headscale/docs/windows-client.md
nblock bac7ea67f4
Simplify windows setup instructions (#2114)
* Simplify /windows to the bare minimum. Also remove the
  /windows/tailscale.reg endpoint as its generated file is no longer
  valid for current Tailscale versions.
* Update and simplify the windows documentation accordingly.
* Add a "Unattended mode" section to the troubleshooting section
  explaining how to enable "Unattended mode" in the via the Tailscale
  tray icon.
* Add infobox about /windows to the docs

Tested on Windows 10, 22H2 with Tailscale 1.72.0

Replaces: #1995
See: #2096
2024-09-09 13:18:16 +02:00

2.1 KiB

Connecting a Windows client

Goal

This documentation has the goal of showing how a user can use the official Windows Tailscale client with headscale.

Installation

Download the Official Windows Client and install it.

Configuring the headscale URL

!!! info "Instructions on your headscale instance"

An endpoint with information on how to connect your Windows device
is also available at `/windows` on your running instance.

Open a Command Prompt or Powershell and use Tailscale's login command to connect with your headscale instance (e.g https://headscale.example.com):

tailscale login --login-server <YOUR_HEADSCALE_URL>

Follow the instructions in the opened browser window to finish the configuration.

Troubleshooting

Unattended mode

By default, Tailscale's Windows client is only running when the user is logged in. If you want to keep Tailscale running all the time, please enable "Unattended mode":

  • Click on the Tailscale tray icon and select Preferences
  • Enable Run unattended
  • Confirm the "Unattended mode" message

See also Keep Tailscale running when I'm not logged in to my computer

Failing node registration

If you are seeing repeated messages like:

[GIN] 2022/02/10 - 16:39:34 | 200 |    1.105306ms |       127.0.0.1 | POST     "/machine/redacted"

in your headscale output, turn on DEBUG logging and look for:

2022-02-11T00:59:29Z DBG Machine registration has expired. Sending a authurl to register machine=redacted

This typically means that the registry keys above was not set appropriately.

To reset and try again, it is important to do the following:

  1. Shut down the Tailscale service (or the client running in the tray)
  2. Delete Tailscale Application data folder, located at C:\Users\<USERNAME>\AppData\Local\Tailscale and try to connect again.
  3. Ensure the Windows node is deleted from headscale (to ensure fresh setup)
  4. Start Tailscale on the Windows machine and retry the login.