[Request] Allow for AUR VPN Clients like Zerotier and Tailscale for secure gaming with people

[mikebutash]

I use Zerotier, which is basically an easy VPN that is cloud run and allows hosts to connect (and game) to each other over secure connectivity. This is usually a trivial installation from AUR packages with Arch, but as you say the repos are not installed as an "image". Since these user kernel drivers via VPN tap/tun functionality, it's not friendly toward Flatpak installation, and needs done in the base os (I think, there isn't a flatpak for them).

There's a lot of easy-ish VPN's out there like Zerotier or Tailscale that allow free use, or more traditional VPN's including OpenVPN, Hamachi, even enterprise like Fortinet FortiClient, Palo Alto Globalprotect, etc. It would be nice to account for installing these in the base os as well via their AUR packages.

[alkazar]

How though? We cannot install all of those packages.

[mikebutash]

I'm sorry if perhaps I'm oversimplifying my request, I haven't worked with immutable systems to now, but seems there should be a method to add app packages in an overlayfs of sorts with the image system. I have to imagine there ought to be a method of pulling in files as you would any hardware appliance with a persistence of disk via an overlay. It's probably a fairly short list of the various "vpn" solutions.

I wouldn't want them all preinstalled (maybe? again short list), but optional via any reasonable method. Most of these just require some small services using built-in kernel methods, but require root to exec the virtual tun interfaces and adjust routes, dns. etc.

If not possible, I understand, but worth an ask.

[alkazar]

Being able to install additional packages in an overlay is something I would like to do but it is very complicated. Fedora Atomic is actually dropping this functionality because it causes a lot of problems, including update failures.

There are some emerging technologies that bring with it similar functionality, but I am not yet sure which direction to take ChimeraOS. This is something that may come in the future, but not any time soon.

[mikebutash]

Understood, appreciate the response!

I didn't even realize chimera was another immutable until after installing, I was avoiding bazzite for that reason as these are not very for others outside my house without the VPN to get at my game servers that live on a vmhost here, which is what I/we use zerotier for. I got an Ally to test with, so was checking out what was possible that isn't windoze.

[mikebutash]

I did find the script for unfreezing and was thankfully rather easy from there to add yay and zerotier-one package from the repo, and basically just extended that for adding a few packages like chrony (ntp time) and btop (system performance) as well, and suddenly life is good.

I don't mind just putting the script back and running after an update really, but again would be great for considering for a cleaner non-tampering with image way to install these vpn agents cleanly, but otherwise this is still awesome for my purposes.

Thanks for the consideration and for making the rog ally a great system with chimeraos! Windoze was truly the pits to use on it, this is so much better now.