WireGuard has become a nearly ubiquitous vpn solution for multiple platform and is available in the community repository since Alpine 3.10. WireGuard itself is now integrated into the linux kernel since v5.6. Only the userland configuration tools are required.
Install required packages
The most straightforward method, and the one recommended in WireGuard documentation, is to use wg-quick.
Install wireguard-tools, iptables, and sysctl:
apk add wireguard-tools-wg-quickapk add iptablesapk add sysctl
Create Server Keys and Interface Config
Create a server private and public key:
wg genkey | tee server.privatekey | wg pubkey > server.publickey
Then, we create a new config file /etc/wireguard/wg0.conf using these new keys:
[Interface]Address = 192.168.2.1/24ListenPort = 45340PrivateKey = <server private key value> # the key from the previously generated privatekey filePostUp = iptables -A FORWARD -i %i -j ACCEPT; iptables -t nat -A POSTROUTING -o eth0 -j MASQUERADE;iptables -A FORWARD -o %i -j ACCEPTPostDown = iptables -D FORWARD -i %i -j ACCEPT; iptables -t nat -D POSTROUTING -o eth0 -j MASQUERADE;iptables -D FORWARD -o %i -j ACCEPT[Peer]PublicKey = <client public key value> # obtained from client device via wireguard connection setup processAllowedIPs = 192.168.2.2/32
The PostUp and PostDown iptable rules forward traffic from the wg0 subnet (192.168.2.1/24) to the lan subnet on interface eth0.
Refer to this WireGuard documentation for information on adding peers to the config file.
Bring up the new wg0 interface:,
wg-quick up wg0
To take it down, we can use wg-quick down wg0 which will clean up the interface and remove the iptables rules.Note: If running in a Docker container, you will need to run with --cap-add=NET_ADMIN to modify your interfaces.
Use with network interfaces
To enable connecting with Wireguard on boot, open your /etc/network/interfaces and add this information after your auto other network interfaces:
auto wg0iface wg0 inet staticpre-up wg-quick up /etc/wireguard/wg0.conf
As OpenRC service
Since Alpine 3.20, there is a OpenRC initd service file included. To use the WireGuard OpenRC script, you need to create a symbolic link to it with the configuration name, like this:
ln -s /etc/init.d/wg-quick /etc/init.d/wg-quick.wg0# And then call your service like this:rc-service wg-quick.wg0 start
Enable IP Forwarding
With a NAT destination rule in place on your router, you should be able connect to the wireguard instance and access the host. However, if you intend for peers to be able to access external resources (including the internet), you will need to enable ip forwarding.
Edit the file /etc/sysctl.conf (or a .conf file under /etc/sysctl.d/) and add the following line:
net.ipv4.ip_forward = 1
Add the sysctl service to run at boot:
rc-update add sysctl
Then either reboot or run sysctl -p /etc/sysctl.conf to reload the settings. To ensure forwarding is turned on, run sysctl -a | grep ip_forward and ensure net.ipv4.ip_forward is set to 1.
Running with modloop
If you are running from a RAM disk, you can't modify the modloop.
You can get around it by unpacking the modloop, mounting the unpacked modules folder, then installing WireGuard.
#!/bin/shapk add squashfs-tools # install squashfs tools to unpack modloopunsquashfs -d /root/squash /lib/modloop-lts # unpack modloop to root dirumount /.modloop # unmount existing modloopmount /root/squash/ /.modloop/ # mount unpacked modloopapk del wireguard-lts # uninstall previous WireGuard installapk add wireguard-ltsapk add wireguard-tools
You can repack the squash filesystem or put this script in the /etc/local.d/ path so it runs at boot-up.
