Enable connecting to PG within private VPCs using a VPN tunnel

Author: exAspArk

docs/docs/changelog.md

@@ -11,6 +11,8 @@ keywords: ['Bemi Changelog', 'Bemi New Features', 'Postgres Audit Trails', 'Chan
 
 ## 2024-12
 
+* Platform
+  * Enable connecting to PostgreSQL database within private VPCs using a [VPN tunnel](https://docs.bemi.io/postgresql/source-database#vpn-tunnel)
 * [Bemi Core](https://github.com/BemiHQ/bemi)
   * Stitch context with out of order LSN positions
 

docs/docs/postgresql/source-database.md

@@ -76,19 +76,180 @@ Note that this column will always be recorded if there were updated values in ot
 
 ## SSH Tunnel
 
-If your PostgreSQL source database is not accessible over the internet, you can specify SSH credentials to enable an SSH tunnel via a jump host.
+If your PostgreSQL source database is not accessible over the internet, you can specify SSH credentials to enable an SSH tunnel via your public jump host:
 
 ![dashboard](/img/new-source-db-ssh.png)
 
-Once the source database connection settings are submitted, we'll generate a public SSH key.
+Once the source database connection settings are submitted, we'll generate a public SSH key:
+
+![](/img/new-source-db-ssh-key.png)
+
 Add this public SSH key to your SSH host to allow Bemi workers to connect and SSH-tunnel to the PostgreSQL database:
 
 ```sh
 touch ~/.ssh/authorized_keys && chmod 600 ~/.ssh/authorized_keys
 echo 'ssh-ed25519 AAAAC3Nz...' >> ~/.ssh/authorized_keys
 ```
 
-If you need a public SSH Key before you know the SSH host address, just specify any address and later reach out to us to update it.
+Note: if you need a public SSH Key before you know the SSH host address, just specify any address and later reach out to us to update it.
+
+## VPN Tunnel
+
+If your PostgreSQL source database and SSH jump host can't be accessible over the internet, you can establish a secure VPN tunnel to our VPN server.
+
+![](/img/new-source-db-vpn.png)
+
+You need to provision a VPN node and configure VPN using [WireGuard](https://www.wireguard.com/) that combines strong encryption with fast speeds:
+
+```sh
+# Install WireGuard
+sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y resolvconf wireguard
+
+# Generate a private and public keys
+wg genkey | tee wg-privatekey | wg pubkey > wg-publickey
+
+# Get your network interface name (e.g., ens5)
+NETWORK_INTERFACE=$(ip route get 8.8.8.8 | grep 8.8.8.8 | awk '{print $5}')
+
+# Reach out to us to get the VPN server public key and endpoint
+BEMI_PUBLIC_KEY=
+BEMI_ENDPOINT=
+
+# Send us your public key and PostgreSQL private IP address
+cat wg-publickey
+dig your-prod-postgres.abcdef5ghij.us-west-1.rds.amazonaws.com A +short | tail -n 1
+
+# Enable IP forwarding
+echo "net.ipv4.ip_forward = 1" | sudo tee -a /etc/sysctl.conf
+sudo sysctl -p
+
+# Create a WireGuard configuration file with the following content
+cat << EOF > wg0.conf
+[Interface]
+PrivateKey = $(cat ./wg-privatekey)
+Address = 10.0.0.1/24
+PostUp = iptables -t nat -A POSTROUTING -o $NETWORK_INTERFACE -j MASQUERADE
+PostDown = iptables -t nat -D POSTROUTING -o $NETWORK_INTERFACE -j MASQUERAD
+
+[Peer]
+PublicKey = $BEMI_PUBLIC_KEY
+AllowedIPs = 10.0.0.2/32
+Endpoint = $BEMI_ENDPOINT:51820
+PersistentKeepalive = 25
+EOF
+sudo mv wg0.conf /etc/wireguard/wg0.conf
+
+sudo systemctl enable [email protected]
+sudo systemctl start [email protected]
+systemctl status [email protected]
+```
+
+Please make sure to have the port 5432 (Postgres) open on your VPN node.
+Once you have the WireGuard running, we'll be able to connect to your PostgreSQL database over the VPN tunnel.
+
+Here is a Terraform snippet to run all the commands above on AWS:
+
+```tf
+locals {
+  # For example, Ubuntu 24.04 LTS - arm64
+  ami           = "ami-..."
+  instance_type = "t4g.micro"
+
+  # Your private subnet ID
+  private_subnet_id = "subnet-..."
+
+  # Bemi VPN server information
+  bemi_public_key = "..."
+  bemi_endpoint   = "..."
+
+  # Optionally if you want to SSH to the VPN node
+  ssh_key_name    = "..."
+  ssh_cidr_blocks = [".../32"]
+}
+
+resource "aws_security_group" "bemi-vpn-node" {
+  name        = "bemi-vpn-node"
+  description = "Security group for bemi-vpn-node"
+
+  ingress {
+    description = "SSH"
+    from_port   = 22
+    to_port     = 22
+    protocol    = "tcp"
+    cidr_blocks = local.ssh_cidr_blocks
+  }
+
+  egress {
+    from_port        = 0
+    to_port          = 0
+    protocol         = "-1"
+    cidr_blocks      = ["0.0.0.0/0"]
+    ipv6_cidr_blocks = ["::/0"]
+  }
+
+  tags = {
+    Name = "bemi-vpn-node"
+  }
+}
+
+resource "aws_instance" "bemi-vpn-node" {
+  ami                         = local.ami
+  instance_type               = local.instance_type
+  key_name                    = local.ssh_key_name
+  associate_public_ip_address = false
+  subnet_id                   = local.private_subnet_id
+  security_groups             = [aws_security_group.bemi-vpn-node.id]
+
+  tags = {
+    Name = "bemi-vpn-node"
+  }
+
+  user_data = <<-EOF
+#!/bin/bash
+
+sudo apt update
+sudo apt install -y resolvconf wireguard
+
+cd /home/ubuntu
+wg genkey | tee wg-privatekey | wg pubkey > wg-publickey
+
+echo "net.ipv4.ip_forward = 1" | sudo tee -a /etc/sysctl.conf
+sudo sysctl -p
+
+cat << EOF_WG_CONF > wg0.conf
+[Interface]
+PrivateKey = $(cat ./wg-privatekey)
+Address = 10.0.0.1/24
+PostUp = iptables -t nat -A POSTROUTING -o ens5 -j MASQUERADE
+PostDown = iptables -t nat -D POSTROUTING -o ens5 -j MASQUERAD
+
+[Peer]
+PublicKey = ${local.bemi_public_key}
+AllowedIPs = 10.0.0.2/32
+Endpoint = ${local.bemi_endpoint}:51820
+PersistentKeepalive = 25
+EOF_WG_CONF
+sudo mv wg0.conf /etc/wireguard/wg0.conf
+
+sudo systemctl enable [email protected]
+sudo systemctl start [email protected]
+  EOF
+}
+```
+
+To check the WireGuard status, SSH to the VPN node and run:
+
+```sh
+# Check the WireGuard status
+systemctl status [email protected]
+sudo wg show
+
+# Check the WireGuard configuration file
+sudo cat /etc/wireguard/wg0.conf
+
+# Check your public WireGuard key and share it with us
+cat ./wg-publickey
+```
 
 ## Bemi Static IPs