Exposing Wings in a Homelab
This guide covers the available methods for exposing a Wings node to the internet from a homelab, along with the trade-offs of each approach.
Prerequisites
Make sure you have:
- A working Calagopus Panel
- A working Calagopus Wings machine (accessible by the Panel)
- A domain name (optional, but recommended for easier access and SSL certificate generation)
Methods
A reverse proxy sits in front of your Wings machine and forwards requests to it. This is the recommended method for most users: it makes SSL certificate management easy and adds a layer of security.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Easy to set up with tools like Nginx or Caddy | Requires additional configuration and maintenance |
| Allows for easy SSL certificate management | May introduce additional latency |
| Provides an additional layer of security | Requires a domain name for best results |
| Can be used to expose multiple services on the same domain | May require additional resources on your server |
| No support for SFTP (but you can still use SFTP by connecting to the Wings machine directly on the local network) |
See the Reverse Proxy documentation for a full setup guide.
Wings uses both HTTP and WebSocket connections, so your reverse proxy must be configured to support both. When entering the URL in the panel, use the reverse proxy URL without a port. For example, if your reverse proxy is at https://wings.example.com, enter https://wings.example.com - not https://wings.example.com:8080.