WireGuard is a modern VPN protocol built into the Linux kernel since version 5.6, offering a significantly smaller codebase, faster handshakes, and lower latency compared to OpenVPN or IPsec. This guide sets up a WireGuard server on Ubuntu 26.04, generates key pairs for the server and a client, configures IP forwarding, and walks through connecting a client device with a verified tunnel.

Install WireGuard

WireGuard is available directly from Ubuntu 26.04's default APT repository.

1. Update the APT package index:

$ sudo apt update

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2. Install WireGuard:

$ sudo apt install wireguard -y

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Configure the WireGuard Server

The server configuration requires generating a key pair, identifying the active network interface, and creating the wg0 interface configuration file.

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