NetBird for Unraid

Run NetBird, the open-source WireGuard mesh VPN, as a native Unraid OS plugin. The Unraid host itself becomes a peer on your NetBird network. No Docker container, no extra hop.

Install

In Plugins → Install Plugin, paste:

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/netbirdio/netbird-unraid/main/plugin/netbird.plg

Then open Settings → Netbird to configure.

What you get

• The official upstream netbird Linux binary at /usr/local/sbin/netbird
• An rc.d service (/etc/rc.d/rc.netbird) that survives reboots
• Dynamix WebGUI pages: Settings, Status, Info + a Dashboard tile
• Persistent identity and config on the USB flash drive, so reboots don't forget who this peer is
• Multiple profiles (for example a self-hosted tenant and NetBird Cloud) that you can switch between from the Settings page

How it works

NetBird's upstream packaging assumes systemd. Unraid runs Slackware with plain init, so this plugin:

1. Downloads the upstream tarball from github.com/netbirdio/netbird/releases, pinned by SHA256.

2. Drops the binary at /usr/local/sbin/netbird.

3. Runs netbird service run from /etc/rc.d/rc.netbird (foreground daemon, logging to /var/log/netbird.log).

4. Symlinks NetBird's two state paths onto the flash drive so the identity survives Unraid's ephemeral rootfs:

   NetBird default	Symlinked to
   /etc/netbird	/boot/config/plugins/netbird/etc
   /var/lib/netbird	/boot/config/plugins/netbird/lib

5. Adds an array-start event hook so the daemon comes up whenever the array starts.

Notes

A few NetBird behaviors are worth knowing when editing a profile:

• Changing a profile's management URL or hostname re-registers the peer. It gets a new identity and IP, and the old peer lingers in your NetBird dashboard until you delete it there.
• A pre-shared key can be set or changed but not cleared from the UI. Removing it requires erasing the profile and setting it up again.

Building locally

./scripts/build.sh

Produces:

• dist/unraid-netbird-utils-<version>-noarch-1.txz
• dist/netbird.plg with the version and package SHA256 substituted in

Upload the .txz to a GitHub release tagged with the same version, then commit the updated plugin/netbird.plg to main so users get the new version through normal plugin updates.

License

GPL-3.0. See LICENSE.

Credit

The official Unraid Tailscale plugin by Derek Kaser, was used as a base for this plugin, same general daemon+CLI+Dynamix shape. Plugin docs from the mstrhakr/plugin-docs project.