What is Headscale?

Headscale is an open-source, self-hosted implementation of the Tailscale control server. It lets you run your own coordination server for a private WireGuard-based mesh network, so your devices can connect securely to each other without depending on Tailscale’s hosted control plane — while still using the standard Tailscale clients.

            🚀 Why Latest Versions Matter: Headscale evolves alongside the Tailscale protocol, adding support for new client features, ACL improvements and stability fixes. Running the latest version keeps you compatible with current Tailscale clients.
        

⚡ Key Features of Headscale

🔐 Self-hosted Control Plane

Run your own coordination server — no reliance on a third-party hosted service.

🌐 WireGuard Mesh

Fast, encrypted peer-to-peer connectivity between all your devices.

📱 Standard Clients

Works with the official Tailscale clients on desktop, mobile and servers.

📜 ACL Policies

Fine-grained access control rules to segment and secure your network.

🎯 Why Headscale?

Full control: Own the coordination server and your network data
No vendor lock-in: Open source alternative to the hosted control plane
Uses official clients: Keep the polished Tailscale app experience
Lightweight: A single Go binary that is easy to deploy

🆕 Highlights

Coordination Server: Self-hosted Tailscale control plane
WireGuard: Modern, encrypted mesh networking
ACLs: Policy-driven access control
Multi-user: Namespaces for separating devices and users

📦 Installation from debian.griffo.io

Step 1: Add Repository

sudo install -d -m 0755 /etc/apt/keyrings
curl -fsSL https://debian.griffo.io/EA0F721D231FDD3A0A17B9AC7808B4DD62C41256.asc | sudo gpg --dearmor --yes -o /etc/apt/keyrings/debian.griffo.io.gpg
echo "deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/debian.griffo.io.gpg] https://debian.griffo.io/apt $(lsb_release -sc 2>/dev/null) main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian.griffo.io.list > /dev/null
sudo apt update
                

install -d -m 0755 /etc/apt/keyrings
curl -fsSL https://debian.griffo.io/EA0F721D231FDD3A0A17B9AC7808B4DD62C41256.asc | gpg --dearmor --yes -o /etc/apt/keyrings/debian.griffo.io.gpg
echo "deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/debian.griffo.io.gpg] https://debian.griffo.io/apt $(lsb_release -sc 2>/dev/null) main" | tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian.griffo.io.list > /dev/null
apt update
                

Step 2: Install headscale

# Install latest headscale
sudo apt install headscale

# Verify installation
headscale version
                

# Install latest headscale
apt install headscale

# Verify installation
headscale version
                

🎯 Basic Usage Examples

# Show version
headscale version

# Create a user
headscale users create alice

# Generate a pre-auth key for a user
headscale preauthkeys create --user alice --reusable

# List connected nodes
headscale nodes list

# Serve the control server
headscale serve
        

🚀 Why Choose debian.griffo.io?

📊 Repository Comparison:

Official Ubuntu: Often months behind, missing latest features
debian.griffo.io: Latest version within hours of release
Manual Installation: Manual downloads and PATH setup required
Our Repository: Pre-built, ready-to-use packages

✅ Latest Features: Get newest Headscale features and improvements immediately
✅ No Manual Setup: Pre-built binaries, installed and updated through apt
✅ Automatic Updates: Packages updated within hours of upstream releases
✅ Proper Dependencies: Correctly packaged with all required libraries
✅ Multi-Distribution: Works on Jammy and Noble
✅ Easy Maintenance: Simple apt commands for updates

📦 Package Build Repository

The Ubuntu packages are automatically built and maintained in this GitHub repository:

📁 headscale-debian - Latest release builds

🔗 Related Packages

Also available from debian.griffo.io:

Garage - S3-compatible distributed object storage
Forgejo - Self-hosted lightweight software forge
k9s - Terminal UI for Kubernetes clusters

            🎯 Perfect for: Self-hosters and organizations that want a private, secure mesh VPN using the Tailscale clients but with full control over the coordination server and their data.
        

💝 Support This Project

If this repository saves you time and effort, please consider supporting it!

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🕸️ Install Latest Headscale on Ubuntu