Automic VaultAutomic Vault

brew

Install tailscale with Homebrew, apk, chocolatey, dnf, MacPorts, Nix, pacman, scoop, winget, zypper

Easiest, most secure way to use WireGuard and 2FA. Version 1.98.8 via Homebrew; verified 2026-06-30.

Install commandSecurity notes

agent safety

Agent safety answer

tailscale controls private network connectivity and identity-bound device access.

Credential access

Reads auth state, device identity, and network configuration.

Remote mutation

Can change connectivity, serve routes, and expose local services.

Publish/artifact risk

Can make internal services reachable through a tailnet.

Recommended control

Gate up, serve, funnel, exit-node, and auth-key operations.

Agent-use guidance

Allow status checks; require approval before changing network exposure or authentication.

install

Additional install commands

macOS

Homebrewverified · 100%
brew install tailscale

local Homebrew formula metadata

MacPortsverified · 94%
sudo port install tailscale

MacPorts ports tree · net/tailscale/Portfile · source: api.github.com

Linux

Alpine Linux apkverified · 92%
sudo apk add tailscale

Alpine Linux edge package indexes · tailscale · source: dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org

Fedora dnfverified · 92%
sudo dnf install tailscale

Fedora Rawhide package metadata · tailscale · source: dl.fedoraproject.org

Nixverified · 92%
nix profile install nixpkgs#tailscale

nixpkgs package indexes · pkgs/by-name/ta/tailscale/package.nix · source: api.github.com

Arch Linux pacmanverified · 92%
sudo pacman -S tailscale

Arch Linux sync databases · tailscale · source: geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com

openSUSE zypperverified · 92%
sudo zypper install tailscale

openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata · tailscale · source: download.opensuse.org

Windows

Chocolateyverified · 92%
choco install tailscale

Chocolatey community package catalog · tailscale · source: community.chocolatey.org

Scoopverified · 92%
scoop install extras/tailscale

Scoop official bucket manifest trees · bucket/tailscale.json · source: api.github.com

Windows Package Managerverified · 92%
winget install --id Tailscale.Tailscale -e

Windows Package Manager source index · Tailscale.Tailscale · source: cdn.winget.microsoft.com

overview

Package summary

Easiest, most secure way to use WireGuard and 2FA

Commands and aliases

  • tailscale
  • tailscaled

history

Project history and usage

Tailscale is a WireGuard-based, identity-aware mesh networking system with a prominent open source CLI and daemon. For package-manager users, it is both a networking product and a system package that installs `tailscale` and `tailscaled` onto developer laptops, servers, NAS devices, containers, and CI runners.

Project history

The public GitHub repository was created in January 2020. The README says it contains most of Tailscale's open source code, notably the `tailscaled` daemon and the `tailscale` CLI, while platform GUI wrappers live elsewhere or are not always open source. Official docs describe Tailscale as a Zero Trust identity-based connectivity platform that creates encrypted point-to-point connections using WireGuard and forms a peer-to-peer mesh network called a tailnet.

Adoption history

Tailscale adoption spread through official packages and platform clients rather than only source builds. The repository README points users to pkgs.tailscale.com for distro and platform packages, and the input package facts list Homebrew, MacPorts, Nix, Arch, Alpine, Fedora, openSUSE, Chocolatey, Scoop, WinGet, and others. That broad packaging footprint reflects its common role as developer infrastructure for SSH, subnet routing, exit nodes, remote access, and service-to-service connectivity.

How it is used

On Unix-like systems, package users usually install the daemon and CLI, authenticate the node, then use `tailscale` commands to bring the node up, inspect status, route traffic, configure SSH or Serve/Funnel features, and debug connectivity. The daemon stores node state locally unless configured for memory-only ephemeral state.

Why package nerds care

Package nerds care about Tailscale because it turns VPN setup into an installable system service with a scriptable CLI. It also makes packaging details matter: daemon state paths, systemd or launchd integration, kernel versus userspace networking, distro packages, Homebrew service behavior, and reproducible binaries all affect whether a node can join and stay healthy in a tailnet.

Timeline

  • 2020: Public GitHub repository created.
  • 2020: Repository README identifies `tailscaled` and `tailscale` as the main open source daemon and CLI.
  • 2022: Official changelog introduced Tailscale SSH beta.
  • 2022: Official changelog documented ACL tags reaching general availability.
  • 2026: GitHub metadata shows a large open source repository with tens of thousands of stars and thousands of forks.

Related projects

  • Tailscale relates to WireGuard, DERP relay servers, SSH, zero-trust networking, subnet routing, exit nodes, MagicDNS, Headscale, distro service packaging, and OS package managers.

security posture

Risk level: orange

formula declares a Homebrew service.

Risk classifier

orange risk · medium confidence · infrastructure

Why

  • formula declares a Homebrew service

Signals

  • metadata:service

Install behavior

  • No Homebrew post-install hook is recorded in formula metadata.
  • Formula metadata declares a service or daemon block.
  • Homebrew bottle metadata is available for 6 platform targets.
  • Build metadata lists 1 build dependencies.

Recommended review

Before unattended agent use, check whether the tool reads plaintext credentials, writes remote state, publishes artifacts, or shells out to plugins.

local files

Configuration and credential file locations

These source-backed paths show where this package keeps local settings or durable credentials. Automic Vault can use them as review targets for secret scanning, migration, and command approval.

Credential files

Credential-bearing paths to review before unattended agent runs.

Unix
/Library/Tailscale/tailscaled.state~/.local/share/tailscale/tailscaled.state/opt/homebrew/var/lib/tailscale/tailscaled.state/usr/local/var/lib/tailscale/tailscaled.state$XDG_DATA_HOME/tailscale/tailscaled.state

executables

Installed executables

CommandKindExposureNote
tailscalecliglobal executable
tailscaledcliglobal executable

freshness

Version and freshness

These signals separate page generation age, package-manager activity, and upstream release comparison. Version lag is warned only when an evidence URL and comparable versions are present.

page generated2026-07-08
manager version1.98.8
manager updated2026-06-30
local dataok
upstreamnot checked
latest detectednot detected

https://github.com/tailscale/tailscale

install metadata

Package metadata

Package keybrew:tailscale
Version1.98.8
Package managerHomebrew
Package manager pagehttps://formulae.brew.sh/formula/tailscale
Homepagehttps://tailscale.com
Repositoryhttps://github.com/tailscale/tailscale
Upstream docshttps://tailscale.com/docs
LicenseBSD-3-Clause
Source archivehttps://github.com/tailscale/tailscale.git
Last updated2026-06-30T16:05:57Z
Pulseupdated
Build dependenciesgo
Bottleavailable (on arm64_linux, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_tahoe, sonoma, x86_64_linux)
Homebrew post-installnot defined
Servicedeclared

registry facts

Source database details

Source DatabaseHomebrew formula API
Taphomebrew/core
Full Nametailscale
Version Scheme0
Revision0
Bottle Stable Root URLhttps://ghcr.io/v2/homebrew/core
Deprecatedno
Disabledno
Keg Onlyno
URL Keys
  • stable

source database matches

Other package-manager records

Matches are pulled from external package-manager indexes and kept separate from local Automic Vault package links.

Nix95%

tailscale

nix profile install nixpkgs#tailscale
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Tailscale
nixpkgs package indexes · api.github.com · nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/ta/tailscale/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1
apk95%

tailscale 1.98.5-r0

The easiest, most secure way to use WireGuard and 2FA

https://tailscale.com/

sudo apk add tailscale
  • License: BSD-3-Clause
  • Architecture: x86_64
  • Source Package: tailscale
  • 1 dependencies
  • 1 provides
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Tailscale
Alpine Linux edge package indexes · dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org · Alpine Linux edge package indexes: tailscale from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz
apk95%

tailscale-bash-completion 1.98.5-r0

Bash completions for tailscale

https://tailscale.com/

sudo apk add tailscale-bash-completion
  • License: BSD-3-Clause
  • Architecture: x86_64
  • Source Package: tailscale
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Tailscale
Alpine Linux edge package indexes · dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org · Alpine Linux edge package indexes: tailscale-bash-completion from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz
apk95%

tailscale-doc 1.98.5-r0

The easiest, most secure way to use WireGuard and 2FA (documentation)

https://tailscale.com/

sudo apk add tailscale-doc
  • License: BSD-3-Clause
  • Architecture: x86_64
  • Source Package: tailscale
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Tailscale
Alpine Linux edge package indexes · dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org · Alpine Linux edge package indexes: tailscale-doc from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz
apk95%

tailscale-fish-completion 1.98.5-r0

Fish completions for tailscale

https://tailscale.com/

sudo apk add tailscale-fish-completion
  • License: BSD-3-Clause
  • Architecture: x86_64
  • Source Package: tailscale
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Tailscale
Alpine Linux edge package indexes · dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org · Alpine Linux edge package indexes: tailscale-fish-completion from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz
apk95%

tailscale-openrc 1.98.5-r0

The easiest, most secure way to use WireGuard and 2FA (OpenRC init scripts)

https://tailscale.com/

sudo apk add tailscale-openrc
  • License: BSD-3-Clause
  • Architecture: x86_64
  • Source Package: tailscale
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Tailscale
Alpine Linux edge package indexes · dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org · Alpine Linux edge package indexes: tailscale-openrc from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz
apk95%

tailscale-systemd 1.98.5-r0

The easiest, most secure way to use WireGuard and 2FA (systemd files)

https://tailscale.com/

sudo apk add tailscale-systemd
  • License: BSD-3-Clause
  • Architecture: x86_64
  • Source Package: tailscale
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Tailscale
Alpine Linux edge package indexes · dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org · Alpine Linux edge package indexes: tailscale-systemd from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz
apk95%

tailscale-zsh-completion 1.98.5-r0

Zsh completions for tailscale

https://tailscale.com/

sudo apk add tailscale-zsh-completion
  • License: BSD-3-Clause
  • Architecture: x86_64
  • Source Package: tailscale
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Tailscale
Alpine Linux edge package indexes · dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org · Alpine Linux edge package indexes: tailscale-zsh-completion from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz
dnf95%

tailscale 1.98.4-1.fc45

The easiest, most secure way to use WireGuard and 2FA

https://github.com/tailscale/tailscale

sudo dnf install tailscale
  • License: BSD-2-Clause AND MIT AND Apache-2.0 AND MPL-2.0 AND GPL-3.0-or-later AND ISC AND 0BSD AND BSD-3-Clause
  • Category: Unspecified
  • Architecture: x86_64
  • Source Package: tailscale
  • 5 dependencies
  • 2 provides
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Tailscale
Fedora Rawhide package metadata · dl.fedoraproject.org · Fedora Rawhide package metadata: tailscale from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/e5ca8ce900cd68f5419e1c39ae517343100b306336cbaeb70a3c153121d95094-primary.xml.zst
pacman95%

tailscale 1.98.4-1

A mesh VPN that makes it easy to connect your devices, wherever they are.

https://tailscale.com

sudo pacman -S tailscale
  • License: MIT
  • Architecture: x86_64
  • 1 dependencies
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Tailscale
Arch Linux sync databases · geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com · Arch Linux sync databases: tailscale from https://geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com/extra/os/x86_64/extra.db.tar.gz
zypper95%

tailscale 1.98.4-1.1

The easiest, most secure way to use WireGuard and 2FA

https://github.com/tailscale/tailscale

sudo zypper install tailscale
  • License: BSD-3-Clause
  • Category: Unspecified
  • Architecture: x86_64
  • Source Package: tailscale
  • 4 dependencies
  • 2 provides
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Tailscale
openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata · download.opensuse.org · openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: tailscale from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/be8d3611d25469107f32075a1697e69ec57a2b850b42348a658cc671ad5ec2b50760d02c3e59524d50da9a11d5be799bdaffba2e166e8ca8858512e3c0bd665d-primary.xml.zst
zypper95%

tailscale-bash-completion 1.98.4-1.1

Tailscale bash completion

https://github.com/tailscale/tailscale

sudo zypper install tailscale-bash-completion
  • License: BSD-3-Clause
  • Category: Unspecified
  • Architecture: noarch
  • Source Package: tailscale
  • 1 provides
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Tailscale
openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata · download.opensuse.org · openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: tailscale-bash-completion from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/be8d3611d25469107f32075a1697e69ec57a2b850b42348a658cc671ad5ec2b50760d02c3e59524d50da9a11d5be799bdaffba2e166e8ca8858512e3c0bd665d-primary.xml.zst
zypper95%

tailscale-fish-completion 1.98.4-1.1

Tailscale fish completion

https://github.com/tailscale/tailscale

sudo zypper install tailscale-fish-completion
  • License: BSD-3-Clause
  • Category: Unspecified
  • Architecture: noarch
  • Source Package: tailscale
  • 1 provides
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Tailscale
openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata · download.opensuse.org · openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: tailscale-fish-completion from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/be8d3611d25469107f32075a1697e69ec57a2b850b42348a658cc671ad5ec2b50760d02c3e59524d50da9a11d5be799bdaffba2e166e8ca8858512e3c0bd665d-primary.xml.zst
zypper95%

tailscale-zsh-completion 1.98.4-1.1

Tailsacle zsh completion

https://github.com/tailscale/tailscale

sudo zypper install tailscale-zsh-completion
  • License: BSD-3-Clause
  • Category: Unspecified
  • Architecture: noarch
  • Source Package: tailscale
  • 1 provides
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Tailscale
openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata · download.opensuse.org · openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: tailscale-zsh-completion from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/be8d3611d25469107f32075a1697e69ec57a2b850b42348a658cc671ad5ec2b50760d02c3e59524d50da9a11d5be799bdaffba2e166e8ca8858512e3c0bd665d-primary.xml.zst
MacPorts95%

tailscale

sudo port install tailscale
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Tailscale
MacPorts ports tree · api.github.com · MacPorts ports tree: net/tailscale/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1
Chocolatey95%

tailscale

choco install tailscale
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Tailscale
Chocolatey community package catalog · community.chocolatey.org · Chocolatey community package catalog: tailscale from http://community.chocolatey.org/api/v2/Packages?$filter=IsLatestVersion&$select=Id&$top=1000&$skiptoken='11','superputty'

package graph

Links come from deterministic package relationships, av.db category and tag curation, ecosystem matches, and package hub membership.

Related tools

  • goBuild dependency declared by Homebrew.

Same workflow

  • boringtunShares av.db curated category or tags: cli, networking, vpn, wireguard.
  • headscale-cliShares av.db curated category or tags: cli, networking, vpn, wireguard.
  • nebulaShares av.db curated category or tags: cli, mesh-networking, networking, vpn.
  • wgcfShares av.db curated category or tags: cli, networking, vpn, wireguard.
  • wireguard-goShares av.db curated category or tags: cli, networking, vpn, wireguard.
  • wireguard-toolsShares av.db curated category or tags: cli, networking, vpn, wireguard.

source trail

Generated from repository data

This page is generated by av-web from the private package SQLite artifact built by scripts/generate-pkg-sqlite.py.

Used sources

  • Geiger risk classifier
  • Nucleus package database
  • av.db category and tag curation
  • cross-ecosystem install command graph
  • curated agent safety answer
  • curated configuration and credential file locations
  • curated package history
  • external package-manager database matches
  • package relationship graph
  • package version freshness
  • package-page enrichment