAEMON	-e NETCLIENT_DAEMON=’on’	Installs daemon if ‘on’. Ignores if ‘off’. On by default. (default: “on”)
NETCLIENT_ROAMING	-e NETCLIENT_ROAMING=’yes’	Checks for IP changes if ‘yes’. Ignores if ‘no’. Yes by default. (default: “yes”)
VERBOSITY	-e VERBOSITY=’1’	Netclient Verbosity level 1. (default: false)
VERBOSITY	-e VERBOSITY=’2’	Netclient Verbosity level 2. (default: false)
VERBOSITY	-e VERBOSITY=’3’	Netclient Verbosity level 3. (default: false)
VERBOSITY	-e VERBOSITY=’4’	Netclient Verbosity level 4. (default: false)

Joining a Network¶

With a token:

netclient join -t <token>

With username/password:

netclient join -n <net name> -u <username> -s api.<netmaker domain>
(example: netclient join -n mynet -u admin -s api.nm.example-domain.io)

With SSO (oauth must be configured):

netclient join -n <net name> -s api.<netmaker domain>

Use the -vvv flag if installation fails and report logs.

With docker:

docker run -d --network host  --privileged -e TOKEN=<TOKEN> -v /etc/netclient:/etc/netclient --name netclient gravitl/netclient:<CURRENT_VERSION>

Managing Netclient¶

Connecting/Disconnecting from a network:

netclient connect -n network
netclient disconnect -n network

You can also disconnect and reconnect from the UI. Click on the node you want to disconnect/reconnect and click on edit.

On the bottom, you should see a switch labeled connected like this one. toggle the switch to what you like, and hit submit. That client will connect or disconnect accordingly

If you disconnected from the CLI, This switch should be off.

Leave a network:

netclient leave -n network

List Networks:

netclient list | jq

Uninstalling¶

Leave a network:

Uninstall from CLI:

netclient uninstall

Uninstall using package manager (use equivalent command for your OS):

apt remove netclient