- name
- WireGuard
- description
- Configure WireGuard VPN tunnels with secure routing and key management.
- metadata
- {"clawdbot":{"emoji":"🔐","requires":{"bins":["wg"]},"os":["linux","darwin","win32"]}}
AllowedIPs Traps (Most Common Mistakes)
AllowedIPsmeans different things on each side — server: what peer CAN send; client: what to ROUTE through tunnel0.0.0.0/0routes ALL traffic including tunnel endpoint — breaks connectivity, must exclude server's public IP first- Overlapping AllowedIPs between peers = undefined routing — each IP range must belong to exactly one peer
- Wrong mask silently breaks routing —
/32for single host,/24for subnet, verify carefully
Connection Failures
- No handshake = wrong public key, firewall blocking UDP, or wrong endpoint — check all three, not just one
- One-way traffic = AllowedIPs misconfigured — packets go out but replies don't route back
- Missing
PersistentKeepalive = 25breaks NAT traversal — peer behind NAT unreachable after ~2 minutes - Config file permissions must be 600 — wg-quick silently refuses to start with loose permissions
DNS Leaks
- Without
DNS =in client config, DNS queries bypass tunnel — leaks real IP to DNS provider - Full tunnel (
0.0.0.0/0) without DNS config = false sense of security — traffic tunneled but DNS exposed
Routing Setup
- IP forwarding disabled by default on Linux — tunnel works but packets don't route between interfaces
- NAT required for internet access through tunnel — without masquerade, return packets don't find their way
- Firewall must allow UDP on ListenPort — WireGuard is UDP only, no TCP fallback exists
Key Security
- Private key file permissions matter — world-readable key is compromised, set 600 immediately after generation
- Never transmit private keys — generate on each machine, exchange only public keys
- Config files contain private keys — treat wg0.conf as secret, not just privatekey file
Live Changes
- Adding peers requires interface reload on most setups — or use
wg setfor live changes without dropping connections wg syncconfapplies changes without restart — but config file format differs from wg.conf (usewg-quick strip)
Debugging
wg showdisplays handshake timestamps — stale handshake (>2 min) means connection dead despite interface up- Handshake happens on first packet — no traffic = no handshake attempt, ping to test