Chapter 8. Setting up a WireGuard VPN Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 | Red Hat Customer Portal (2024)

• ChaCha20 for symmetric encryption, authenticated with Poly1305, using Authenticated Encryption with Associated Data (AEAD) construction as described in RFC7539
• Curve25519 for Elliptic-curve Diffie–Hellman (ECDH) key exchange
• BLAKE2s for hashing and keyed hashing, as described in RFC7693
• SipHash24 for hash table keys
• HKDF for key derivation, as described in RFC5869

1. WireGuard reads the destination IP from the packet and compares it to the list of allowed IP addresses in the local configuration. If the peer is not found, WireGuard drops the packet.
2. If the peer is valid, WireGuard encrypts the packet using the peer’s public key.
3. The sending host looks up the most recent Internet IP address of the host and sends the encrypted packet to it.

1. WireGuard decrypts the packet using private key of the remote host.
2. WireGuard reads the internal source address from the packet and looks up whether the IP is configured in the list of allowed IP addresses in the settings for the peer on the local host. If the source IP is on the allowlist, WireGuard accepts the packet. If the IP address is not on the list, WireGuard drops the packet.

Important

For secure connections, create different keys for each host, and ensure that you only share the public key with the remote WireGuard host. Do not use the example keys used in this documentation.

Procedure

1. Install the wireguard-tools package:

   # dnf install wireguard-tools

2. Create a private key and a corresponding public key for the host:

   # wg genkey | tee /etc/wireguard/$HOSTNAME.private.key | wg pubkey > /etc/wireguard/$HOSTNAME.public.key

   You will need the content of the key files, but not the files themselves. However, Red Hat recommends keeping the files in case that you need to remember the keys in future.

3. Set secure permissions on the key files:

   # chmod 600 /etc/wireguard/$HOSTNAME.private.key /etc/wireguard/$HOSTNAME.public.key

4. Display the private key:

   # cat /etc/wireguard/$HOSTNAME.private.keyYFAnE0psgIdiAF7XR4abxiwVRnlMfeltxu10s/c4JXg=

   You will need the private key to configure the WireGuard connection on the local host. Do not share the private key.

5. Display the public key:

   # cat /etc/wireguard/$HOSTNAME.public.keyUtjqCJ57DeAscYKRfp7cFGiQqdONRn69u249Fa4O6BE=

   You will need the public key to configure the WireGuard connection on the remote host.

Additional resources

• The wg(8) man page

• Server:

  • Private key: YFAnE0psgIdiAF7XR4abxiwVRnlMfeltxu10s/c4JXg=
  • Tunnel IPv4 address: 192.0.2.1/24
  • Tunnel IPv6 address: 2001:db8:1::1/32

• Client:

  • Public key: bnwfQcC8/g2i4vvEqcRUM2e6Hi3Nskk6G9t4r26nFVM=
  • Tunnel IPv4 address: 192.0.2.2/24
  • Tunnel IPv6 address: 2001:db8:1::2/32

Prerequisites

• You have generated the public and private key for both the server and client.

• You know the following information:

  • The private key of the server
  • The static tunnel IP addresses and subnet masks of the client
  • The public key of the client
  • The static tunnel IP addresses and subnet masks of the server

Procedure

1. Add a NetworkManager WireGuard connection profile:

   # nmcli connection add type wireguard con-name server-wg0 ifname wg0 autoconnect no

   This command creates a profile named server-wg0 and assigns the virtual interface wg0 to it. To prevent the connection from starting automatically after you add it without finalizing the configuration, disable the autoconnect parameter.

2. Set the tunnel IPv4 address and subnet mask of the server:

   # nmcli connection modify server-wg0 ipv4.method manual ipv4.addresses 192.0.2.1/24

3. Set the tunnel IPv6 address and subnet mask of the server:

   # nmcli connection modify server-wg0 ipv6.method manual ipv6.addresses 2001:db8:1::1/32

4. Add the server’s private key to the connection profile:

   # nmcli connection modify server-wg0 wireguard.private-key "YFAnE0psgIdiAF7XR4abxiwVRnlMfeltxu10s/c4JXg="

5. Set the port for incoming WireGuard connections:

   # nmcli connection modify server-wg0 wireguard.listen-port 51820

   Always set a fixed port number on hosts that receive incoming WireGuard connections. If you do not set a port, WireGuard uses a random free port each time you activate the wg0 interface.

6. Add peer configurations for each client that you want to allow to communicate with this server. You must add these settings manually, because the nmcli utility does not support setting the corresponding connection properties.

   1. Edit the /etc/NetworkManager/system-connections/server-wg0.nmconnection file, and append:

      [wireguard-peer.bnwfQcC8/g2i4vvEqcRUM2e6Hi3Nskk6G9t4r26nFVM=]allowed-ips=192.0.2.2;2001:db8:1::2;

      • The [wireguard-peer.<public_key_of_the_client>] entry defines the peer section of the client, and the section name contains the public key of the client.

      • The allowed-ips parameter sets the tunnel IP addresses of the client that are allowed to send data to this server.

        Add a section for each client.

   2. Reload the server-wg0 connection profile:

      # nmcli connection load /etc/NetworkManager/system-connections/server-wg0.nmconnection

7. Optional: Configure the connection to start automatically, enter:

   # nmcli connection modify server-wg0 autoconnect yes

8. Reactivate the server-wg0 connection:

   # nmcli connection up server-wg0

Next steps

• Configure the firewalld service on the WireGuard server.

Verification

1. Display the interface configuration of the wg0 device:

   # wg show wg0interface: wg0 public key: UtjqCJ57DeAscYKRfp7cFGiQqdONRn69u249Fa4O6BE= private key: (hidden) listening port: 51820peer: bnwfQcC8/g2i4vvEqcRUM2e6Hi3Nskk6G9t4r26nFVM= allowed ips: 192.0.2.2/32, 2001:db8:1::2/128

   To display the private key in the output, use the WG_HIDE_KEYS=never wg show wg0 command.

2. Display the IP configuration of the wg0 device:

   # ip address show wg020: wg0: <POINTOPOINT,NOARP,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1420 qdisc noqueue state UNKNOWN group default qlen 1000 link/none inet 192.0.2.1/24 brd 192.0.2.255 scope global noprefixroute wg0 valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever inet6 2001:db8:1::1/32 scope global noprefixroute valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever inet6 fe80::3ef:8863:1ce2:844/64 scope link noprefixroute valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever

Additional resources

• The wg(8) man page
• The WireGuard setting section in the nm-settings(5) man page

• Server:

  • Private key: YFAnE0psgIdiAF7XR4abxiwVRnlMfeltxu10s/c4JXg=
  • Tunnel IPv4 address: 192.0.2.1/24
  • Tunnel IPv6 address: 2001:db8:1::1/32

• Client:

  • Public key: bnwfQcC8/g2i4vvEqcRUM2e6Hi3Nskk6G9t4r26nFVM=
  • Tunnel IPv4 address: 192.0.2.2/24
  • Tunnel IPv6 address: 2001:db8:1::2/32

Prerequisites

• You have generated the public and private key for both the server and client.

• You know the following information:

  • The private key of the server
  • The static tunnel IP addresses and subnet masks of the client
  • The public key of the client
  • The static tunnel IP addresses and subnet masks of the server
• You installed the NetworkManager-tui package.

Procedure

1. Start the nmtui application:

   # nmtui

2. Select Edit a connection, and press Enter.
3. Select Add, and press Enter.
4. Select the WireGuard connection type in the list, and press Enter.

5. In the Edit connection window:

   1. Enter the name of the connection and the virtual interface, such as wg0, that NetworkManager should assign to the connection.
   2. Enter the private key of the server.

   3. Set the listen port number, such as 51820, for incoming WireGuard connections.

      Always set a fixed port number on hosts that receive incoming WireGuard connections. If you do not set a port, WireGuard uses a random free port each time you activate the interface.

      

   4. Click Add next to the Peers pane:

      1. Enter the public key of the client.
      2. Set the Allowed IPs field to the tunnel IP addresses of the client that are allowed to send data to this server.

      3. Select OK, and press Enter.

         

   5. Select Show next to IPv4 Configuration, and press Enter.

      1. Select the IPv4 configuration method Manual.
      2. Enter the tunnel IPv4 address and the subnet mask. Leave the Gateway field empty.

   6. Select Show next to IPv6 Configuration, and press Enter.

      1. Select the IPv6 configuration method Manual.
      2. Enter the tunnel IPv6 address and the subnet mask. Leave the Gateway field empty.

   7. Select OK, and press Enter

      

6. In the window with the list of connections, select Back, and press Enter.
7. In the NetworkManager TUI main window, select Quit, and press Enter.

Next steps

• Configure the firewalld service on the WireGuard server.

Verification

1. Display the interface configuration of the wg0 device:

   # wg show wg0interface: wg0 public key: UtjqCJ57DeAscYKRfp7cFGiQqdONRn69u249Fa4O6BE= private key: (hidden) listening port: 51820peer: bnwfQcC8/g2i4vvEqcRUM2e6Hi3Nskk6G9t4r26nFVM= allowed ips: 192.0.2.2/32, 2001:db8:1::2/128

   To display the private key in the output, use the WG_HIDE_KEYS=never wg show wg0 command.

2. Display the IP configuration of the wg0 device:

   # ip address show wg020: wg0: <POINTOPOINT,NOARP,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1420 qdisc noqueue state UNKNOWN group default qlen 1000 link/none inet 192.0.2.1/24 brd 192.0.2.255 scope global noprefixroute wg0 valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever inet6 2001:db8:1::1/32 scope global noprefixroute valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever inet6 fe80::3ef:8863:1ce2:844/64 scope link noprefixroute valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever

Additional resources

• The wg(8) man page

Prerequisites

• You have generated the public and private key for both the server and client.

• You know the following information:

  • The private key of the server
  • The static tunnel IP addresses and subnet masks of the client
  • The public key of the client
  • The static tunnel IP addresses and subnet masks of the server

Procedure

1. Open a terminal, and enter:

   # nm-connection-editor

2. Add a new connection by clicking the + button.
3. Select the WireGuard connection type, and click Create.
4. Optional: Update the connection name.
5. On the General tab, select Connect automatically with priority. Optionally, set a priority value.

6. On the WireGuard tab:

   1. Enter the name of the virtual interface, such as wg0, that NetworkManager should assign to the connection.
   2. Enter the private key of the server.

   3. Set the listen port number, such as 51820, for incoming WireGuard connections.

      Always set a fixed port number on hosts that receive incoming WireGuard connections. If you do not set a port, WireGuard uses a random free port each time you activate the interface.

   4. Click Add to add peers:

      1. Enter the public key of the client.
      2. Set the Allowed IPs field to the tunnel IP addresses of the client that are allowed to send data to this server.
      3. Click Apply.

7. On the IPv4 Settings tab:

   1. Select Manual in the Method list.
   2. Click Add to enter the tunnel IPv4 address and the subnet mask. Leave the Gateway field empty.

8. On the IPv6 Settings tab:

   1. Select Manual in the Method list.
   2. Click Add to enter the tunnel IPv6 address and the subnet mask. Leave the Gateway field empty.
9. Click Save to store the connection profile.

Next steps

• Configure the firewalld service on the WireGuard server.

Verification

1. Display the interface configuration of the wg0 device:

   # wg show wg0interface: wg0 public key: UtjqCJ57DeAscYKRfp7cFGiQqdONRn69u249Fa4O6BE= private key: (hidden) listening port: 51820peer: bnwfQcC8/g2i4vvEqcRUM2e6Hi3Nskk6G9t4r26nFVM= allowed ips: 192.0.2.2/32, 2001:db8:1::2/128

   To display the private key in the output, use the WG_HIDE_KEYS=never wg show wg0 command.

2. Display the IP configuration of the wg0 device:

   # ip address show wg020: wg0: <POINTOPOINT,NOARP,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1420 qdisc noqueue state UNKNOWN group default qlen 1000 link/none inet 192.0.2.1/24 brd 192.0.2.255 scope global noprefixroute wg0 valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever inet6 2001:db8:1::1/32 scope global noprefixroute valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever inet6 fe80::3ef:8863:1ce2:844/64 scope link noprefixroute valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever

Additional resources

• The wg(8) man page

• Server:

  • Private key: YFAnE0psgIdiAF7XR4abxiwVRnlMfeltxu10s/c4JXg=
  • Tunnel IPv4 address: 192.0.2.1/24
  • Tunnel IPv6 address: 2001:db8:1::1/32

• Client:

  • Public key: bnwfQcC8/g2i4vvEqcRUM2e6Hi3Nskk6G9t4r26nFVM=
  • Tunnel IPv4 address: 192.0.2.2/24
  • Tunnel IPv6 address: 2001:db8:1::2/32

Prerequisites

• You have generated the public and private key for both the server and client.

• You know the following information:

  • The private key of the server
  • The static tunnel IP addresses and subnet masks of the client
  • The public key of the client
  • The static tunnel IP addresses and subnet masks of the server

Procedure

1. Install the wireguard-tools package:

   # dnf install wireguard-tools

2. Create the /etc/wireguard/wg0.conf file with the following content:

   [Interface]Address = 192.0.2.1/24, 2001:db8:1::1/32ListenPort = 51820PrivateKey = YFAnE0psgIdiAF7XR4abxiwVRnlMfeltxu10s/c4JXg=[Peer]PublicKey = bnwfQcC8/g2i4vvEqcRUM2e6Hi3Nskk6G9t4r26nFVM=AllowedIPs = 192.0.2.2, 2001:db8:1::2

   • The [Interface] section describes the WireGuard settings of the interface on the server:

     • Address: A comma-separated list of the server’s tunnel IP addresses.
     • PrivateKey: The private key of the server.

     • ListenPort: The port on which WireGuard listens for incoming UDP connections.

       Always set a fixed port number on hosts that receive incoming WireGuard connections. If you do not set a port, WireGuard uses a random free port each time you activate the wg0 interface.

   • Each [Peer] section describes the settings of one client:

     • PublicKey: The public key of the client.
     • AllowedIPs: The tunnel IP addresses of the client that are allowed to send data to this server.

3. Enable and start the WireGuard connection:

   # systemctl enable --now wg-quick@wg0

   The systemd instance name must match the name of the configuration file in the /etc/wireguard/ directory without the .conf suffix. The service also uses this name for the virtual network interface.

Next steps

• Configure the firewalld service on the WireGuard server.

Verification

1. Display the interface configuration of the wg0 device:

   # wg show wg0interface: wg0 public key: UtjqCJ57DeAscYKRfp7cFGiQqdONRn69u249Fa4O6BE= private key: (hidden) listening port: 51820peer: bnwfQcC8/g2i4vvEqcRUM2e6Hi3Nskk6G9t4r26nFVM= allowed ips: 192.0.2.2/32, 2001:db8:1::2/128

   To display the private key in the output, use the WG_HIDE_KEYS=never wg show wg0 command.

2. Display the IP configuration of the wg0 device:

   # ip address show wg020: wg0: <POINTOPOINT,NOARP,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1420 qdisc noqueue state UNKNOWN group default qlen 1000 link/none inet 192.0.2.1/24 scope global wg0 valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever inet6 2001:db8:1::1/32 scope global valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever

Additional resources

• The wg(8) man page
• The wg-quick(8) man page

Procedure

1. Open the WireGuard port for incoming connections in the firewalld service:

   # firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=51820/udp --zone=public

2. If clients should route all traffic through the tunnel and use the WireGuard server as the default gateway, enable masquerading for the public zone:

   # firewall-cmd --permanent --zone=public --add-masquerade

3. Reload the firewalld rules.

   # firewall-cmd --reload

Verification

• Display the configuration of the public zone:

  # firewall-cmd --list-allpublic (active) ... ports: 51820/udp masquerade: yes ...

Additional resources

• The firewall-cmd(1) man page

Procedure

1. Press the Super key, enter firewall, and select the Firewall application from the results.
2. Select Permanent in the Configuration list.
3. Select the public zone.

4. Allow incoming connections to the WireGuard port:

   1. On the Ports tab, click Add.
   2. Enter the port number you set for incoming WireGuard connections:
   3. Select udp from the Protocol list.
   4. Click OK.

5. If clients should route all traffic through the tunnel and use the WireGuard server as the default gateway:

   1. Navigate to the Masquerading tab of the public zone.
   2. Select Masquerade zone.
6. Select Options → Reload Firewalld.

Verification

• Display the configuration of the public zone:

  # firewall-cmd --list-allpublic (active) ... ports: 51820/udp masquerade: yes ...

• Client:

  • Private key: aPUcp5vHz8yMLrzk8SsDyYnV33IhE/k20e52iKJFV0A=
  • Tunnel IPv4 address: 192.0.2.2/24
  • Tunnel IPv6 address: 2001:db8:1::2/32

• Server:

  • Public key: UtjqCJ57DeAscYKRfp7cFGiQqdONRn69u249Fa4O6BE=
  • Tunnel IPv4 address: 192.0.2.1/24
  • Tunnel IPv6 address: 2001:db8:1::1/32

Prerequisites

• You have generated the public and private key for both the server and client.

• You know the following information:

  • The private key of the client
  • The static tunnel IP addresses and subnet masks of the client
  • The public key of the server
  • The static tunnel IP addresses and subnet masks of the server

Procedure

1. Add a NetworkManager WireGuard connection profile:

   # nmcli connection add type wireguard con-name client-wg0 ifname wg0 autoconnect no

   This command creates a profile named client-wg0 and assigns the virtual interface wg0 to it. To prevent the connection from starting automatically after you add it without finalizing the configuration, disable the autoconnect parameter.

2. Optional: Configure NetworkManager so that it does not automatically start the client-wg connection:

   # nmcli connection modify client-wg0 autoconnect no

3. Set the tunnel IPv4 address and subnet mask of the client:

   # nmcli connection modify client-wg0 ipv4.method manual ipv4.addresses 192.0.2.2/24

4. Set the tunnel IPv6 address and subnet mask of the client:

   # nmcli connection modify client-wg0 ipv6.method manual ipv6.addresses 2001:db8:1::2/32

5. If you want to route all traffic through the tunnel, set the tunnel IP addresses of the server as the default gateway:

   # nmcli connection modify client-wg0 ipv4.gateway 192.0.2.1 ipv6.gateway 2001:db8:1::1

   Routing all traffic through the tunnel requires that you set, in a later step, the allowed-ips on the this client to 0.0.0.0/0;::/0.

   Note that routing all traffic through the tunnel can impact the connectivity to other hosts based on the server routing and firewall configuration.

6. Add the client’s private key to the connection profile:

   # nmcli connection modify client-wg0 wireguard.private-key "aPUcp5vHz8yMLrzk8SsDyYnV33IhE/k20e52iKJFV0A="

7. Add peer configurations for each server that you want to allow to communicate with this client. You must add these settings manually, because the nmcli utility does not support setting the corresponding connection properties.

   1. Edit the /etc/NetworkManager/system-connections/client-wg0.nmconnection file, and append:

      [wireguard-peer.UtjqCJ57DeAscYKRfp7cFGiQqdONRn69u249Fa4O6BE=]endpoint=server.example.com:51820allowed-ips=192.0.2.1;2001:db8:1::1;persistent-keepalive=20

      • The [wireguard-peer.<public_key_of_the_server>] entry defines the peer section of the server, and the section name has the public key of the server.
      • The endpoint parameter sets the hostname or IP address and the port of the server. The client uses this information to establish the connection.

      • The allowed-ips parameter sets a list of IP addresses that can send data to this client. For example, set the parameter to:

        • The tunnel IP addresses of the server to allow only the server to communicate with this client. The value in the example above configures this scenario.
        • 0.0.0.0/0;::/0; to allow any remote IPv4 and IPv6 address to communicate with this client. Use this setting to route all traffic through the tunnel and use the WireGuard server as default gateway.
      • The optional persistent-keepalive parameter defines an interval in seconds in which WireGuard sends a keep alive packet to the server. Set this parameter if you use the client in a network with network address translation (NAT) or if a firewall closes the UDP connection after some time of inactivity.

   2. Reload the client-wg0 connection profile:

      # nmcli connection load /etc/NetworkManager/system-connections/client-wg0.nmconnection

8. Reactivate the client-wg0 connection:

   # nmcli connection up client-wg0

Verification

1. Ping the IP addresses of the server:

   # ping 192.0.2.1# ping6 2001:db8:1::1

2. Display the interface configuration of the wg0 device:

   # wg show wg0interface: wg0 public key: bnwfQcC8/g2i4vvEqcRUM2e6Hi3Nskk6G9t4r26nFVM= private key: (hidden) listening port: 51820peer: UtjqCJ57DeAscYKRfp7cFGiQqdONRn69u249Fa4O6BE= endpoint: server.example.com:51820 allowed ips: 192.0.2.1/32, 2001:db8:1::1/128 latest handshake: 1 minute, 41 seconds ago transfer: 824 B received, 1.01 KiB sent persistent keepalive: every 20 seconds

   To display the private key in the output, use the WG_HIDE_KEYS=never wg show wg0 command.

   Note that the output has only the latest handshake and transfer entries if you have already sent traffic through the VPN tunnel.

3. Display the IP configuration of the wg0 device:

   # ip address show wg010: wg0: <POINTOPOINT,NOARP,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1420 qdisc noqueue state UNKNOWN group default qlen 1000 link/none inet 192.0.2.2/24 brd 192.0.2.255 scope global noprefixroute wg0 valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever inet6 2001:db8:1::2/32 scope global noprefixroute valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever inet6 fe80::73d9:6f51:ea6f:863e/64 scope link noprefixroute valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever

Additional resources

• The wg(8) man page
• The WireGuard setting section in the nm-settings(5) man page

• Client:

  • Private key: aPUcp5vHz8yMLrzk8SsDyYnV33IhE/k20e52iKJFV0A=
  • Tunnel IPv4 address: 192.0.2.2/24
  • Tunnel IPv6 address: 2001:db8:1::2/32

• Server:

  • Public key: UtjqCJ57DeAscYKRfp7cFGiQqdONRn69u249Fa4O6BE=
  • Tunnel IPv4 address: 192.0.2.1/24
  • Tunnel IPv6 address: 2001:db8:1::1/32

Prerequisites

• You have generated the public and private key for both the server and client.

• You know the following information:

  • The private key of the client
  • The static tunnel IP addresses and subnet masks of the client
  • The public key of the server
  • The static tunnel IP addresses and subnet masks of the server
• You installed the NetworkManager-tui package

Procedure

1. Start the nmtui application:

   # nmtui

2. Select Edit a connection, and press Enter.
3. Select Add, and press Enter.
4. Select the WireGuard connection type in the list, and press Enter.

5. In the Edit connection window:

   1. Enter the name of the connection and the virtual interface, such as wg0, that NetworkManager should assign to the connection.

   2. Enter the private key of the client.

      

   3. Click Add next to the Peers pane:

      1. Enter the public key of the server.

      2. Set the Allowed IPs field. For example, set it to:

         • The tunnel IP addresses of the server to allow only the server to communicate with this client.
         • 0.0.0.0/0,::/0 to allow any remote IPv4 and IPv6 address to communicate with this client. Use this setting to route all traffic through the tunnel and use the WireGuard server as default gateway.
      3. Enter the host name or IP address and port of the WireGuard server into the Endpoint field. Use the following format: hostname_or_IP:port_number
      4. Optional: If you use the client in a network with network address translation (NAT) or if a firewall closes the UDP connection after some time of inactivity, set a persistent keep alive interval in seconds. In this interval, the client sends a keepalive packet to the server.

      5. Select OK, and press Enter.

         

   4. Select Show next to IPv4 Configuration, and press Enter.

      1. Select the IPv4 configuration method Manual.
      2. Enter the tunnel IPv4 address and the subnet mask. Leave the Gateway field empty.

   5. Select Show next to IPv6 Configuration, and press Enter.

      1. Select the IPv6 configuration method Manual.
      2. Enter the tunnel IPv6 address and the subnet mask. Leave the Gateway field empty.
   6. Optional: Select Automatically connect.

   7. Select OK, and press Enter

      

6. In the window with the list of connections, select Back, and press Enter.
7. In the NetworkManager TUI main window, select Quit, and press Enter.

Verification

1. Ping the IP addresses of the server:

   # ping 192.0.2.1# ping6 2001:db8:1::1

2. Display the interface configuration of the wg0 device:

   # wg show wg0interface: wg0 public key: bnwfQcC8/g2i4vvEqcRUM2e6Hi3Nskk6G9t4r26nFVM= private key: (hidden) listening port: 51820peer: UtjqCJ57DeAscYKRfp7cFGiQqdONRn69u249Fa4O6BE= endpoint: server.example.com:51820 allowed ips: 192.0.2.1/32, 2001:db8:1::1/128 latest handshake: 1 minute, 41 seconds ago transfer: 824 B received, 1.01 KiB sent persistent keepalive: every 20 seconds

   To display the private key in the output, use the WG_HIDE_KEYS=never wg show wg0 command.

   Note that the output contains only the latest handshake and transfer entries if you have already sent traffic through the VPN tunnel.

3. Display the IP configuration of the wg0 device:

   # ip address show wg010: wg0: <POINTOPOINT,NOARP,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1420 qdisc noqueue state UNKNOWN group default qlen 1000 link/none inet 192.0.2.2/24 brd 192.0.2.255 scope global noprefixroute wg0 valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever inet6 2001:db8:1::2/32 scope global noprefixroute valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever inet6 fe80::73d9:6f51:ea6f:863e/64 scope link noprefixroute valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever

Additional resources

• The wg(8) man page

Prerequisites

• You have generated the public and private key for both the server and client.

• You know the following information:

  • The private key of the client
  • The static tunnel IP addresses and subnet masks of the client
  • The public key of the server
  • The static tunnel IP addresses and subnet masks of the server

Procedure

1. Open a terminal, and enter:

   # nm-connection-editor

2. Add a new connection by clicking the + button.
3. Select the WireGuard connection type, and click Create.
4. Optional: Update the connection name.
5. Optional: On the General tab, select Connect automatically with priority.

6. On the WireGuard tab:

   1. Enter the name of the virtual interface, such as wg0, that NetworkManager should assign to the connection.
   2. Enter client’s private key.

   3. Click Add to add peers:

      1. Enter the public key of the server.

      2. Set the Allowed IPs field. For example, set it to:

         • The tunnel IP addresses of the server to allow only the server to communicate with this client.

         • 0.0.0.0/0;::/0; to allow any remote IPv4 and IPv6 address to communicate with this client. Use this setting to route all traffic through the tunnel and use the WireGuard server as default gateway.

           Note that routing all traffic through the tunnel can impact the connectivity to other hosts based on the server routing and firewall configuration.

      3. Enter the hostname or IP address and port of the WireGuard server into the Endpoint field. Use the following format: hostname_or_IP:port_number
      4. Optional: If you use the client in a network with network address translation (NAT) or if a firewall closes the UDP connection after some time of inactivity, set a persistent keep alive interval in seconds. In this interval, the client sends a keep alive packet to the server.
      5. Click Apply.

7. On the IPv4 Settings tab:

   1. Select Manual in the Method list.
   2. Click Add to enter the tunnel IPv4 address and the subnet mask.

   3. If you want to route all traffic through the tunnel, set the tunnel IPv4 address of the server in the Gateway field. Otherwise, leave the field empty.

      Routing all IPv4 traffic through the tunnel requires that you included 0.0.0.0/0 in the Allowed IPs field on this client.

8. On the IPv6 Settings tab:

   1. Select Manual in the Method list.
   2. Click Add to enter the tunnel IPv6 address and the subnet mask.

   3. If you want to route all traffic through the tunnel, set the tunnel IPv6 address of the server in the Gateway field. Otherwise, leave the field empty.

      Routing all IPv4 traffic through the tunnel requires that you included ::/0 in the Allowed IPs field on this client.

9. Click Save to store the connection profile.

Verification

1. Ping the IP addresses of the server:

   # ping 192.0.2.1# ping6 2001:db8:1::1

2. Display the interface configuration of the wg0 device:

   # wg show wg0interface: wg0 public key: bnwfQcC8/g2i4vvEqcRUM2e6Hi3Nskk6G9t4r26nFVM= private key: (hidden) listening port: 51820peer: UtjqCJ57DeAscYKRfp7cFGiQqdONRn69u249Fa4O6BE= endpoint: server.example.com:51820 allowed ips: 192.0.2.1/32, 2001:db8:1::1/128 latest handshake: 1 minute, 41 seconds ago transfer: 824 B received, 1.01 KiB sent persistent keepalive: every 20 seconds

   To display the private key in the output, use the WG_HIDE_KEYS=never wg show wg0 command.

   Note that the output only has the latest handshake and transfer entries if you have already sent traffic through the VPN tunnel.

3. Display the IP configuration of the wg0 device:

   # ip address show wg010: wg0: <POINTOPOINT,NOARP,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1420 qdisc noqueue state UNKNOWN group default qlen 1000 link/none inet 192.0.2.2/24 brd 192.0.2.255 scope global noprefixroute wg0 valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever inet6 2001:db8:1::2/32 scope global noprefixroute valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever inet6 fe80::73d9:6f51:ea6f:863e/64 scope link noprefixroute valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever

Additional resources

• The wg(8) man page

• Client:

  • Private key: aPUcp5vHz8yMLrzk8SsDyYnV33IhE/k20e52iKJFV0A=
  • Tunnel IPv4 address: 192.0.2.2/24
  • Tunnel IPv6 address: 2001:db8:1::2/32

• Server:

  • Public key: UtjqCJ57DeAscYKRfp7cFGiQqdONRn69u249Fa4O6BE=
  • Tunnel IPv4 address: 192.0.2.1/24
  • Tunnel IPv6 address: 2001:db8:1::1/32

Prerequisites

• You have generated the public and private key for both the server and client.

• You know the following information:

  • The private key of the client
  • The static tunnel IP addresses and subnet masks of the client
  • The public key of the server
  • The static tunnel IP addresses and subnet masks of the server

Procedure

1. Install the wireguard-tools package:

   # dnf install wireguard-tools

2. Create the /etc/wireguard/wg0.conf file with the following content:

   [Interface]Address = 192.0.2.2/24, 2001:db8:1::2/32PrivateKey = aPUcp5vHz8yMLrzk8SsDyYnV33IhE/k20e52iKJFV0A=*[Peer]PublicKey = UtjqCJ57DeAscYKRfp7cFGiQqdONRn69u249Fa4O6BE=AllowedIPs = 192.0.2.1, 2001:db8:1::1Endpoint = server.example.com:51820PersistentKeepalive = 20

   • The [Interface] section describes the WireGuard settings of the interface on the client:

     • Address: A comma-separated list of the client’s tunnel IP addresses.
     • PrivateKey: The private key of the client.

   • The [Peer] section describes the settings of the server:

     • PublicKey: The public key of the server.

     • AllowedIPs: The IP addresses that are allowed to send data to this client. For example, set the parameter to:

       • The tunnel IP addresses of the server to allow only the server to communicate with this client. The value in the example above configures this scenario.
       • 0.0.0.0/0, ::/0 to allow any remote IPv4 and IPv6 address to communicate with this client. Use this setting to route all traffic through the tunnel and use the WireGuard server as default gateway.
     • Endpoint: Sets the hostname or IP address and the port of the server. The client uses this information to establish the connection.
     • The optional persistent-keepalive parameter defines an interval in seconds in which WireGuard sends a keepalive packet to the server. Set this parameter if you use the client in a network with network address translation (NAT) or if a firewall closes the UDP connection after some time of inactivity.

3. Enable and start the WireGuard connection:

   # systemctl enable --now wg-quick@wg0

   The systemd instance name must match the name of the configuration file in the /etc/wireguard/ directory without the .conf suffix. The service also uses this name for the virtual network interface.

Verification

1. Ping the IP addresses of the server:

   # ping 192.0.2.1# ping6 2001:db8:1::1

2. Display the interface configuration of the wg0 device:

   # wg show wg0interface: wg0 public key: bnwfQcC8/g2i4vvEqcRUM2e6Hi3Nskk6G9t4r26nFVM= private key: (hidden) listening port: 51820peer: UtjqCJ57DeAscYKRfp7cFGiQqdONRn69u249Fa4O6BE= endpoint: server.example.com:51820 allowed ips: 192.0.2.1/32, 2001:db8:1::1/128 latest handshake: 1 minute, 41 seconds ago transfer: 824 B received, 1.01 KiB sent persistent keepalive: every 20 seconds

   To display the private key in the output, use the WG_HIDE_KEYS=never wg show wg0 command.

   Note that the output contains only the latest handshake and transfer entries if you have already sent traffic through the VPN tunnel.

3. Display the IP configuration of the wg0 device:

   # ip address show wg010: wg0: <POINTOPOINT,NOARP,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1420 qdisc noqueue state UNKNOWN group default qlen 1000 link/none inet 192.0.2.2/24 scope global wg0 valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever inet6 2001:db8:1::2/32__ scope global valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever

Additional resources

• The wg(8) man page
• The wg-quick(8) man page