Tailscale quickstart

Welcome! Follow the steps below to create your own private Tailscale network (known as a tailnet), or watch the video to learn how to get started with Tailscale and quickly set up some useful features.

Step 1: Sign up for an account

Sign up for a Tailscale account. Tailscale requires a single sign-on (SSO) provider, so you’ll need an Apple, Google, Microsoft, GitHub, Okta, OneLogin, or other supported SSO identity provider account to begin.

When you create a new tailnet using a public domain, it is automatically set to use the Personal plan. If you use a custom domain when creating your tailnet, it will be automatically enrolled into a 14-day trial of the Enterprise plan. If you use the custom domain for personal (that is, non-commercial) use, you can opt-out of a the trial. For instructions on how to upgrade your plan, see Modify billing.

Step 2: Add a machine to your network

Tailscale helps you connect your devices together. For that to be possible, Tailscale needs to run on your device.

Tailscale works seamlessly with Linux, Windows, macOS, Raspberry Pi, Android, Synology, and more. Download Tailscale and log in on the device.

Step 3: Add another machine to your network

The magic of Tailscale happens when it’s installed on multiple devices. Add more of your devices and share Tailscale with your peers to grow your private network.

Add more machines to your network by repeating step 2 or by inviting others to join your network.

Congratulations! You just created your own private Tailscale network!


Next steps

Tailscale automatically assigns each machine on your network a unique 100.x.y.z IP address, so that you can establish stable connections between machines no matter where they are in the world, even when they switch networks, and even behind a firewall.

What’s next?

  • Invite other users to join your tailnet using the Invite teams option
  • Connect to an existing network with a subnet router
  • Route traffic through a specific device with exit nodes
  • Restrict what users and devices can access with ACLs
  • Share files between your own devices, even across operating systems, with Taildrop
  • Share an existing service with your peers outside of your domain with node sharing

To manage your network, including your machines and configurations, visit the admin console.

Need some inspiration?

How about you use Tailscale to…

Even historically insecure protocols like Telnet, VNC, FTP, and HTTP are protected with Tailscale, since all traffic is encrypted under the hood using WireGuard®.

Learn more about Tailscale

What is Tailscale?

Get a brief introduction to Tailscale.

DNS in Tailscale

Learn how to automatically assign DNS names for devices in your Tailscale network.

Subnet routers and traffic relay nodes

Learn how to relay traffic from your Tailscale network onto your physical subnet.

Manage permissions (ACLs)

Find out how ACLs let you define what a particular user or device is permitted to access on your Tailscale network.