Install Tailscale

Set up and use your own VPN server.

1. Keep Hosts content up to date

If you have changed the hostname before, it may not have been updated in /etc/hosts. Correct this to avoid problems during installation.

# Specify the current hostname in /etc/hosts
sudo sed -i "s/^\(127\.0\.1\.1\s\+\)\S\+/\1$(hostname)/" /etc/hosts

2. Install required tools

Required tools for installation.

# Debian, Ubuntu, Kali, Linux Mint (APT)
sudo apt install -y curl

# Red Hat, CentOS, Fedora, AlmaLinux, Rocky (DNF / YUM)
sudo dnf install -y curl
sudo yum install -y curl

# Arch, Manjaro (Pacman)
sudo pacman -S --noconfirm curl

3. Install Tailscale

Install Tailscale with shell script.

# Pull and run the specified shell script
curl -fsSL https://tailscale.com/install.sh | sh

You must be connected to the Tailscale network on both your server and your clients.

# Login to the Tailscale
sudo tailscale login

5. Advertise exit node

Select a host machine as the exit node. This represents the device you will use as the VPN.

# Enable IP forwarding
echo "net.ipv4.ip_forward = 1" | sudo tee -a /etc/sysctl.d/99-tailscale.conf
echo "net.ipv6.conf.all.forwarding = 1" | sudo tee -a /etc/sysctl.d/99-tailscale.conf
sudo sysctl -p /etc/sysctl.d/99-tailscale.conf

# Increase UDP compatibility
NETDEV=$(ip -o route get 8.8.8.8 | cut -f 5 -d " ")
sudo ethtool -K $NETDEV rx-udp-gro-forwarding on rx-gro-list off
printf "#!/bin/sh\n\nethtool -K %s rx-udp-gro-forwarding on rx-gro-list off \n" "$(ip -o route get 8.8.8.8 | cut -f 5 -d " ")" | sudo tee /etc/networkd-dispatcher/routable.d/50-tailscale
sudo chmod 755 /etc/networkd-dispatcher/routable.d/50-tailscale

# Advertise as an exit node
sudo tailscale set --advertise-exit-node=true
sudo tailscale up

Finally, open the menu of the machine labeled "Exit Node" from Tailscale dashboard and select the "Use as exit node" option in "Edit route settings...".

6. Connect to the exit node

You can successfully use your VPN service by connecting to the exit node from different devices.

# Choose exit node
sudo tailscale set --exit-node=100.100.10.10
sudo tailscale up

You can find the exit node address from the Tailscale dashboard or on the server with the following command.

# See Tailscale address
sudo tailscale ip

TIP: Uninstall Tailscale

This is how you can uninstall Tailscale.

# Uninstall Tailscale
sudo apt purge -y tailscale
sudo dnf remove -y tailscale
sudo yum remove -y tailscale
sudo pacman -Rns --noconfirm tailscale

# Remove configs
sudo rm -rf /etc/sysctl.d/99-tailscale.conf
sudo sysctl --system
NETDEV=$(ip -o route get 8.8.8.8 | cut -f 5 -d " ")
sudo ethtool -K $NETDEV rx-udp-gro-forwarding off rx-gro-list on
sudo rm -rf /etc/networkd-dispatcher/routable.d/50-tailscale

TIP: Stop being an exit node

You can stop being an exit node as follows.

# Stop being an exit node
sudo tailscale set --advertise-exit-node=false
sudo tailscale up

TIP: Stop using exit node

You can stop using the exit node as follows.

# Stop using the exit node
sudo tailscale set --exit-node=
sudo tailscale up

Last updated 28 days ago