Updating Tailscale

Our team regularly releases updates for the Tailscale client, and we recommend always being on the latest version of the Tailscale client. To view all the latest features, changes, and fixes, including release versions of the Tailscale client, see our Changelog page.

There are 3 ways to keep your Tailscale client up-to-date:

  • Auto-updates (recommended)
  • Manual updates
  • MDM-managed updates

Check for updates

To see the version of the Tailscale client installed on every device in your Tailscale network (known as a tailnet), open the Machines page of the admin console and view the Version column. A gray arrow indicates that a standard update is available, a red arrow indicates that a security update is available, and no arrow indicates that the device is up-to-date.

Devices showing the Tailscale client version.

To display only the devices where an update is available, click the Version filter and select Update available.

Devices showing the Tailscale client and filtered by available updates.

Auto-updates

Tailscale can automatically apply client updates as they are released. To apply the update, the same mechanism is used during the initial client installation. For example, if the client was installed using a Linux package manager, that package manager will be used to upgrade the installed package.

Auto-updates are optional, and individual devices can be opted in or out of them anytime.

Devices using the iOS, macOS (App Store version), and Android (Google Play Store version) operating systems might not have automatic updates configured by default. We recommend verifying that this setting is enabled in the App Store and Google Play Store to ensure these devices are updated per with your tailnet settings.

If you use system policies to enforce your tailnet updates, auto-updates will occur based on the system policies that you set.

Configure auto-updates in your tailnet

You must be the Owner, Admin, or IT admin to enable or disable auto-updates for a tailnet.

To enable auto-updates for your entire tailnet, open the Settings page of the admin console and go to the Device management section. Under Auto-update Tailscale, enable the Auto-update new devices toggle.

Auto-update enabled in the admin console.

Changing the auto-update setting in the admin console will not change the Tailscale client settings for existing devices. The setting only affects new devices. Existing device owners must manually enable or disable auto-updates.

Auto-updates for new tailnets

All newly created tailnets have auto-updates enabled by default in the admin console Device management section. When a new device is added to the tailnet, the Tailscale client will be configured to automatically update by default.

Auto-updates for existing tailnets

If your tailnet was created prior to February 2024, you must manually enable auto-updates in the admin console Device management section, and for each of the existing devices. When auto-updates are enabled in the admin console, new devices added to your tailnet will be configured to automatically update by default.

Enable auto-updates on devices

You may need to configure auto-update settings for the Tailscale clients on a device if auto-updates were not previously configured or if you need to disable auto-updates for the device.

Here’s how to change auto-update device settings on different platforms:

Windows

Click the Tailscale tray icon and toggle Automatically install updates under the Preferences menu.

macOS

If you installed Tailscale from the Mac App Store, open the App Store application, click App Store in your macOS menu bar, select Settings, and check the Automatic Updates box. Note that enabling this setting will automatically update all of your installed apps.

Devices showing the Tailscale client version.

If you installed Tailscale by downloading the .zip archive from pkgs.tailscale.com, click on the Tailscale tray icon and toggle Automatically install updates under the Settings menu.

iOS

Auto-updates for iOS apps are managed through the App Store settings.

Android

Auto-updates for Android apps are managed through the Google Play Store settings.

Linux

From the CLI, run tailscale set --auto-update to enable auto-updates, or tailscale set --auto-update=false to disable them.

Auto-updates for devices on multiple tailnets

If a device has automatic updates enabled and belongs to multiple tailnets where the Auto-update new devices setting in the admin console varies, the client will be updated when connected to a tailnet with auto-updates enabled.

Auto-update limitations

Auto-updates are currently not supported on Synology and Linux distributions based on Arch Linux.

Auto-updates do not happen immediately when a new version of Tailscale is released. We monitor stability and issue reports for several days before enabling a release for auto-updates. It typically takes around a week after a release before your machines start to update, and it can take longer. Important security updates may be applied faster.

If machines with auto-updates enabled are not updated several weeks after a release, contact support.

Manual updates

Here’s how to manually upgrade on different platforms:

Windows

Upgrade Tailscale by downloading our Windows installer (v1.62.1) and running it. This will update your existing installation to the latest version.

Alternatively, if you are using Tailscale v1.36 or later, you can update Windows clients by running the Tailscale CLI command tailscale update.

macOS

Tailscale for macOS is available in multiple variants.

We recommend using the Mac App Store for a new macOS installation, and it will auto-update by default. If you need to manually update, you can do so from the App Store updates page.

iOS

Tailscale for iOS is only available via the App Store and will auto-update by default. If you need to manually update, you can do so from the App Store updates page.

Android

Tailscale for Android is only available via the Play Store and will auto-update by default. If you need to manually update, you can do so from the Play Store updates page.

Linux

Tailscale can be upgraded on supported Linux distros by using the upgrade command from the package manager used to install Tailscale. Here’s a reference for common distros.

For all Ubuntu and Debian versions, upgrade using apt-get:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install tailscale

For CentOS 7 and Amazon Linux 2, upgrade using yum:

sudo yum update tailscale

For openSUSE Leap and openSUSE Tumbleweed, upgrade using zypper:

sudo zypper update tailscale

For CentOS 8, CentOS Stream 9, RHEL 8, and Fedora, upgrade using dnf:

sudo dnf update tailscale

Alternatively, if you are using Tailscale v1.36 or later, you can update some distros of Linux clients by running the Tailscale CLI command tailscale update.

Consult your distro’s package manager documentation on how to enable auto-updates.

Admin console

Devices can be updated from the Machines page of the admin console when:

Hover over update icon for a device and click Start update to initiate the update. You can also set the Machine page filter options Last seen: Currently connected, Version: Update available, and Auto-update: Enabled to display only the devices that can be updated using this method. If you don’t see the Start update button, then one of the conditions above is not met.

The Machine page displaying the Start update option.

MDM-managed updates

To manage the installed version of Tailscale using MDM, refer to your MDM software documentation. You can also configure the installed Tailscale client using MDM policies.