<!doctype html><htmllang=enclass=no-js><head><metacharset=utf-8><metaname=viewportcontent="width=device-width,initial-scale=1"><metaname=descriptioncontent="An open source, self-hosted implementation of the Tailscale control server."><metaname=authorcontent="Headscale authors"><linkhref=https://juanfont.github.io/headscale/development/setup/install/official/rel=canonical><linkhref=../../requirements/rel=prev><linkhref=../community/rel=next><linkrel=iconhref=../../../assets/favicon.png><metaname=generatorcontent="mkdocs-1.6.1, mkdocs-material-9.5.48"><title>Official releases - Headscale</title><linkrel=stylesheethref=../../../assets/stylesheets/main.6f8fc17f.min.css><linkrel=stylesheethref=../../../assets/stylesheets/palette.06af60db.min.css><linkrel=preconnecthref=https://fonts.gstatic.comcrossorigin><linkrel=stylesheethref="https://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Roboto:300,300i,400,400i,700,700i%7CRoboto+Mono:400,400i,700,700i&display=fallback"><style>:root{--md-text-font:"Roboto";--md-code-font:"Roboto Mono"}</style><script>__md_scope=newURL("../../..",location),__md_hash=e=>[...e].reduce(((e,_)=>(e<<5)-e+_.charCodeAt(0)),0),__md_get=(e,_=localStorage,t=__md_scope)=>JSON.parse(_.getItem(t.pathname+"."+e)),__md_set=(e,_,t=localStorage,a=__md_scope)=>{try{t.setItem(a.pathname+"."+e,JSON.stringify(_))}catch(e){}}</script><metaproperty=og:typecontent=website><metaproperty=og:titlecontent="Official releases - Headscale"><metaproperty=og:descriptioncontent="An open source, self-hosted implementation of the Tailscale control server."><metaproperty=og:imagecontent=https://juanfont.github.io/headscale/development/assets/images/social/setup/install/official.png><metaproperty=og:image:typecontent=image/png><metaproperty=og:image:widthcontent=1200><metaproperty=og:image:heightcontent=630><metacontent=https://juanfont.github.io/headscale/development/setup/install/official/property=og:url><metaname=twitter:cardcontent=summary_large_image><metaname=twitter:titlecontent="Official releases - Headscale"><metaname=twitter:descriptioncontent="An open source, self-hosted implementation of the Tailscale control server."><metaname=twitter:imagecontent=https://juanfont.github.io/headscale/development/assets/images/social/setup/install/official.png></head><bodydir=ltrdata-md-color-scheme=defaultdata-md-color-primary=whitedata-md-color-accent=indigo><inputclass=md-toggledata-md-toggle=drawertype=checkboxid=__drawerautocomplete=off><inputclass=md-toggledata-md-toggle=searchtype=checkboxid=__searchautocomplete=off><labelclass=md-overlayfor=__drawer></label><divdata-md-component=skip><ahref=#official-releasesclass=md-skip> Skip to content </a></div><divdata-md-component=announce></div><divdata-md-color-scheme=defaultdata-md-component=outdatedhidden></div><headerclass=md-headerdata-md-component=header><navclass="md-header__inner md-grid"aria-label=Header><ahref=../../..title=Headscaleclass="md-header__button md-logo"aria-label=Headscaledata-md-component=logo><imgsrc=../../../logo/headscale3-dots.svgalt=logo></a><labelclass="md-header__button md-icon"for=__drawer><svgxmlns=http://www.w3.org/2000/svgviewbox="0 0 24 24"><pathd="M3 6h18v2H3zm0 5h18v2H3zm0 5h18v2H3z"/></svg></label><divclass=md-header__titledata-md-component=header-title><divclass=md-header__ellipsis><divclass=md-header__topic><spanclass=md-ellipsis> Headscale </span></div><divclass=md-header__topicdata-md-component=header-topic><spanclass=md-ellipsis> Official releases </span></div></div></div><formclass=md-header__optiondata-md-component=palette><inputclass=md-optiondata-md-color-mediadata-md-color-scheme=defaultdata-md-color-primary=whitedata-md-color-accent=indigoaria-label="Switch to dark mode"type=radioname=__paletteid=__palette_0><labelclass="md-header__button md-icon"title="Switch to dark mode"for=__palette_1hidden><svgxmlns=http://www.w3.org/2000/svgviewbox="0 0 24 24"><pathd="M128a44000-444400044440004-44
</span><spanid=__span-0-2><aid=__codelineno-0-2name=__codelineno-0-2href=#__codelineno-0-2></a><spanclass=nv>HEADSCALE_ARCH</span><spanclass=o>=</span><spanclass=s2>""</span><spanclass=w></span><spanclass=c1># Your system architecture, e.g. "amd64"</span>
</span></code></pre></div></li><li><p><ahref=../../../ref/configuration/>Configure headscale by editing the configuration file</a>:</p><divclass="language-shell highlight"><pre><span></span><code><spanid=__span-2-1><aid=__codelineno-2-1name=__codelineno-2-1href=#__codelineno-2-1></a>sudo<spanclass=w></span>nano<spanclass=w></span>/etc/headscale/config.yaml
</span></code></pre></div></li><li><p>Enable and start the headscale service:</p><divclass="language-shell highlight"><pre><span></span><code><spanid=__span-3-1><aid=__codelineno-3-1name=__codelineno-3-1href=#__codelineno-3-1></a>sudo<spanclass=w></span>systemctl<spanclass=w></span><spanclass=nb>enable</span><spanclass=w></span>--now<spanclass=w></span>headscale
</span></code></pre></div></li><li><p>Verify that headscale is running as intended:</p><divclass="language-shell highlight"><pre><span></span><code><spanid=__span-4-1><aid=__codelineno-4-1name=__codelineno-4-1href=#__codelineno-4-1></a>sudo<spanclass=w></span>systemctl<spanclass=w></span>status<spanclass=w></span>headscale
</span></code></pre></div></li></ol><h2id=using-standalone-binaries-advanced>Using standalone binaries (advanced)<aclass=headerlinkhref=#using-standalone-binaries-advancedtitle="Permanent link">¶</a></h2><divclass="admonition warning"><pclass=admonition-title>Advanced</p><p>This installation method is considered advanced as one needs to take care of the headscale user and the systemd service themselves. If possible, use the <ahref=#using-packages-for-debianubuntu-recommended>DEB packages</a> or a <ahref=../community/>community package</a> instead.</p></div><p>This section describes the installation of headscale according to the <ahref=../../requirements/#assumptions>Requirements and assumptions</a>. Headscale is run by a dedicated user and the service itself is managed by systemd.</p><ol><li><p>Download the latest <ahref=https://github.com/juanfont/headscale/releases><code>headscale</code> binary from GitHub's release page</a>:</p><divclass="language-shell highlight"><pre><span></span><code><spanid=__span-5-1><aid=__codelineno-5-1name=__codelineno-5-1href=#__codelineno-5-1></a>sudo<spanclass=w></span>wget<spanclass=w></span>--output-document<spanclass=o>=</span>/usr/local/bin/headscale<spanclass=w></span><spanclass=se>\</span>
</span></code></pre></div></li><li><p>Add a dedicated user to run headscale:</p><divclass="language-shell highlight"><pre><span></span><code><spanid=__span-7-1><aid=__codelineno-7-1name=__codelineno-7-1href=#__codelineno-7-1></a>sudo<spanclass=w></span>useradd<spanclass=w></span><spanclass=se>\</span>
</span></code></pre></div></li><li><p>Download the example configuration for your chosen version and save it as: <code>/etc/headscale/config.yaml</code>. Adjust the configuration to suit your local environment. See <ahref=../../../ref/configuration/>Configuration</a> for details.</p><divclass="language-shell highlight"><pre><span></span><code><spanid=__span-8-1><aid=__codelineno-8-1name=__codelineno-8-1href=#__codelineno-8-1></a>sudo<spanclass=w></span>mkdir<spanclass=w></span>-p<spanclass=w></span>/etc/headscale
</span></code></pre></div></li><li><p>Copy <ahref=../../../packaging/headscale.systemd.service>headscale's systemd service file</a> to <code>/etc/systemd/system/headscale.service</code> and adjust it to suit your local setup. The following parameters likely need to be modified: <code>ExecStart</code>, <code>WorkingDirectory</code>, <code>ReadWritePaths</code>.</p></li><li><p>In <code>/etc/headscale/config.yaml</code>, override the default <code>headscale</code> unix socket with a path that is writable by the <code>headscale</code> user or group:</p><divclass="language-yaml highlight"><pre><span></span><code><spanid=__span-9-1><aid=__codelineno-9-1name=__codelineno-9-1href=#__codelineno-9-1></a><spanclass=nt>unix_socket</span><spanclass=p>:</span><spanclass=w></span><spanclass="l l-Scalar l-Scalar-Plain">/var/run/headscale/headscale.sock</span>
</span></code></pre></div></li><li><p>Reload systemd to load the new configuration file:</p><divclass="language-shell highlight"><pre><span></span><code><spanid=__span-10-1><aid=__codelineno-10-1name=__codelineno-10-1href=#__codelineno-10-1></a>systemctl<spanclass=w></span>daemon-reload
</span></code></pre></div></li><li><p>Enable and start the new headscale service:</p><divclass="language-shell highlight"><pre><span></span><code><spanid=__span-11-1><aid=__codelineno-11-1name=__codelineno-11-1href=#__codelineno-11-1></a>systemctl<spanclass=w></span><spanclass=nb>enable</span><spanclass=w></span>--now<spanclass=w></span>headscale
</span></code></pre></div></li><li><p>Verify that headscale is running as intended:</p><divclass="language-shell highlight"><pre><span></span><code><spanid=__span-12-1><aid=__codelineno-12-1name=__codelineno-12-1href=#__codelineno-12-1></a>systemctl<spanclass=w></span>status<spanclass=w></span>headscale
