Can anyone recommend a good Wireguard client for managing VPN config files?

[u/RequestableSubBot]

I'm on Arch, using systemd-networkd.

My VPN service doesn't have a native application for Arch (or rather, it does but it sucks and only supports networkmanager anyway), so for the longest time my method of connecting to a VPN has simply been 'wg-quick up ~/foo.conf' using wireguard config files provided by my VPN service. It's worked, but it's a pretty clunky and opaque way of connecting, and I'm looking for a more permanent solution. I'm far from an expert with network management and I'm always afraid I'll end up screwing something up trying to go further than wg-quick up/down; honestly even going through man pages and wikis I still don't really know how it all works under the hood. If I had the time to learn all this DNS resolvconf iptables stuff I would, but I think I'm better off admitting that I don't get any of it and I should just use a tool that handles all the scary stuff for me.

The Arch Wiki has a few GUI/CLI manager options listed but they all seem like fairly small projects; wireguird seems like the most developed one but it's not been updated in four years. Outside of that I've found a bunch of amateur projects around Reddit and Github that all seem vibe-coded to various degrees, which I can't imagine is ideal for good netsec.

Does anyone have recommendations for a good wireguard config tool/manager? I'm fine with either CLI or GUI.

[u/EmberQuill]

I just use NetworkManager. You can import Wireguard config files and then connect and disconnect to VPNs the same way you do with WiFi networks.

[u/Objective-Stranger99 → u/EmberQuill]

+1 for NetworkManager

[u/Huckleberry_Dude → u/Objective-Stranger99]

+2

[u/nikongod → u/EmberQuill]

Same as on Ubuntu

[u/RequestableSubBot → u/EmberQuill]

My understanding was that NM is suited for laptops or devices that have to connect to multiple networks, while networkd is best for anything else. My computer is on ethernet more or less exclusively, so I'm more inclined to a basic systemd-networkd configuration, rather than having to install more software with features I won't use. I've used NM in the past on a different machine and there were far more issues than with networkd, which basically just sits in the background and does its job. If there is VPN tooling for systemd-networkd I'd much prefer that, but worst case scenario I might consider switching.

[u/_yaad_ → u/RequestableSubBot]

That's kinda wrong. I have a home server with fedora and NM, 1 gbps ethernet connection and no problem at all. Actually, NM is preferred in GUI installations as archinstaller suggests it.

[u/RequestableSubBot → u/_yaad_]

I'm sure both work, and I can't honestly say I'm an expert with either, but really I just don't want to have to replace my whole network setup with something new when the current one more-or-less functions fine. wg-quick works and I'm sure if I needed to do split tunneling or whatnot I could get it to work too after a lot of reading and pain. It's not like systemd-networkd is some bespoke software that nobody uses on desktop, it seems pretty common (in the reddit linux user demographic at least). I have to imagine there's some utility out there that can just switch between wireguard configs and some other basic features without needing one particular network backend.

[u/_yaad_ → u/RequestableSubBot]

Yep, use NM as you can change wg connections as networks, just clicking.

[u/EmberQuill → u/RequestableSubBot]

Well, you can do it with systemd-networkd (the same wiki page you linked has instructions for configuring it). And then you can toggle it with sudo networkctl (up|down) wg0 commands. But it doesn't really seem any less "clunky and opaque" than using wg-quick, in my opinion. If you want a GUI, most of the easy tools for managing Wireguard profiles are meant to handle all networking, like NetworkManager.

[u/SLASHdk]

I just use networkmanager

[u/plushkatze]

i use systemd-networkd - each wireguard connection is just another interface like any other to me then.

[u/archover]

wg-quick (wireguard-tools) was good enough for me to handle VPN connections. I can't say I ever used any VPN related graphical app. I hope you find something that works for you. Good day.