Setting up Tailscale on Alpine Linux2021.04.03

Tailscale is a magical VPN solution, but doesn't come prepackaged for Alpine Linux yet. Here's how to get it set up.

1. Download the latest static binaries from https://pkgs.tailscale.com/stable/#static

2. Unzip and copy the tailscale binaries to a bin folder: tar xvf tailscale_*.tgz && cp tailscale/tailscale* /usr/bin

3. Create an openrc script in /etc/init.d/tailscale:

   #!/sbin/openrc-run
   
   # supervise the running process
   supervisor=supervise-daemon
   
   # require network before starting
   depend() {
       need net
   }
   
   # run tailscale
   command=/usr/bin/tailscaled
   name=tailscale
   command_args="--state=tailscaled.state"
   

4. Make it executable: chmod +x /etc/init.d/tailscale

5. Make it start on boot: rc-update add tailscale default

6. Go ahead and rc-service tailscale start the service to make sure it works.

7. tailscale up to log in and get connected.

8. reboot to make sure things come up cleanly on boot (check rc-status --servicelist)