State of Nebula Commander Development (February 2025)

A snapshot of what’s implemented, what’s in progress, and how you can run or contribute to Nebula Commander.

Nebula Commander is a self-hosted control plane for Nebula overlay networks. This post summarizes where the project stands as of February 2026 and how you can try it or contribute.

What’s in place

Backend (Python/FastAPI)
The API supports the core workflows: networks (create, delete), nodes (CRUD, IP allocation, certificates), groups and inbound firewall rules, and OIDC-based access with roles (system-admin, network-owner, user). You can run it with Docker, on NixOS via the systemd module, or locally with a venv and uvicorn.

Web UI (React)
The dashboard lets you manage networks, groups, and nodes; create or sign certificates; generate enrollment codes for the device client; and download ncclient binaries from your own server. Log in via OIDC (e.g. Keycloak) or, in development, with a dev token when DEBUG=true.

Device client (ncclient)
The experimental client enrolls with a one-time code, then polls the server for config and certificates and can run or restart Nebula when config changes. Available as a CLI and a Windows tray app; installable via pip install nebula-commander or from our releases.

Deployment
We document Docker (recommended) and NixOS installation, plus environment and OIDC configuration. The docs site you’re reading is the project’s main documentation.

Current status

The project is in early development. Core APIs and UI are implemented and usable for running your own Nebula networks with a central server. ncclient is still evolving (CLI and Windows tray; more platforms and packaging may follow). For production-like setups, we recommend using the Web UI and API to manage networks and nodes, then deploying config and certs manually and running Nebula yourself until ncclient stabilizes.

How to get involved

  • Run it – Follow Getting started and Server Installation, then use the Web UI to create a network and nodes.
  • Contribute – Code and issues live on GitHub. See Development for local setup, GitHub Actions, manual builds, and API overview.
  • Stay updated – Check the blog and the repo for announcements. We’ll post when we hit milestones (e.g. ncclient stability, new features, or release tagging).
  • Join us on Matrix - Join the Nebula Commander Matrix Space for discussions, support, and the latest development conversations.

Thanks for your interest in Nebula Commander.

Last modified February 26, 2026: Update documentation to replace GitHub links with Matrix discussion links, remove outdated blog post, and enhance installation instructions with reverse proxy details. (c1fe3f5)