[GH-ISSUE #5484] Netbird server option to establish the initial connection to reverse proxy #11553

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saavagebueno · 2026-08-05T01:30:00-04:00

saavagebueno commented

2026-08-05 01:30:00 -04:00

Originally created by @rmtsrc on GitHub (Mar 2, 2026).
Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/netbirdio/netbird/issues/5484

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.

Currently in order to self host a Netbird reverse proxy, the proxy has to establish the initial connection to the Netbird server.

This prevents users from self hosting the Netbird server on their own NAT'ed home/work networks.

Describe the solution you'd like

It would be good if there was an option to allow the Netbird server to establish the initial connection to proxy, rather than the other way around.

This would mean that users could self host the Netbird server and dashboard in their own home/work network which would be able to connect to the Netbird proxy (e.g. on a public VPC), allowing users to use the Netbird reverse proxy to share the Netbird server /signalexchange.SignalExchange endpoint without having to run it on a public/shared VPC.

Describe alternatives you've considered

Other options requires running another WireGuard tunnel (from their home/work network to a VPC, so that the proxy is able to talk to the server) or for the user to run the Netbird server & proxy on a VPC where RAM, CPU & storage maybe limited.

Additional context

Originally created by @rmtsrc on GitHub (Mar 2, 2026). Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/netbirdio/netbird/issues/5484 **Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.**  Currently in order to self host a Netbird reverse proxy, the proxy has to establish the initial connection to the Netbird server. This prevents users from self hosting the Netbird server on their own NAT'ed home/work networks. **Describe the solution you'd like**  It would be good if there was an option to allow the Netbird server to establish the initial connection to proxy, rather than the other way around. This would mean that users could self host the Netbird server and dashboard in their own home/work network which would be able to connect to the Netbird proxy (e.g. on a public VPC), allowing users to use the Netbird reverse proxy to share the Netbird server `/signalexchange.SignalExchange` endpoint without having to run it on a public/shared VPC. **Describe alternatives you've considered**  Other options requires running another WireGuard tunnel (from their home/work network to a VPC, so that the proxy is able to talk to the server) or for the user to run the Netbird server & proxy on a VPC where RAM, CPU & storage maybe limited. **Additional context**  <img width="1940" height="1150" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/220d53e2-99e6-49e0-8a5f-b5ed37676045" />

saavagebueno added the feature-request label 2026-08-05 01:30:00 -04:00

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Reference: DYNR/netbird#11553