headscale/docs/Running.md

Running headscale

1. Download the Headscale binary https://github.com/juanfont/headscale/releases, and place it somewhere in your PATH or use the docker container

   docker pull headscale/headscale:x.x.x
   

2. (Optional, you can also use SQLite) Get yourself a PostgreSQL DB running

   docker run --name headscale -e POSTGRES_DB=headscale -e \
     POSTGRES_USER=foo -e POSTGRES_PASSWORD=bar -p 5432:5432 -d postgres
   

3. Create a WireGuard Private key and headscale configuration

   wg genkey > private.key
   
   # Postgres
   cp config.json.postgres.example config.json
   # or
   # SQLite
   cp config.json.sqlite.example config.json
   

4. Create a namespace (a namespace is a 'tailnet', a group of Tailscale nodes that can talk to each other)

   headscale namespaces create myfirstnamespace
   

   or docker:

   the db.sqlite mount is only needed if you use sqlite

   touch db.sqlite
   docker run \
     -v $(pwd)/private.key:/private.key \
     -v $(pwd)/config.json:/config.json \
     -v $(pwd)/derp.yaml:/derp.yaml \
     -v $(pwd)/db.sqlite:/db.sqlite \
     -p 127.0.0.1:8080:8080 \
     headscale/headscale:x.x.x \
     headscale namespaces create myfirstnamespace
   

   or if your server is already running in docker:

   docker exec <container_name> headscale create myfirstnamespace
   

5. Run the server

   headscale serve
   

   or docker:

   the db.sqlite mount is only needed if you use sqlite

   docker run \
     -v $(pwd)/private.key:/private.key \
     -v $(pwd)/config.json:/config.json \
     -v $(pwd)/derp.yaml:/derp.yaml \
     -v $(pwd)/db.sqlite:/db.sqlite \
     -p 127.0.0.1:8080:8080 \
     headscale/headscale:x.x.x headscale serve
   

6. If you used tailscale.com before in your nodes, make sure you clear the tailscald data folder

   systemctl stop tailscaled
   rm -fr /var/lib/tailscale
   systemctl start tailscaled
   

7. Add your first machine

   tailscale up --login-server YOUR_HEADSCALE_URL
   

8. Navigate to the URL you will get with tailscale up, where you'll find your machine key.

9. In the server, register your machine to a namespace with the CLI

   headscale -n myfirstnamespace nodes register YOURMACHINEKEY
   

   or docker:

   docker run \
     -v $(pwd)/private.key:/private.key \
     -v $(pwd)/config.json:/config.json \
     -v $(pwd)/derp.yaml:/derp.yaml \
     headscale/headscale:x.x.x \
     headscale -n myfirstnamespace nodes register YOURMACHINEKEY
   

   or if your server is already running in docker:

   docker exec <container_name> headscale -n myfirstnamespace nodes register YOURMACHINEKEY
   

Alternatively, you can use Auth Keys to register your machines:

1. Create an authkey

   headscale -n myfirstnamespace preauthkeys create --reusable --expiration 24h
   

   or docker:

   docker run \
     -v $(pwd)/private.key:/private.key \
     -v $(pwd)/config.json:/config.json \
     -v$(pwd)/derp.yaml:/derp.yaml \
     -v $(pwd)/db.sqlite:/db.sqlite \
     headscale/headscale:x.x.x \
     headscale -n myfirstnamespace preauthkeys create --reusable --expiration 24h
   

   or if your server is already running in docker:

   docker exec <container_name> headscale -n myfirstnamespace preauthkeys create --reusable --expiration 24h
   

2. Use the authkey from your machine to register it

   tailscale up --login-server YOUR_HEADSCALE_URL --authkey YOURAUTHKEY
   

If you create an authkey with the --ephemeral flag, that key will create ephemeral nodes. This implies that --reusable is true.

Please bear in mind that all the commands from headscale support adding -o json or -o json-line to get a nicely JSON-formatted output.