Tutorial: Creating a Tailscale Ping and Restart Script

Prerequisites

• A pfSense installation with terminal access.

• The Tailscale service installed and running.

• Basic knowledge of using the terminal and shell scripts.

Step 1: Create the Shell Script

1. Open a terminal on your pfSense box.

2. Create a new shell script file using the vi editor:

sh
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vi /usr/local/bin/ping_tailscale.sh

3. Insert the following script into the file:

sh
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#!/bin/sh

# Configurable Tailscale client IP address
IP="PUT IN YOUR IP HERE"  # Change this to the IP of your desired Tailscale client

# Check if the specified IP is reachable
if ping -c 1 $IP > /dev/null 2>&1
then
    echo "Ping successful. No action needed."
else
    echo "Ping failed. Restarting Tailscale service."
    service tailscaled restart
fi

4. Make the script executable:

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sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/ping_tailscale.sh

Step 2: Make the IP Configurable

1. Open the script again:

sh
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vi /usr/local/bin/ping_tailscale.sh

2. Modify the line IP="PUT IN YOUR IP HERE" to reflect the desired Tailscale client IP address.

3. Save and exit by pressing Esc, typing :wq, and hitting Enter.

Step 3: Set Up the Cron Job

1. Install the Cron Package (if not already installed):
• Go to System > Package Manager in the pfSense web interface.
• Click on the Available Packages tab.
• Search for and install the Cron package.

2. Configure the Cron Job:
• Go to Services > Cron.
• Click Add to create a new cron job.
• Configure the fields as follows:
• Minute: 0
• Hour: /1 (to run at the top of every hour)
• Day of Month:
• Month:
• Day of Week:
• Command: Enter:

sh
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/usr/local/bin/ping_tailscale.sh

• Click Save, then Apply Changes.

Conclusion