A developer has introduced a new tool that allows for the creation of geographically dispersed Proxmox server clusters, addressing one of the biggest challenges for system administrators who need to manage infrastructures across different physical locations.
The tool, named Tailmox, simplifies the setup of Proxmox v8 servers in a cluster that communicates through Tailscale, enabling teams located in different physical locations to be part of the same cluster and perform coordinated functions.
According to the tool’s creator, he has been using this architecture for about a year in his own environment with minimal issues that he has been able to resolve easily. At one point, one of his clustered servers was located in the European Union while he was in the United States.
A Controversial Yet Functional Approach
The project has generated some controversy within the tech community, as many experts deem such an architecture impossible due to the low latency requirements of Corosync, the clustering mechanism used by Proxmox. However, the developer claims that while Corosync is sensitive to latency, there is some leeway within that constraint.
“My experience with clustering issues in this way has been minimal, but it’s just me with a handful of Proxmox servers in a unique case study,” explains the creator of Tailmox.
Technical Implementation
The tool uses the tag "tailmox" to identify which Tailscale machines are using this project to establish a cluster. Proxmox clustering requires TCP ports 22, TCP 8006, and UDP 5405 to 5412, so Tailmox sets up the necessary access control rules to allow all servers with this tag to communicate with each other.
Tailmox also employs the "tailscale-cert-services" project to generate and maintain the Tailscale certificate for each server, applying it to Proxmox to ensure secure communications.
Important Warnings
The developer warns that the project is intended for development, testing, and research purposes only. The guide does not guarantee that these steps will work in all environments, and it is recommended to use it in testing or development environments with freshly installed Proxmox servers.
“Testing has not been conducted on servers with additional configurations, and running this project on such servers could damage them,” warns the creator.
Project Availability
The source code of Tailmox is available on GitHub, where interested system administrators can access complete documentation, deployment scripts, and troubleshooting guides.
This project marks a significant advancement for those who need to manage geographically distributed server infrastructures, providing a solution to a problem that many previously considered technically impossible until now.