cmd: add option to get and set policy directly from database

this commit adds a new `--bypass-grpc-and-access-database-directly`
flag to `headscale policy get|set` which allows the operator to
directly get or set the policy from the database. This is useful
if there is a broken policy in the database that prevents the
  server from starting.

Fixes #2630

Signed-off-by: Kristoffer Dalby <kristoffer@tailscale.com>

cmd/headscale/cli/policy.go

@@ -6,21 +6,30 @@ import (
 	"os"
 
 	v1 "github.com/juanfont/headscale/gen/go/headscale/v1"
+	"github.com/juanfont/headscale/hscontrol/db"
 	"github.com/juanfont/headscale/hscontrol/policy"
 	"github.com/juanfont/headscale/hscontrol/types"
 	"github.com/rs/zerolog/log"
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
 	"tailscale.com/types/views"
+	"tailscale.com/util/prompt"
+)
+
+const (
+	bypassFlag = "bypass-grpc-and-access-database-directly"
 )
 
 func init() {
 	rootCmd.AddCommand(policyCmd)
+
+	getPolicy.Flags().BoolP(bypassFlag, "", false, "Uses the headscale config to directly access the database, bypassing gRPC and does not require the server to be running")
 	policyCmd.AddCommand(getPolicy)
 
 	setPolicy.Flags().StringP("file", "f", "", "Path to a policy file in HuJSON format")
 	if err := setPolicy.MarkFlagRequired("file"); err != nil {
 		log.Fatal().Err(err).Msg("")
 	}
+	setPolicy.Flags().BoolP(bypassFlag, "", false, "Uses the headscale config to directly access the database, bypassing gRPC and does not require the server to be running")
 	policyCmd.AddCommand(setPolicy)
 
 	checkPolicy.Flags().StringP("file", "f", "", "Path to a policy file in HuJSON format")
@@ -41,21 +50,55 @@ var getPolicy = &cobra.Command{
 	Aliases: []string{"show", "view", "fetch"},
 	Run: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
 		output, _ := cmd.Flags().GetString("output")
-		ctx, client, conn, cancel := newHeadscaleCLIWithConfig()
+		var policy string
-		defer cancel()
+		if bypass, _ := cmd.Flags().GetBool(bypassFlag); bypass {
-		defer conn.Close()
+			if !prompt.YesNo("DO NOT run this command if an instance of headscale is running, are you sure headscale is not running?") {
+				ErrorOutput(nil, "Aborting command", output)
+				return
+			}
 
-		request := &v1.GetPolicyRequest{}
+			cfg, err := types.LoadServerConfig()
+			if err != nil {
+				ErrorOutput(err, fmt.Sprintf("Failed loading config: %s", err), output)
+				return
+			}
 
-		response, err := client.GetPolicy(ctx, request)
+			d, err := db.NewHeadscaleDatabase(
-		if err != nil {
+				cfg.Database,
-			ErrorOutput(err, fmt.Sprintf("Failed loading ACL Policy: %s", err), output)
+				cfg.BaseDomain,
+				nil,
+			)
+			if err != nil {
+				ErrorOutput(err, fmt.Sprintf("Failed to open database: %s", err), output)
+				return
+			}
+
+			pol, err := d.GetPolicy()
+			if err != nil {
+				ErrorOutput(err, fmt.Sprintf("Failed loading Policy from database: %s", err), output)
+				return
+			}
+
+			policy = pol.Data
+		} else {
+			ctx, client, conn, cancel := newHeadscaleCLIWithConfig()
+			defer cancel()
+			defer conn.Close()
+
+			request := &v1.GetPolicyRequest{}
+
+			response, err := client.GetPolicy(ctx, request)
+			if err != nil {
+				ErrorOutput(err, fmt.Sprintf("Failed loading ACL Policy: %s", err), output)
+			}
+
+			policy = response.GetPolicy()
 		}
 
 		// TODO(pallabpain): Maybe print this better?
 		// This does not pass output as we dont support yaml, json or json-line
 		// output for this command. It is HuJSON already.
-		SuccessOutput("", response.GetPolicy(), "")
+		SuccessOutput("", policy, "")
 	},
 }
 
@@ -81,14 +124,44 @@ var setPolicy = &cobra.Command{
 			ErrorOutput(err, fmt.Sprintf("Error reading the policy file: %s", err), output)
 		}
 
-		request := &v1.SetPolicyRequest{Policy: string(policyBytes)}
+		if bypass, _ := cmd.Flags().GetBool(bypassFlag); bypass {
+			if !prompt.YesNo("DO NOT run this command if an instance of headscale is running, are you sure headscale is not running?") {
+				ErrorOutput(nil, "Aborting command", output)
+				return
+			}
 
-		ctx, client, conn, cancel := newHeadscaleCLIWithConfig()
+			cfg, err := types.LoadServerConfig()
-		defer cancel()
+			if err != nil {
-		defer conn.Close()
+				ErrorOutput(err, fmt.Sprintf("Failed loading config: %s", err), output)
+				return
+			}
 
-		if _, err := client.SetPolicy(ctx, request); err != nil {
+			d, err := db.NewHeadscaleDatabase(
-			ErrorOutput(err, fmt.Sprintf("Failed to set ACL Policy: %s", err), output)
+				cfg.Database,
+				cfg.BaseDomain,
+				nil,
+			)
+			if err != nil {
+				ErrorOutput(err, fmt.Sprintf("Failed to open database: %s", err), output)
+				return
+			}
+
+			_, err = d.SetPolicy(string(policyBytes))
+			if err != nil {
+				ErrorOutput(err, fmt.Sprintf("Failed to set ACL Policy: %s", err), output)
+				return
+			}
+		} else {
+			request := &v1.SetPolicyRequest{Policy: string(policyBytes)}
+
+			ctx, client, conn, cancel := newHeadscaleCLIWithConfig()
+			defer cancel()
+			defer conn.Close()
+
+			if _, err := client.SetPolicy(ctx, request); err != nil {
+				ErrorOutput(err, fmt.Sprintf("Failed to set ACL Policy: %s", err), output)
+				return
+			}
 		}
 
 		SuccessOutput(nil, "Policy updated.", "")

flake.nix

@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@
       overlay = _: prev: let
         pkgs = nixpkgs.legacyPackages.${prev.system};
         buildGo = pkgs.buildGo124Module;
-        vendorHash = "sha256-83L2NMyOwKCHWqcowStJ7Ze/U9CJYhzleDRLrJNhX2g=";
+        vendorHash = "sha256-13M8jIcZEfg7lS8MCNycD3yqI9hIWo/04OJY3zaxdvM=";
       in {
         headscale = buildGo {
           pname = "headscale";

go.mod

@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 module github.com/juanfont/headscale
 
-go 1.24.0
+go 1.24.4
 
-toolchain go1.24.2
+toolchain go1.24.6
 
 require (
 	github.com/AlecAivazis/survey/v2 v2.3.7
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ require (
 	gopkg.in/yaml.v3 v3.0.1
 	gorm.io/driver/postgres v1.6.0
 	gorm.io/gorm v1.30.0
-	tailscale.com v1.84.3
+	tailscale.com v1.86.5
 	zgo.at/zcache/v2 v2.2.0
 	zombiezen.com/go/postgrestest v1.0.1
 )
@@ -149,8 +149,6 @@ require (
 	github.com/google/shlex v0.0.0-20191202100458-e7afc7fbc510 // indirect
 	github.com/google/uuid v1.6.0 // indirect
 	github.com/gookit/color v1.5.4 // indirect
-	github.com/gorilla/csrf v1.7.3 // indirect
-	github.com/gorilla/securecookie v1.1.2 // indirect
 	github.com/gorilla/websocket v1.5.3 // indirect
 	github.com/hashicorp/go-version v1.7.0 // indirect
 	github.com/hdevalence/ed25519consensus v0.2.0 // indirect
@@ -215,7 +213,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/tailscale/peercred v0.0.0-20250107143737-35a0c7bd7edc // indirect
 	github.com/tailscale/setec v0.0.0-20250305161714-445cadbbca3d // indirect
 	github.com/tailscale/web-client-prebuilt v0.0.0-20250124233751-d4cd19a26976 // indirect
-	github.com/tailscale/wireguard-go v0.0.0-20250304000100-91a0587fb251 // indirect
+	github.com/tailscale/wireguard-go v0.0.0-20250716170648-1d0488a3d7da // indirect
 	github.com/vishvananda/netns v0.0.4 // indirect
 	github.com/x448/float16 v0.8.4 // indirect
 	github.com/xeipuuv/gojsonpointer v0.0.0-20190905194746-02993c407bfb // indirect
@@ -235,7 +233,7 @@ require (
 	golang.org/x/sys v0.34.0 // indirect
 	golang.org/x/term v0.33.0 // indirect
 	golang.org/x/text v0.27.0 // indirect
-	golang.org/x/time v0.10.0 // indirect
+	golang.org/x/time v0.11.0 // indirect
 	golang.org/x/tools v0.35.0 // indirect
 	golang.zx2c4.com/wintun v0.0.0-20230126152724-0fa3db229ce2 // indirect
 	golang.zx2c4.com/wireguard/windows v0.5.3 // indirect

go.sum

@@ -154,8 +154,6 @@ github.com/docker/go-connections v0.5.0 h1:USnMq7hx7gwdVZq1L49hLXaFtUdTADjXGp+uj
 github.com/docker/go-connections v0.5.0/go.mod h1:ov60Kzw0kKElRwhNs9UlUHAE/F9Fe6GLaXnqyDdmEXc=
 github.com/docker/go-units v0.5.0 h1:69rxXcBk27SvSaaxTtLh/8llcHD8vYHT7WSdRZ/jvr4=
 github.com/docker/go-units v0.5.0/go.mod h1:fgPhTUdO+D/Jk86RDLlptpiXQzgHJF7gydDDbaIK4Dk=
-github.com/dsnet/try v0.0.3 h1:ptR59SsrcFUYbT/FhAbKTV6iLkeD6O18qfIWRml2fqI=
-github.com/dsnet/try v0.0.3/go.mod h1:WBM8tRpUmnXXhY1U6/S8dt6UWdHTQ7y8A5YSkRCkq40=
 github.com/dustin/go-humanize v1.0.1 h1:GzkhY7T5VNhEkwH0PVJgjz+fX1rhBrR7pRT3mDkpeCY=
 github.com/dustin/go-humanize v1.0.1/go.mod h1:Mu1zIs6XwVuF/gI1OepvI0qD18qycQx+mFykh5fBlto=
 github.com/felixge/fgprof v0.9.3/go.mod h1:RdbpDgzqYVh/T9fPELJyV7EYJuHB55UTEULNun8eiPw=
@@ -226,8 +224,6 @@ github.com/google/go-querystring v1.1.0 h1:AnCroh3fv4ZBgVIf1Iwtovgjaw/GiKJo8M8yD
 github.com/google/go-querystring v1.1.0/go.mod h1:Kcdr2DB4koayq7X8pmAG4sNG59So17icRSOU623lUBU=
 github.com/google/go-tpm v0.9.4 h1:awZRf9FwOeTunQmHoDYSHJps3ie6f1UlhS1fOdPEt1I=
 github.com/google/go-tpm v0.9.4/go.mod h1:h9jEsEECg7gtLis0upRBQU+GhYVH6jMjrFxI8u6bVUY=
-github.com/google/gofuzz v1.2.0 h1:xRy4A+RhZaiKjJ1bPfwQ8sedCA+YS2YcCHW6ec7JMi0=
-github.com/google/gofuzz v1.2.0/go.mod h1:dBl0BpW6vV/+mYPU4Po3pmUjxk6FQPldtuIdl/M65Eg=
 github.com/google/nftables v0.2.1-0.20240414091927-5e242ec57806 h1:wG8RYIyctLhdFk6Vl1yPGtSRtwGpVkWyZww1OCil2MI=
 github.com/google/nftables v0.2.1-0.20240414091927-5e242ec57806/go.mod h1:Beg6V6zZ3oEn0JuiUQ4wqwuyqqzasOltcoXPtgLbFp4=
 github.com/google/pprof v0.0.0-20211214055906-6f57359322fd/go.mod h1:KgnwoLYCZ8IQu3XUZ8Nc/bM9CCZFOyjUNOSygVozoDg=
@@ -242,12 +238,8 @@ github.com/gookit/color v1.4.2/go.mod h1:fqRyamkC1W8uxl+lxCQxOT09l/vYfZ+QeiX3rKQ
 github.com/gookit/color v1.5.0/go.mod h1:43aQb+Zerm/BWh2GnrgOQm7ffz7tvQXEKV6BFMl7wAo=
 github.com/gookit/color v1.5.4 h1:FZmqs7XOyGgCAxmWyPslpiok1k05wmY3SJTytgvYFs0=
 github.com/gookit/color v1.5.4/go.mod h1:pZJOeOS8DM43rXbp4AZo1n9zCU2qjpcRko0b6/QJi9w=
-github.com/gorilla/csrf v1.7.3 h1:BHWt6FTLZAb2HtWT5KDBf6qgpZzvtbp9QWDRKZMXJC0=
-github.com/gorilla/csrf v1.7.3/go.mod h1:F1Fj3KG23WYHE6gozCmBAezKookxbIvUJT+121wTuLk=
 github.com/gorilla/mux v1.8.1 h1:TuBL49tXwgrFYWhqrNgrUNEY92u81SPhu7sTdzQEiWY=
 github.com/gorilla/mux v1.8.1/go.mod h1:AKf9I4AEqPTmMytcMc0KkNouC66V3BtZ4qD5fmWSiMQ=
-github.com/gorilla/securecookie v1.1.2 h1:YCIWL56dvtr73r6715mJs5ZvhtnY73hBvEF8kXD8ePA=
-github.com/gorilla/securecookie v1.1.2/go.mod h1:NfCASbcHqRSY+3a8tlWJwsQap2VX5pwzwo4h3eOamfo=
 github.com/gorilla/websocket v1.5.3 h1:saDtZ6Pbx/0u+bgYQ3q96pZgCzfhKXGPqt7kZ72aNNg=
 github.com/gorilla/websocket v1.5.3/go.mod h1:YR8l580nyteQvAITg2hZ9XVh4b55+EU/adAjf1fMHhE=
 github.com/grpc-ecosystem/grpc-gateway/v2 v2.27.0 h1:+epNPbD5EqgpEMm5wrl4Hqts3jZt8+kYaqUisuuIGTk=
@@ -492,8 +484,8 @@ github.com/tailscale/web-client-prebuilt v0.0.0-20250124233751-d4cd19a26976 h1:U
 github.com/tailscale/web-client-prebuilt v0.0.0-20250124233751-d4cd19a26976/go.mod h1:agQPE6y6ldqCOui2gkIh7ZMztTkIQKH049tv8siLuNQ=
 github.com/tailscale/wf v0.0.0-20240214030419-6fbb0a674ee6 h1:l10Gi6w9jxvinoiq15g8OToDdASBni4CyJOdHY1Hr8M=
 github.com/tailscale/wf v0.0.0-20240214030419-6fbb0a674ee6/go.mod h1:ZXRML051h7o4OcI0d3AaILDIad/Xw0IkXaHM17dic1Y=
-github.com/tailscale/wireguard-go v0.0.0-20250304000100-91a0587fb251 h1:h/41LFTrwMxB9Xvvug0kRdQCU5TlV1+pAMQw0ZtDE3U=
+github.com/tailscale/wireguard-go v0.0.0-20250716170648-1d0488a3d7da h1:jVRUZPRs9sqyKlYHHzHjAqKN+6e/Vog6NpHYeNPJqOw=
-github.com/tailscale/wireguard-go v0.0.0-20250304000100-91a0587fb251/go.mod h1:BOm5fXUBFM+m9woLNBoxI9TaBXXhGNP50LX/TGIvGb4=
+github.com/tailscale/wireguard-go v0.0.0-20250716170648-1d0488a3d7da/go.mod h1:BOm5fXUBFM+m9woLNBoxI9TaBXXhGNP50LX/TGIvGb4=
 github.com/tailscale/xnet v0.0.0-20240729143630-8497ac4dab2e h1:zOGKqN5D5hHhiYUp091JqK7DPCqSARyUfduhGUY8Bek=
 github.com/tailscale/xnet v0.0.0-20240729143630-8497ac4dab2e/go.mod h1:orPd6JZXXRyuDusYilywte7k094d7dycXXU5YnWsrwg=
 github.com/tc-hib/winres v0.2.1 h1:YDE0FiP0VmtRaDn7+aaChp1KiF4owBiJa5l964l5ujA=
@@ -561,8 +553,8 @@ golang.org/x/exp v0.0.0-20250408133849-7e4ce0ab07d0 h1:R84qjqJb5nVJMxqWYb3np9L5Z
 golang.org/x/exp v0.0.0-20250408133849-7e4ce0ab07d0/go.mod h1:S9Xr4PYopiDyqSyp5NjCrhFrqg6A5zA2E/iPHPhqnS8=
 golang.org/x/exp/typeparams v0.0.0-20240314144324-c7f7c6466f7f h1:phY1HzDcf18Aq9A8KkmRtY9WvOFIxN8wgfvy6Zm1DV8=
 golang.org/x/exp/typeparams v0.0.0-20240314144324-c7f7c6466f7f/go.mod h1:AbB0pIl9nAr9wVwH+Z2ZpaocVmF5I4GyWCDIsVjR0bk=
-golang.org/x/image v0.24.0 h1:AN7zRgVsbvmTfNyqIbbOraYL8mSwcKncEj8ofjgzcMQ=
+golang.org/x/image v0.27.0 h1:C8gA4oWU/tKkdCfYT6T2u4faJu3MeNS5O8UPWlPF61w=
-golang.org/x/image v0.24.0/go.mod h1:4b/ITuLfqYq1hqZcjofwctIhi7sZh2WaCjvsBNjjya8=
+golang.org/x/image v0.27.0/go.mod h1:xbdrClrAUway1MUTEZDq9mz/UpRwYAkFFNUslZtcB+g=
 golang.org/x/mod v0.2.0/go.mod h1:s0Qsj1ACt9ePp/hMypM3fl4fZqREWJwdYDEqhRiZZUA=
 golang.org/x/mod v0.3.0/go.mod h1:s0Qsj1ACt9ePp/hMypM3fl4fZqREWJwdYDEqhRiZZUA=
 golang.org/x/mod v0.6.0-dev.0.20220419223038-86c51ed26bb4/go.mod h1:jJ57K6gSWd91VN4djpZkiMVwK6gcyfeH4XE8wZrZaV4=
@@ -635,8 +627,8 @@ golang.org/x/text v0.9.0/go.mod h1:e1OnstbJyHTd6l/uOt8jFFHp6TRDWZR/bV3emEE/zU8=
 golang.org/x/text v0.14.0/go.mod h1:18ZOQIKpY8NJVqYksKHtTdi31H5itFRjB5/qKTNYzSU=
 golang.org/x/text v0.27.0 h1:4fGWRpyh641NLlecmyl4LOe6yDdfaYNrGb2zdfo4JV4=
 golang.org/x/text v0.27.0/go.mod h1:1D28KMCvyooCX9hBiosv5Tz/+YLxj0j7XhWjpSUF7CU=
-golang.org/x/time v0.10.0 h1:3usCWA8tQn0L8+hFJQNgzpWbd89begxN66o1Ojdn5L4=
+golang.org/x/time v0.11.0 h1:/bpjEDfN9tkoN/ryeYHnv5hcMlc8ncjMcM4XBk5NWV0=
-golang.org/x/time v0.10.0/go.mod h1:3BpzKBy/shNhVucY/MWOyx10tF3SFh9QdLuxbVysPQM=
+golang.org/x/time v0.11.0/go.mod h1:CDIdPxbZBQxdj6cxyCIdrNogrJKMJ7pr37NYpMcMDSg=
 golang.org/x/tools v0.0.0-20180917221912-90fa682c2a6e/go.mod h1:n7NCudcB/nEzxVGmLbDWY5pfWTLqBcC2KZ6jyYvM4mQ=
 golang.org/x/tools v0.0.0-20191119224855-298f0cb1881e/go.mod h1:b+2E5dAYhXwXZwtnZ6UAqBI28+e2cm9otk0dWdXHAEo=
 golang.org/x/tools v0.0.0-20200619180055-7c47624df98f/go.mod h1:EkVYQZoAsY45+roYkvgYkIh4xh/qjgUK9TdY2XT94GE=
@@ -712,8 +704,8 @@ modernc.org/token v1.1.0 h1:Xl7Ap9dKaEs5kLoOQeQmPWevfnk/DM5qcLcYlA8ys6Y=
 modernc.org/token v1.1.0/go.mod h1:UGzOrNV1mAFSEB63lOFHIpNRUVMvYTc6yu1SMY/XTDM=
 software.sslmate.com/src/go-pkcs12 v0.4.0 h1:H2g08FrTvSFKUj+D309j1DPfk5APnIdAQAB8aEykJ5k=
 software.sslmate.com/src/go-pkcs12 v0.4.0/go.mod h1:Qiz0EyvDRJjjxGyUQa2cCNZn/wMyzrRJ/qcDXOQazLI=
-tailscale.com v1.84.3 h1:Ur9LMedSgicwbqpy5xn7t49G8490/s6rqAJOk5Q5AYE=
+tailscale.com v1.86.5 h1:yBtWFjuLYDmxVnfnvPbZNZcKADCYgNfMd0rUAOA9XCs=
-tailscale.com v1.84.3/go.mod h1:6/S63NMAhmncYT/1zIPDJkvCuZwMw+JnUuOfSPNazpo=
+tailscale.com v1.86.5/go.mod h1:Lm8dnzU2i/Emw15r6sl3FRNp/liSQ/nYw6ZSQvIdZ1M=
 zgo.at/zcache/v2 v2.2.0 h1:K29/IPjMniZfveYE+IRXfrl11tMzHkIPuyGrfVZ2fGo=
 zgo.at/zcache/v2 v2.2.0/go.mod h1:gyCeoLVo01QjDZynjime8xUGHHMbsLiPyUTBpDGd4Gk=
 zombiezen.com/go/postgrestest v1.0.1 h1:aXoADQAJmZDU3+xilYVut0pHhgc0sF8ZspPW9gFNwP4=