nx9-wg is a native Linux VPN and networking control plane built directly around the Linux kernel's in-tree WireGuard implementation (wireguard.ko).

Rather than functioning as a user interface wrapper that shells out to external command-line utilities (wg, ip, nft, sysctl), nx9-wg provides a single self-contained binary architecture. It integrates authoritative SQLite desired-state persistence, direct kernel Netlink execution (RTNETLINK and WireGuard Generic Netlink), in-process Netfilter firewall/NAT compilation (libnftables.so.1), continuous closed-loop reconciliation, a multi-format native CLI, and an embedded zero-dependency Single Page Application (SPA) Web UI.

1. The Architectural Paradigm Shift

Typical WireGuard Management Wrappers

┌──────────┐     ┌──────────────────────┐     ┌────────────────────────────┐     ┌──────────────┐
│  Web UI  │ ──► │  Text Config Files   │ ──► │  wg / ip / nft / sysctl    │ ──► │ Linux Kernel │
│ (Node/Py)│     │(/etc/wireguard/*.conf│     │ (Subprocess Spawning)      │     │ (wireguard.ko│
└──────────┘     └──────────────────────┘     └────────────────────────────┘     └──────────────┘

Disadvantages: Process-spawning overhead, shell escaping risks, lack of transactional state, unmanaged host routing collisions, vulnerability to configuration drift, and heavy runtime footprints.

Whereas `nx9-wg` is a Native Control & Execution Plane:

                                ┌───────────────────────────────────┐
                                │             nx9-wg                │
                                └─────────────────┬─────────────────┘
                                                  │
                 ┌────────────────────────────────┴────────────────────────────────┐
                 │                                                                 │
       ┌─────────▼─────────┐                                             ┌─────────▼─────────┐
       │   Desired State   │                                             │    Live State     │
       │  (Authoritative)  │                                             │  (Kernel Cache)   │
       └─────────┬─────────┘                                             └─────────▲─────────┘
                 │                                                                 │
       ┌─────────▼─────────┐                                             ┌─────────┴─────────┐
       │  SQLite 3 (WAL)   │                                             │   Linux Kernel    │
       └─────────┬─────────┘                                             └─────────▲─────────┘
                 │                                                                 │
                 │                                                       Live Netlink Telemetry
                 ▼                                                                 │
       ┌───────────────────┐                                                       │
       │   Reconciliation  │ ◄─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
       │      Engine       │
       └─────────┬─────────┘
                 │
                 ├── 🔐 WireGuard Generic Netlink (family "wireguard")
                 ├── 🌐 RTNETLINK (Links, IPv4/IPv6 Addresses, Routes)
                 ├── 🔥 Netfilter / libnftables FFI (table inet nx9_wg)
                 └── ↔️ Direct Procfs IP Forwarding (/proc/sys/net)

2. Key Capabilities

WireGuard Interface & Peer Lifecycle: Direct RTNETLINK link management (RTM_NEWLINK/RTM_DELLINK) and WireGuard Generic Netlink (WG_CMD_SET_DEVICE/WG_CMD_GET_DEVICE) with cryptokey routing.
Persistent Server Endpoint Settings: Authoritative configuration of public client-reachable endpoint (wireguard.server_host, wireguard.server_port, wireguard.server_endpoint_enabled) automatically embedded into client exports and QR codes.
Strict AllowedIPs Semantic Separation: Correctly derives server-side cryptokey routing AllowedIPs (/32 and /128) from assigned tunnel addresses, distinct from client full-tunnel (0.0.0.0/0, ::/0) routing policies.
IPv4/IPv6 Address Management: In-process RTM_NEWADDR and RTM_DELADDR Netlink execution without invoking ip addr.
Protected Route Management: In-process routing table reconciliation protecting host default routes from accidental disruption.
In-Process nftables Firewall & NAT: Transactional rule compilation via libnftables.so.1 strictly scoped to table inet nx9_wg.
Scoped Outbound NAT Masquerade: Automated masquerading scoped to managed WireGuard client subnets and non-WireGuard egress interfaces.
Atomic IP Packet Forwarding: Direct /proc/sys/net/ipv4/ip_forward and IPv6 forwarding control.
Live Kernel Telemetry: Live handshake timestamps, authenticated roaming endpoints, and 64-bit RX/TX byte counters merged into API and WebUI responses.
Closed-Loop Reconciliation: Continuous drift detection, dry-run deterministic planning, and serialized convergence.
Cold-Boot Restart Recovery: Deterministic reconstruction of live kernel networking from authoritative SQLite state upon boot.
Single Administrator Identity: Database-level CHECK (id = 1) constraint, Argon2id password hashing, and SHA-256 API token digests.
Zero-Dependency Single Page Application (SPA): Embedded HTML5/CSS/JS frontend with dark/light themes, live WebSocket telemetry, and responsive mobile-first UI.
Pure Rust Client Configuration & QR: In-process generation of standard .conf text and SVG, PNG, and terminal ASCII QR codes.
Automated Health Diagnostics: Deep inspection across 11 subsystems with actionable remediation hints.
Atomic SQLite Online Backups: Non-blocking VACUUM INTO snapshots with SHA-256 integrity manifests and pre-restore safety snapshots.
Application Subprocess Isolation: The nx9-wg Rust application does not invoke wg, ip, nft, sysctl, or shell commands through std::process::Command. Operational administration scripts may use standard Linux utilities for deployment, diagnostics, backup, and service management.

3. Core Design Principles

Principle	Technical Implementation
Operator Sovereignty	100% self-hosted local execution. Private keys, configuration data, and cryptographic credentials never leave the host.
SQLite Authority	SQLite in WAL mode is the single authoritative source of truth. Kernel state is reconciled to match the database.
Zero Application Subprocesses	All kernel interactions performed by the Rust application execute through native Linux Netlink sockets, `libnftables.so.1` FFI, and direct procfs writes. Operational shell scripts are separate administrative tooling.
Defense in Depth	Single administrator model (`CHECK (id=1)`), Argon2id hashing, SHA-256 token digests, HttpOnly `nx9_session` cookies, brute-force rate limiting, and strict secret redaction.
Simplicity & Reliability	Single binary, single database file, single configuration file, self-contained systemd service, and zero external runtime dependencies.

4. Workspace Architecture

nx9-wg is structured as a modular six-crate Rust workspace:

crates/nx9-wg-core: Typed domain models (Interface, Peer, Network, Route, FirewallRule, Setting, ServerEndpointSettings, Admin), RFC-compliant validators, cryptography (Argon2id, SHA-256, X25519), and hierarchical configuration loader.
crates/nx9-wg-db: Authoritative SQLite store, 13 relational tables, automated migrations via sqlx, and repository implementations in WAL mode.
crates/nx9-wireguard: WireGuard Generic Netlink execution, RTNETLINK link management, client .conf generator, and pure Rust QR engine (SVG, PNG, ASCII).
crates/nx9-wg-network: RTNETLINK routing engine, libnftables.so.1 Netfilter integration in table inet nx9_wg, and direct procfs packet forwarding.
crates/nx9-wg-api: Axum REST router, WebSocket real-time broadcaster, session/token authentication, deterministic IP allocator, and reconciliation engine.
crates/nx9-wg-ui: Pure CSS design system, responsive stylesheet compiler, view models, and embedded SPA assets.
src/main.rs: Root executable CLI providing full subcommand coverage and daemon orchestration.

5. Persistent WireGuard Server Endpoint Configuration

When generating client configuration files (.conf) and QR codes, nx9-wg automatically embeds the public or reachable server endpoint address where WireGuard clients connect across the Internet or WAN.

Setting Keys in SQLite

Key	Type	Description	Default	Example
`wireguard.server_host`	String	Public/reachable server hostname or IP address (DNS hostname, IPv4, or IPv6). Must not contain a port.	Empty	`vpn.thakares.com` or `203.0.113.10` or `2001:db8::10`
`wireguard.server_port`	u16	Public reachable UDP port where clients connect (`1..=65535`).	`51820`	`51820`
`wireguard.server_endpoint_enabled`	Boolean	Whether the persistent endpoint is used as the default for client exports.	`true`	`true`
`server_endpoint`	String	Legacy formatted endpoint fallback (`host:port` or `[ipv6]:port`).	Empty	`vpn.thakares.com:51820`
`public_endpoint`	String	Legacy secondary fallback.	Empty	`vpn.thakares.com:51820`

Authoritative Resolution Precedence

Explicit per-request / per-export override: Passed via --endpoint <ENDPOINT> in the CLI or ?endpoint=<ENDPOINT> in the REST API.
Persistent structured settings: wireguard.server_host + wireguard.server_port when wireguard.server_endpoint_enabled is true and host is non-empty.
Legacy server_endpoint setting: If present and non-empty.
Legacy public_endpoint setting: If present and non-empty.
Actionable configuration error: Directs the administrator to configure the server endpoint in Settings or provide --endpoint.

Separation Invariant: The public server endpoint port (wireguard.server_port) is conceptually separate from the local WireGuard kernel interface UDP listen_port (which may bind locally behind NAT, port-forwarding, or intermediate firewalls).

6. Installation & Deployment

Quick Start (Pre-Built Archive)

# Extract release archive:
tar -xzf nx9-wg-v1.0.0-linux-x86_64.tar.gz
cd nx9-wg-v1.0.0-linux-x86_64

# Run production installer as root:
sudo bash install.sh

Production Deployment from Source

# 1. Build optimized release binary and run quality gates:
bash scripts/build-release.sh

# 2. Deploy the validated release binary to /usr/local/bin/nx9-wg with automatic backup and service restart:
sudo bash scripts/deploy.sh

Manual Installation from Source

# 1. Build optimized release binary:
cargo build --release --workspace

# 2. Install binary:
sudo install -m 0755 target/release/nx9-wg /usr/local/bin/nx9-wg

# 3. Create required directories with strict permissions:
sudo install -d -m 0750 /etc/nx9-wg
sudo install -d -m 0700 /var/lib/nx9-wg
sudo install -d -m 0700 /var/lib/nx9-wg/backups
sudo install -d -m 0750 /var/log/nx9-wg

# 4. Bootstrap administrator account:
sudo /usr/local/bin/nx9-wg init --generate-password --write-password-file /var/lib/nx9-wg/admin-password
sudo chmod 0600 /var/lib/nx9-wg/admin-password

# 5. Start the daemon:
sudo /usr/local/bin/nx9-wg serve --bind 0.0.0.0:8080

7. Configuration Reference

Configuration is evaluated hierarchically: CLI Arguments > Environment Variables > TOML Configuration File > Compiled Defaults.

TOML Format (`/etc/nx9-wg/config.toml`)

data_dir = "/var/lib/nx9-wg"
bind_address = "0.0.0.0:8080"
log_level = "info"
session_expiry_hours = 24
reconciliation_interval_secs = 60

[backup]
dir = "/var/lib/nx9-wg/backups"
max_count = 5

Environment Variables

NX9_WG_CONFIG: Path to configuration file.
NX9_WG_DATA_DIR: Path to persistent data directory.
NX9_WG_DATABASE: Explicit SQLite database file path.
NX9_WG_LISTEN_ADDR: Daemon bind address.
NX9_WG_LOG_LEVEL: Log verbosity filter (trace, debug, info, warn, error).
NX9_WG_ADMIN_USERNAME / NX9_WG_ADMIN_PASSWORD / NX9_WG_ADMIN_PASSWORD_FILE: Bootstrap administrator credentials.

8. Web User Interface (SPA)

Access the Web UI at http://<server-ip>:8080/. The interface is a zero-dependency SPA embedded inside the binary:

Dashboard (#dashboard): System status, uptime, interface/peer counts, diagnostics health summary, and live reconciliation status.
Interfaces (#interfaces): Interface list, "+ Create Interface" modal, interface Edit action (preserves private/public key identity), enable/disable toggle, and delete action.
Peers (#peers): Enrolled peer table with real-time handshakes, status filters, "+ Add Peer" modal with MTU profile resolution, client configuration export modal, and live SVG QR rendering.
Networks (#networks): Subnet network definitions, CIDR blocks, available unallocated IP inspection, and "+ Create Network" modal.
Routes (#routes): Kernel routing table entries, gateway assignments, and "+ Create Route" modal.
Firewall (#firewall): Packet filtering rules in table inet nx9_wg, priority ordering, and "+ Create Rule" modal.
NAT & Masquerade (#nat): Outbound NAT masquerade status card, active masqueraded subnet list, and instant toggle.
IP Forwarding (#forwarding): Kernel /proc/sys/net/ipv4/ip_forward status and toggle.
Reconciliation (#reconciliation): Real-time drift overview, planned execution actions table, and "Run Reconcile (Apply)" trigger.
Diagnostics (#diagnostics): Automated health inspection across 11 subsystems with remediation hints.
Live State (#live-state): Real-time Netlink kernel telemetry, active WireGuard links, and kernel routing table.
Settings (#settings): Dedicated WireGuard Server Endpoint configuration card (Host, Port, Enabled toggle, live preview, save), appliance parameters table, and danger zone reset controls.
Backups (#backups): Atomic SQLite backup snapshots list, "+ Create Backup Snapshot" trigger, and direct .db download.
Audit Log (#audit): Append-only security and administrative audit trail with actor, IP, timestamp, and context metadata.
Administrator (#administrator): Admin account verification, password update modal, and "+ Generate API Token" modal with one-time raw secret copy.

9. Native CLI Command Reference

The nx9-wg binary provides native CLI coverage across all 18 command groups:

# 1. System Settings & Server Endpoint
nx9-wg system settings set wireguard.server_host vpn.thakares.com
nx9-wg system settings set wireguard.server_port 51820
nx9-wg system settings set wireguard.server_endpoint_enabled true

# 2. Interface Creation & Editing
nx9-wg interface create wg0 --address-v4 10.100.0.1/24 --port 51820 --mtu 1420
nx9-wg interface update wg0 --mtu 1420

# 3. Peer Enrollment & Client Config Export
nx9-wg peer create --interface wg0 --name alice-phone --profile full_tunnel --mtu 1280

# Export client configuration (uses persistent server endpoint):
nx9-wg peer config <PEER_UUID>

# Export with explicit one-off override:
nx9-wg peer config <PEER_UUID> --endpoint custom.backup-vpn.com:51820

# Render ASCII QR code in terminal for mobile scanning:
nx9-wg peer qr <PEER_UUID>

# Render QR code as SVG:
nx9-wg peer qr <PEER_UUID> --qr-format svg

# 4. Reconciliation
nx9-wg reconcile plan
nx9-wg reconcile apply
nx9-wg reconcile verify

# 5. Live Telemetry & Diagnostics
nx9-wg live peer wg0
nx9-wg diagnostics all

# 6. Database Backups
nx9-wg backup create --description "Pre-maintenance snapshot"
nx9-wg backup list
nx9-wg backup verify /var/lib/nx9-wg/backups/snapshot.db

10. Peer Creation & Cryptokey Routing Semantics

nx9-wg strictly enforces the architectural separation between server-side cryptokey routing and client-side routing policy:

Server-Side Cryptokey Routing (`AllowedIPs`)

For a road-warrior peer assigned address 10.100.0.2/32, the server kernel's WireGuard peer configuration receives:

[Peer]
PublicKey = <CLIENT_PUBLIC_KEY>
AllowedIPs = 10.100.0.2/32

This ensures the Linux kernel cryptographically binds packet transmission and reception specifically to 10.100.0.2/32 and prevents peer routing collisions.

Generated Client Configuration (`.conf`)

The generated client configuration file exported for the client device contains:

[Interface]
PrivateKey = <CLIENT_PRIVATE_KEY>
Address = 10.100.0.2/32
DNS = 1.1.1.1, 1.0.0.1
MTU = 1280

[Peer]
PublicKey = <SERVER_PUBLIC_KEY>
Endpoint = vpn.thakares.com:51820
AllowedIPs = 0.0.0.0/0, ::/0
PersistentKeepalive = 25

11. Authentication, Sessions & WebSockets

Single Administrator Identity: Locked with CHECK (id = 1). Passwords derived using memory-hard Argon2id.
Session Security: Authenticated browser sessions receive an HttpOnly, SameSite=Strict, Path=/ cookie named nx9_session.
API Tokens: Cryptographically hashed tokens (nx9_<uuid>_<random>). Only the SHA-256 digest is stored in SQLite.
Brute-Force Rate Limiting: Exponential backoff and IP-based rate limiting (5 failed attempts per 15-minute sliding window triggers HTTP 429 Too Many Requests).
Real-Time WebSocket Protocol (/api/v1/ws): Authenticates seamlessly using the browser's nx9_session HttpOnly cookie or Authorization: Bearer <token> header, streaming real-time events: AuditEvent, InterfaceChanged, PeerChanged, PeerHandshake, and SettingsChanged.

12. Quality Assurance & Verification Evidence

All release quality gates have been executed and verified on Debian Linux:

Quality Gate	Command	Result
Formatting	`cargo fmt --all -- --check`	PASS (0 errors)
Compilation	`cargo check --workspace --all-targets`	PASS (0 errors)
Clippy Linting	`cargo clippy --workspace --all-targets --all-features -- -D warnings`	PASS (0 warnings)
Workspace Test Suite	`cargo test --workspace --all-targets`	PASS (All 88 tests passing)
CLI Test Suite	`cargo test --test test_cli_commands`	PASS (11 tests passing)
Release Compilation	`cargo build --release --workspace`	PASS (Optimized release binary)
Production Server Acceptance	Physical Android WireGuard client connection	VERIFIED (Live handshake and RX/TX telemetry confirmed)

13. Operational Tooling & Lifecycle Scripts

The repository includes a curated set of production-grade operational helper scripts in scripts/:

Script	Purpose & Key Operations
`scripts/verify.sh`	Development Verification: Executes formatting check, workspace check, Clippy with `-D warnings`, full test suite, and comprehensive CLI verification.
`scripts/build-release.sh`	Release Compilation: Executes all quality gates and compiles an optimized binary to `target/release/nx9-wg` without invoking `cargo clean`.
`scripts/package-release.sh`	Release Packaging: Bundles binary, systemd unit, default configuration, docs, and installer into `.tar.gz` and `.tar.xz` release archives.
`scripts/deploy.sh`	Production Deployment: Validates the source release binary, backs up the active binary to `/usr/local/bin/nx9-wg.backup.<timestamp>`, performs a controlled replacement, checks UDP socket conflicts safely, updates the systemd unit, restarts the service, and verifies the active version.
`scripts/rollback.sh`	Production Rollback: Automatically discovers deployment backups in `/usr/local/bin/nx9-wg.backup.*` and safely rolls back the active binary with service verification.
`scripts/diagnose.sh`	Production Diagnostics: Collects a secret-safe snapshot of service health, journal logs, active UDP socket listeners, kernel WireGuard state (`wg show`), nftables rules, sysctl IP forwarding, and appliance diagnostics.
`scripts/backup-source.sh`	Source Archive Backup: Creates a timestamped `.tar.xz` source snapshot excluding `target/` and temporary databases while preserving `.git/` history.
`scripts/install.sh`	Host Installer: Bootstraps directories, config template, initial administrator, and systemd service unit.
`scripts/uninstall.sh`	Host Uninstaller: Safely removes binary and service unit while preserving configuration and SQLite database by default (`--purge` for teardown).

14. Security Considerations

Application Subprocess Isolation: nx9-wg does not spawn external shell commands or utilities from the Rust application, eliminating command-injection and shell-escaping exposure from application-level command execution. Operational scripts are separate administrative tooling.
Firewall Scoping: All nftables operations are confined to table inet nx9_wg. External tables from Docker, Kubernetes, or host firewalls are completely untouched.
Secret Redaction: Private keys, preshared keys, password hashes, and token digests are masked ([REDACTED]) in Debug formatters, CLI outputs, and API responses.
Strict File Permissions: The data directory and SQLite database are locked to 0700 and 0600 (root:root).
Client Configuration Protection: Exported .conf files and QR codes contain sensitive client private keys and must be delivered securely to client devices.

15. License

Dual-licensed under either:

MIT License (LICENSE-MIT)
Apache License, Version 2.0 (LICENSE-APACHE)

at your option.

16. Documentation Master Index

For detailed subsystem documentation, see the Documentation Index:

17. Web UI Screenshots

The following screenshots provide visual evidence of the production Web UI and its native WireGuard/network administration workflow. Sensitive endpoint and cryptographic values in the captured evidence have been redacted where applicable.

Dashboard

Interfaces

Peer Management

New Peer Enrollment

Client Configuration Export

QR Code Export

Networks

IP Forwarding

NAT & Masquerade

Reconciliation

Diagnostics — System, Network & WAN

Diagnostics — Firewall, NAT, MTU & Reconciliation

Settings

Backups

Additional evidence: screenshots/admin-instance.png contains the captured administrative instance documentation and is retained in the repository alongside the UI screenshots.

Native, CLI-first WireGuard management platform in Rust — self-hosted, single-admin, zero external runtime dependencies, with native Linux networking, SQLite persistence, REST/WebSocket API, responsive Web UI, diagnostics, reconciliation, firewall/NAT/routing management, automatic IP allocation, and client-aware MTU profiles.

https://nx9.in

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README.md

NX9 WireGuard (nx9-wg)