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netplane

❖ Communityv0.3.1

Tools · by lEWFkRAD · added

Install, configure and operate a self-hosted Headscale control plane from Hermes. netplane_setup previews a configuration and, after approval, installs the pinned official Headscale v0.29.6 DEB on a fresh Debian 12+ or Ubuntu 22.04+ systemd host (amd64/arm64). Installation runs on the Hermes host, requires root or noninteractive sudo, refuses existing deployments, and verifies the package SHA-256. It configures SQLite, MagicDNS, embedded DERP/STUN, local admin gRPC, and either Let's Encrypt HTTPS or a loopback backend for an existing reverse proxy. It starts the system service, creates the first user, and saves a 90-day API key and connection settings through Hermes's active-profile APIs. netplane_status reports health, netplane_nodes lists devices, and netplane_preauth lists metadata without stored join secrets or creates an approval-gated, single-use-by-default join key with a 1–168 hour lifetime. Desktop includes setup preview/confirmation, health, nodes, join keys and confirmed node expiration, with a FastAPI backend. Management requires NETPLANE_APIKEY; setup works before a key exists. Bundled protobuf stubs use pinned sources and a compatible toolchain.

Open in Hermes Desktop
hermes plugins install netplane
Repository ↗Reviewed source @ 8a1dc6a ↗Documentation ↗

What it adds

Tools 4

netplane_setupnetplane_statusnetplane_nodesnetplane_preauth

Hooks 1

pre_tool_call

README

From the reviewed commit 8a1dc6a ↗; it updates when the author re-pins.

NetPlane — self-hosted Tailscale control plane for Hermes

NetPlane installs, configures and manages a self-hosted Headscale control plane from Hermes. Start with a setup plan, approve the installation, then manage control-plane health, nodes and preauth join keys from the agent or Desktop pane.

What it replaces: only Tailscale's cloud control plane (node registry, IP allocation, ACLs, key expiry, MagicDNS). Every device still runs the official Tailscale client — the WireGuard mesh, DERP relays, and NAT traversal are unchanged. Management calls go to your configured Headscale over gRPC. New installations use Headscale's embedded DERP relay instead of Tailscale's public relay map.

What it registers

  • Tools: netplane_setup, netplane_status, netplane_nodes, netplane_preauth
  • Desktop: a /netplane dashboard page (nodes, online dots, preauth keys) with a sidebar nav row and a command-palette entry
  • Backend API: /api/plugins/netplane/* (FastAPI, for the Desktop pane)

Compatibility

Requires Hermes >= 0.21.6 for profile-aware credential storage and plugin settings writes. Management can connect to an existing server. Automatic installation supports a fresh Debian 12+ or Ubuntu 22.04+ system with systemd, amd64 or arm64, on the same host as Hermes.

Install and configure a new control plane

Install and enable the plugin:

hermes plugins install lEWFkRAD/netplane
hermes plugins enable netplane

Installing or loading the plugin does not change the host automatically. Open NetPlane → Install and configure Headscale, or ask the agent to call netplane_setup with:

{
  "action": "plan",
  "server_url": "https://headscale.example.com",
  "tls_mode": "letsencrypt",
  "acme_email": "operator@example.com",
  "base_domain": "tailnet.internal",
  "headscale_user": "hermes"
}

Replace the example domain/email with yours. Point the domain's DNS at the host and allow inbound TCP 80/443 and UDP 3478. Setup does not modify DNS records, firewall rules, routers, or existing Tailscale membership. Review the generated configuration and repeat the call with "action": "install". Agent installation goes through Hermes's approval hook; Desktop requires confirmation of the displayed plan.

The approved setup:

  1. Downloads the official Headscale v0.29.6 DEB and verifies its SHA-256 against the checksum pinned in this repository.
  2. Installs the package, service account and systemd unit. It masks the new service during package installation, writes /etc/headscale/config.yaml, and runs headscale configtest before starting it.
  3. Configures SQLite, MagicDNS, automatic HTTPS through Let's Encrypt, and an embedded DERP/STUN relay. Admin gRPC and metrics listen on loopback.
  4. Enables the service, creates the first Headscale user, and creates a 90-day API key. The key goes directly to the active Hermes profile's credential store through Hermes; it is never returned to the chat or UI.
  5. Saves NetPlane's connection settings through Hermes's plugin API.

Root privileges are required. Agent/Desktop setup uses sudo -n, so it fails promptly when passwordless elevation is unavailable. It never asks for a sudo password or changes sudo policy. Existing Headscale packages, configuration, state, services or custom NetPlane connection settings are refused; this is not an upgrade or migration tool.

If you already operate an HTTPS reverse proxy, use "tls_mode": "reverse_proxy" and omit acme_email. Headscale then listens on 127.0.0.1:8080; configure your proxy to forward Headscale's WebSocket/ Upgrade traffic and DERP at your public HTTPS URL. The proxy remains your responsibility. See the official proxy requirements.

Verify the public HTTPS URL from a device before enrolling it. Installation checks local service readiness; it does not prove that public DNS, NAT, firewall rules or certificate issuance work from outside the host. The initial Headscale policy permits enrolled devices to communicate with one another. No devices are enrolled automatically.

Connect an existing Headscale server

  1. Headscale reachable with gRPC enabled (grpc_listen_addr: 127.0.0.1:50443, grpc_allow_insecure: true for a loopback-only setup).
  2. API key: create one (headscale apikeys create) and save it as the Hermes secret NETPLANE_APIKEY. NetPlane reads it from the active profile's secret scope for each call; it does not read credentials from process environment or files itself.
  3. Settings (all optional, with sensible defaults):
    • grpc_addr — default 127.0.0.1:50443
    • control_url — the URL shown in status output
    • grpc_tls_server_name — certificate DNS name when a loopback gRPC listener uses TLS (automatic setup fills this for built-in HTTPS).
  4. Install and enable the plugin as above. Set the API key through the plugin's API key secret field in Hermes settings. Management requires the key; setup can load before a key exists.

Interrupted setup and credentials

On installation failure, the helper tries to stop, disable and mask its new service. It preserves partial files and data for inspection, and refuses to overwrite them on a retry. Inspect systemctl status headscale and journalctl -u headscale, then repair the installation deliberately.

If the server installed successfully but saving the new key failed, setup attempts to revoke that key and reports the revocation result. Complete credential setup through Hermes settings after inspecting Headscale's API keys locally. For manual recovery or renewal, run sudo headscale apikeys create --expiration 90d in your terminal and save the new value in Hermes's API key secret field. Treat it as a credential; do not paste it into chat. Rotate before its 90-day expiry.

Disclosure (rule 13)

  • Network: management connects to the configured Headscale gRPC address (default loopback). Plaintext is limited to loopback; remote targets use TLS. Local Headscale HTTPS uses verified TLS with its certificate DNS name. Setup downloads the pinned package from GitHub and may contact the host's configured APT repositories for dependencies. Let's Encrypt mode sends the chosen domain and email to Let's Encrypt and obtains a public certificate. The installed server opens the listeners listed in the plan. No telemetry, public DERP-map downloads, or automatic software updates.
  • Shell commands: netplane_status runs systemctl is-active headscale and tailscale serve status (best-effort; failures are reported in the output, not raised).
  • Installation commands and files: explicit setup invokes a bundled Python helper through noninteractive sudo; it runs APT/dpkg, systemctl, runuser and the official Headscale CLI. It writes Headscale configuration, state, a root-owned installation record, a systemd override and Hermes plugin settings. The service runs persistently under its own system user.
  • Writes: netplane_preauth(create=true) requires explicit approval, then mints a preauth key on your control plane. Treat the returned key as a secret join credential. Keys default to single-use and 24 hours; expiry is limited to 1–168 hours. The secret is returned only by the create response; subsequent list responses omit it.
  • Bootstrap credential: explicit setup creates one API key and stores it through hermes_cli.config.save_env_value_secure; it does not read or write credential files itself. Existing profile credentials are preserved.
  • Credentials: the Headscale API key comes only from the active Hermes secret scope (NETPLANE_APIKEY) and is read when a call runs. The plugin never sends it anywhere except the configured gRPC endpoint.
  • Desktop backend deps: the Desktop pane's Python backend needs grpcio + protobuf in the Desktop serve venv; the installer resolves python_dependencies declared in plugin.yaml.

Protobuf stubs

The gRPC stubs under proto/ are generated from Headscale v0.29.6 protos. If your Python env's protobuf runtime disagrees with the stub gencode version, upgrade the runtime to the floors declared in plugin.yaml or regenerate with scripts/gen_proto.sh. Regeneration requires grpcio-tools==1.81.1 and protobuf==6.33.5; the script downloads immutable Headscale and Google API proto revisions from GitHub and verifies every source file's SHA-256 checksum before compiling it.

Scope

Automatic provisioning is for the same Linux host as Hermes. Remote provisioning, upgrades, existing-server takeover, reverse-proxy installation, firewall/DNS changes and device migration are not included. Existing servers can still be managed through their configured gRPC endpoint.

Testing

Verified on 2026-10-25 in a fresh, isolated Ubuntu 24.04 systemd VM: Hermes 1f91da2a277093c6909542d8c725c0c52fae4628, NetPlane 10b6bff5cf5bb521d39e4443d9d33ee6768fbb23, and Headscale 0.29.6. The guest harness passed real Hermes plugin install/enable and tool dispatch, setup planning and denial/approval, installation in reverse_proxy mode, profile-only API-key storage with owner-only permissions, management RPCs, denied/approved single-use join-key creation, secret-free listings, key expiry/deletion, repeat-install refusal, and bootstrap-key revocation.

Separately configured nginx with a disposable test certificate passed local HTTPS /health with certificate verification. After a guest reboot, nginx and Headscale remained enabled/active and HTTPS health passed again. The local suite also passed 85 tests and 16/16 Hermes admission checks; the expected admission caution covers network listeners and sudo usage.

The test ran in a disposable KVM guest, with no host-directory mounts or bridge to the production network. Test join keys and the bootstrap API key were revoked or deleted, and the VM was shut down after verification. No production Headscale or tailnet configuration was changed. The 85-test suite and 16 admission checks were also rerun successfully at ca432caaa18cc681c967b1fee915125643ab28f4, which adds tests, documentation and attribution without changing the VM-tested runtime.

To reproduce the harness, first install Hermes in the guest and provide a Git checkout of NetPlane containing tests/vm_integration.py. Run as root only inside a fresh, disposable systemd VM—not on your development or production host. It installs packages and leaves a persistent Headscale service; successful runs revoke test credentials and remove the temporary Hermes profile. Dispose of the VM afterward, especially after a failure.

/usr/bin/python3 /opt/netplane-test/tests/vm_integration.py \
  --allow-disposable-vm \
  --hermes-root /opt/hermes-agent \
  --plugin-source /opt/netplane-test \
  --ref 10b6bff5cf5bb521d39e4443d9d33ee6768fbb23

The harness does not configure nginx or a public endpoint. Public DNS/ACME, real Tailscale node enrollment, peer traffic, and interactive Desktop UI behavior have not been verified by these tests. The guest runs setup as root; the noninteractive sudo path is covered by unit tests, not this VM run.

Credits and acknowledgments

  • Jeff Watts (lEWFkRAD) — project owner and maintainer.
  • Qwen 3.8 — original plugin implementation, directed by Jeff.
  • Tek (teknium1) — security and Hermes integration review in the catalog submission.
  • OpenAI Codex — follow-up code audit, security hardening, setup implementation and testing, directed by Jeff.
  • Nous Research and Hermes contributors — the agent, plugin framework and Desktop integration this plugin builds on.
  • Headscale and Tailscale contributors — the control-plane software, API definitions and client/networking ecosystem. The bundled Headscale protocol definitions come from the pinned upstream revision documented in scripts/gen_proto.sh.
  • Google APIs, gRPC and Protocol Buffers contributors — API annotations, binding generation and runtime libraries. Bundled Google API source files retain their upstream copyright and Apache 2.0 notices.

These acknowledgments describe contributions and dependencies; they do not imply endorsement or affiliation. Existing Git authorship and upstream notices are preserved. Vendored-source provenance and license copies are in LICENSES; these do not license NetPlane's original code.

Disclosure

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