Collect Tailscale logs

Supported in:

Google secops SIEM

This document explains how to ingest Tailscale logs to Google Security Operations using Tailscale's native Amazon S3 log streaming feature. Tailscale produces operational data in the form of configuration audit logs and network flow logs. This integration uses Tailscale's built-in S3 streaming capability to automatically send these logs to Google SecOps for analysis and monitoring.

Before you begin

Make sure you have the following prerequisites:

Google SecOps instance
Privileged access to Tailscale Admin Console (Owner, Admin, Network admin, or IT admin role)
Privileged access to AWS (S3, IAM)

Collect Tailscale prerequisites (tailnet information)

Sign in to the Tailscale Admin Console.
Note your tailnet name (for example, example.com or your organization name).
Ensure you have the required plan:
- Configuration audit log streaming: Available on Personal, Personal Plus, and Enterprise plans.
- Network flow log streaming: Available on Enterprise plan only.

Configure AWS S3 bucket and IAM for Google SecOps

Create Amazon S3 bucket following this user guide: Creating a bucket
Save bucket Name and Region for future reference (for example, tailscale-logs).
Create a user following this user guide: Creating an IAM user.
Select the created User.
Select the Security credentials tab.
Click Create Access Key in the Access Keys section.
Select Third-party service as the Use case.
Click Next.
Optional: add a description tag.
Click Create access key.
Click Download CSV file to save the Access Key and Secret Access Key for later use.
Click Done.
Select the Permissions tab.
Click Add permissions in the Permissions policies section.
Select Add permissions.
Select Attach policies directly
Search for and select the AmazonS3FullAccess policy.
Click Next.
Click Add permissions.

Configure the IAM policy and role for S3 uploads

In the AWS console, go to IAM > Policies > Create policy > JSON tab.

Enter the following policy:

{
  "Version": "2012-10-17",
  "Statement": [
    {
      "Sid": "AllowTailscalePutObjects",
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Action": [
        "s3:PutObject",
        "s3:PutObjectAcl"
      ],
      "Resource": "arn:aws:s3:::tailscale-logs/*"
    }
  ]
}

Replace tailscale-logs if you entered a different bucket name.

Click Next > Create policy.
Go to IAM > Roles > Create role > Custom trust policy.

Enter the following trust policy:

{
  "Version": "2012-10-17",
  "Statement": [
    {
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Principal": {
        "AWS": "arn:aws:iam::982722776073:role/tailscale-log-streaming"
      },
      "Action": "sts:AssumeRole",
      "Condition": {
        "StringEquals": {
          "sts:ExternalId": "YOUR_TAILNET_NAME"
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}

Replace YOUR_TAILNET_NAME with your actual tailnet name.

Click Next.
Attach the policy created in step 1.
Name the role TailscaleS3StreamingRole and click Create role.
Copy the Role ARN for use in Tailscale configuration.

Configure Tailscale native S3 log streaming

Setup Configuration Audit Log streaming

In the Tailscale Admin Console, go to Logs > Configuration logs.
Click Start streaming.
Select Amazon S3 as the destination.
Provide the following configuration details:
- AWS Account ID: Your AWS Account ID.
- S3 Bucket Name: tailscale-logs.
- Role ARN: The ARN of the IAM role you created.
- S3 Key Prefix: tailscale/configuration/ (optional).
Click Start streaming.
Verify the status shows as Active.

Setup Network Flow Log streaming (Enterprise plan only)

If not already enabled, go to Settings > Network flow logs and enable network flow logs for your tailnet.
Go to Logs > Network flow logs.
Click Start streaming.
Select Amazon S3 as the destination.
Provide the following configuration details:
- AWS Account ID: Your AWS Account ID
- S3 Bucket Name: tailscale-logs
- Role ARN: The ARN of the IAM role you created
- S3 Key Prefix: tailscale/network/ (optional)
Click Start streaming.
Verify the status shows as Active.

Optional: Create read-only IAM user & keys for Google SecOps

In the AWS Console. go to IAM > Users > Add users.
Click Add users.
Provide the following configuration details:
- User: secops-reader
- Access type: Access key — Programmatic access
Click Create user.
Attach minimal read policy (custom): Users > secops-reader > Permissions > Add permissions > Attach policies directly > Create policy.

In the JSON editor, enter the following policy:

{
  "Version": "2012-10-17",
  "Statement": [
    {
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Action": ["s3:GetObject"],
      "Resource": "arn:aws:s3:::tailscale-logs/*"
    },
    {
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Action": ["s3:ListBucket"],
      "Resource": "arn:aws:s3:::tailscale-logs"
    }
  ]
}

Set the name to secops-reader-policy.
Go to Create policy > search/select > Next > Add permissions.
Go to Security credentials > Access keys > Create access key.
Download the CSV (these values are entered into the feed).

Configure a feed in Google SecOps to ingest Tailscale logs

Go to SIEM Settings > Feeds.
Click + Add New Feed.
In the Feed name field, enter a name for the feed (for example, Tailscale logs).
Select Amazon S3 V2 as the Source type.
Select Tailscale as the Log type.
Click Next.
Specify values for the following input parameters:
- S3 URI: s3://tailscale-logs/tailscale/
- Source deletion options: Select deletion option according to your preference.
- Maximum File Age: Include files modified in the last number of days. Default is 180 days.
- Access Key ID: User access key with access to the S3 bucket.
- Secret Access Key: User secret key with access to the S3 bucket.
- Asset namespace: the asset namespace.
- Ingestion labels: the label applied to the events from this feed.
Click Next.
Review your new feed configuration in the Finalize screen, and then click Submit.

Need more help? Get answers from Community members and Google SecOps professionals.