# Running headscale on Linux ## Goal This documentation has the goal of showing a user how-to set up and run `headscale` on Linux. In additional to the "get up and running section", there is an optional [SystemD section](#running-headscale-in-the-background-with-systemd) describing how to make `headscale` run properly in a server environment. ## Configure and run `headscale` 1. Download the latest [`headscale` binary from GitHub's release page](https://github.com/juanfont/headscale/releases): ```shell wget --output-document=/usr/local/bin/headscale \ https://github.com/juanfont/headscale/releases/download/v/headscale__linux_ ``` 2. Make `headscale` executable: ```shell chmod +x /usr/local/bin/headscale ``` 3. Prepare a directory to hold `headscale` configuration and the [SQLite](https://www.sqlite.org/) database: ```shell # Directory for configuration mkdir -p /etc/headscale # Directory for Database, and other variable data (like certificates) mkdir -p /var/lib/headscale # or if you create a headscale user: useradd \ --create-home \ --home-dir /var/lib/headscale/ \ --system \ --user-group \ --shell /usr/bin/nologin \ headscale ``` 4. Create an empty SQLite database: ```shell touch /var/lib/headscale/db.sqlite ``` 5. Create a `headscale` configuration: ```shell touch /etc/headscale/config.yaml ``` It is **strongly recommended** to copy and modify the [example configuration](../config-example.yaml) from the [headscale repository](../) 6. Start the headscale server: ```shell headscale serve ``` This command will start `headscale` in the current terminal session. --- To continue the tutorial, open a new terminal and let it run in the background. Alternatively use terminal emulators like [tmux](https://github.com/tmux/tmux) or [screen](https://www.gnu.org/software/screen/). To run `headscale` in the background, please follow the steps in the [SystemD section](#running-headscale-in-the-background-with-systemd) before continuing. 7. Verify `headscale` is running: Verify `headscale` is available: ```shell curl http://127.0.0.1:9090/metrics ``` 8. Create a namespace ([tailnet](https://tailscale.com/kb/1136/tailnet/)): ```shell headscale namespaces create myfirstnamespace ``` ### Register a machine (normal login) On a client machine, execute the `tailscale` login command: ```shell tailscale up --login-server YOUR_HEADSCALE_URL ``` Register the machine: ```shell headscale --namespace myfirstnamespace nodes register --key ``` ### Register machine using a pre authenticated key Generate a key using the command line: ```shell headscale --namespace myfirstnamespace preauthkeys create --reusable --expiration 24h ``` This will return a pre-authenticated key that can be used to connect a node to `headscale` during the `tailscale` command: ```shell tailscale up --login-server --authkey ``` ## Running `headscale` in the background with SystemD This section demonstrates how to run `headscale` as a service in the background with [SystemD](https://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/systemd/). This should work on most modern Linux distributions. 1. Create a SystemD service configuration at `/etc/systemd/system/headscale.service` containing: ```systemd [Unit] Description=headscale controller After=syslog.target After=network.target [Service] Type=simple User=headscale Group=headscale ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/headscale serve Restart=always RestartSec=5 # Optional security enhancements NoNewPrivileges=yes PrivateTmp=yes ProtectSystem=strict ProtectHome=yes ReadWritePaths=/var/lib/headscale /var/run/headscale AmbientCapabilities=CAP_NET_BIND_SERVICE RuntimeDirectory=headscale [Install] WantedBy=multi-user.target ``` Note that when running as the headscale user ensure that, either you add your current user to the headscale group: ```shell usermod -a -G headscale current_user ``` or run all headscale commands as the headscale user: ```shell su - headscale ``` 2. In `/etc/headscale/config.yaml`, override the default `headscale` unix socket with path that is writable by the `headscale` user or group: ```yaml unix_socket: /var/run/headscale/headscale.sock ``` 3. Reload SystemD to load the new configuration file: ```shell systemctl daemon-reload ``` 4. Enable and start the new `headscale` service: ```shell systemctl enable --now headscale ``` 5. Verify the headscale service: ```shell systemctl status headscale ``` Verify `headscale` is available: ```shell curl http://127.0.0.1:9090/metrics ``` `headscale` will now run in the background and start at boot.