Skip to content
New issue

Have a question about this project? Sign up for a free GitHub account to open an issue and contact its maintainers and the community.

By clicking “Sign up for GitHub”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy statement. We’ll occasionally send you account related emails.

Already on GitHub? Sign in to your account

Simplify windows setup instructions #2114

Merged
merged 1 commit into from
Sep 9, 2024
Merged
Show file tree
Hide file tree
Changes from all commits
Commits
File filter

Filter by extension

Filter by extension

Conversations
Failed to load comments.
Loading
Jump to
Jump to file
Failed to load files.
Loading
Diff view
Diff view
Binary file removed docs/images/windows-registry.png
Binary file not shown.
45 changes: 23 additions & 22 deletions docs/windows-client.md
Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -4,38 +4,40 @@

This documentation has the goal of showing how a user can use the official Windows [Tailscale](https://tailscale.com) client with `headscale`.

## Add registry keys
## Installation

To make the Windows client behave as expected and to run well with `headscale`, two registry keys **must** be set:
Download the [Official Windows Client](https://tailscale.com/download/windows) and install it.

- `HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Tailscale IPN\UnattendedMode` must be set to `always` as a `string` type, to allow Tailscale to run properly in the background
- `HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Tailscale IPN\LoginURL` must be set to `<YOUR HEADSCALE URL>` as a `string` type, to ensure Tailscale contacts the correct control server.
## Configuring the headscale URL

You can set these using the Windows Registry Editor:
!!! info "Instructions on your headscale instance"

![windows-registry](./images/windows-registry.png)
An endpoint with information on how to connect your Windows device
is also available at `/windows` on your running instance.

Or via the following Powershell commands (right click Powershell icon and select "Run as administrator"):
Open a Command Prompt or Powershell and use Tailscale's login command to connect with your headscale instance (e.g
`https://headscale.example.com`):

```
New-Item -Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Tailscale IPN"
New-ItemProperty -Path 'HKLM:\Software\Tailscale IPN' -Name UnattendedMode -PropertyType String -Value always
New-ItemProperty -Path 'HKLM:\Software\Tailscale IPN' -Name LoginURL -PropertyType String -Value https://YOUR-HEADSCALE-URL
tailscale login --login-server <YOUR_HEADSCALE_URL>
nblock marked this conversation as resolved.
Show resolved Hide resolved
```

The Tailscale Windows client has been observed to reset its configuration on logout/reboot and these two keys [resolves that issue](https://github.com/tailscale/tailscale/issues/2798).
Follow the instructions in the opened browser window to finish the configuration.

For a guide on how to edit registry keys, [check out Computer Hope](https://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch001348.htm).
## Troubleshooting

## Installation
### Unattended mode

Download the [Official Windows Client](https://tailscale.com/download/windows) and install it.
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":

When the installation has finished, start Tailscale and log in (you might have to click the icon in the system tray).
- Click on the Tailscale tray icon and select `Preferences`
- Enable `Run unattended`
- Confirm the "Unattended mode" message

The log in should open a browser Window and direct you to your `headscale` instance.
See also [Keep Tailscale running when I'm not logged in to my computer](https://tailscale.com/kb/1088/run-unattended)

## Troubleshooting
### Failing node registration

If you are seeing repeated messages like:

Expand All @@ -53,8 +55,7 @@ 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. Ensure the registry keys from the previous guide is correctly set.
2. Shut down the Tailscale service (or the client running in the tray)
3. Delete Tailscale Application data folder, located at `C:\Users\<USERNAME>\AppData\Local\Tailscale` and try to connect again.
4. Ensure the Windows node is deleted from headscale (to ensure fresh setup)
5. Start Tailscale on the windows machine and retry the login.
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.
2 changes: 0 additions & 2 deletions hscontrol/app.go
Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -437,8 +437,6 @@ func (h *Headscale) createRouter(grpcMux *grpcRuntime.ServeMux) *mux.Router {
router.HandleFunc("/apple/{platform}", h.ApplePlatformConfig).
Methods(http.MethodGet)
router.HandleFunc("/windows", h.WindowsConfigMessage).Methods(http.MethodGet)
router.HandleFunc("/windows/tailscale.reg", h.WindowsRegConfig).
Methods(http.MethodGet)

// TODO(kristoffer): move swagger into a package
router.HandleFunc("/swagger", headscale.SwaggerUI).Methods(http.MethodGet)
Expand Down
52 changes: 0 additions & 52 deletions hscontrol/platform_config.go
Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -59,46 +59,6 @@ func (h *Headscale) WindowsConfigMessage(
}
}

// WindowsRegConfig generates and serves a .reg file configured with the Headscale server address.
func (h *Headscale) WindowsRegConfig(
writer http.ResponseWriter,
req *http.Request,
) {
config := WindowsRegistryConfig{
URL: h.cfg.ServerURL,
}

var content bytes.Buffer
if err := windowsRegTemplate.Execute(&content, config); err != nil {
log.Error().
Str("handler", "WindowsRegConfig").
Err(err).
Msg("Could not render Apple macOS template")

writer.Header().Set("Content-Type", "text/plain; charset=utf-8")
writer.WriteHeader(http.StatusInternalServerError)
_, err := writer.Write([]byte("Could not render Windows registry template"))
if err != nil {
log.Error().
Caller().
Err(err).
Msg("Failed to write response")
}

return
}

writer.Header().Set("Content-Type", "text/x-ms-regedit; charset=utf-8")
writer.WriteHeader(http.StatusOK)
_, err := writer.Write(content.Bytes())
if err != nil {
log.Error().
Caller().
Err(err).
Msg("Failed to write response")
}
}

// AppleConfigMessage shows a simple message in the browser to point the user to the iOS/MacOS profile and instructions for how to install it.
func (h *Headscale) AppleConfigMessage(
writer http.ResponseWriter,
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -305,10 +265,6 @@ func (h *Headscale) ApplePlatformConfig(
}
}

type WindowsRegistryConfig struct {
URL string
}

type AppleMobileConfig struct {
UUID uuid.UUID
URL string
Expand All @@ -320,14 +276,6 @@ type AppleMobilePlatformConfig struct {
URL string
}

var windowsRegTemplate = textTemplate.Must(
textTemplate.New("windowsconfig").Parse(`Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Tailscale IPN]
"UnattendedMode"="always"
"LoginURL"="{{.URL}}"
`))

var commonTemplate = textTemplate.Must(
textTemplate.New("mobileconfig").Parse(`<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
Expand Down
74 changes: 10 additions & 64 deletions hscontrol/templates/windows.html
Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -25,75 +25,21 @@

<body>
<h1>headscale: Windows configuration</h1>
<h2>Recent Tailscale versions (1.34.0 and higher)</h2>
<p>
Tailscale added Fast User Switching in version 1.34 and you can now use
the new login command to connect to one or more headscale (and Tailscale)
servers. The previously used profiles does not have an effect anymore.
</p>
<p>Use Tailscale's login command to add your profile:</p>
<pre><code>tailscale login --login-server {{.URL}}</code></pre>

<h2>Windows registry configuration (1.32.0 and lower)</h2>
<p>
This page provides Windows registry information for the official Windows
Tailscale client.
</p>

<p></p>
<p>
The registry file will configure Tailscale to use <code>{{.URL}}</code> as
its control server.
</p>

<p></p>
<h3>Caution</h3>
<p>
You should always download and inspect the registry file before installing
it:
</p>
<pre><code>curl {{.URL}}/windows/tailscale.reg</code></pre>

<h2>Installation</h2>
<p>
Headscale can be set to the default server by running the registry file:
</p>

<p>
<a href="/windows/tailscale.reg" download="tailscale.reg"
>Windows registry file</a
Download
<a
href="https://tailscale.com/download/windows"
rel="noreferrer noopener"
target="_blank"
>Tailscale for Windows</a
>
and install it.
</p>

<ol>
<li>Download the registry file, then run it</li>
<li>Follow the prompts</li>
<li>Install and run the official windows Tailscale client</li>
<li>
When the installation has finished, start Tailscale, and log in by
clicking the icon in the system tray
</li>
</ol>
<p>Or using REG:</p>
<p>
Open command prompt with Administrator rights. Issue the following
commands to add the required registry entries:
</p>
<pre>
<code>REG ADD "HKLM\Software\Tailscale IPN" /v UnattendedMode /t REG_SZ /d always
REG ADD "HKLM\Software\Tailscale IPN" /v LoginURL /t REG_SZ /d "{{.URL}}"</code>
</pre>
<p>Or using Powershell</p>
<p>
Open Powershell with Administrator rights. Issue the following commands to
add the required registry entries:
Open a Command Prompt or Powershell and use Tailscale's login command to
connect with headscale:
</p>
<pre>
<code>New-ItemProperty -Path 'HKLM:\Software\Tailscale IPN' -Name UnattendedMode -PropertyType String -Value always
New-ItemProperty -Path 'HKLM:\Software\Tailscale IPN' -Name LoginURL -PropertyType String -Value "{{.URL}}"</code>
</pre>
<p>Finally, restart Tailscale and log in.</p>

<p></p>
<pre><code>tailscale login --login-server {{.URL}}</code></pre>
nblock marked this conversation as resolved.
Show resolved Hide resolved
</body>
</html>
2 changes: 1 addition & 1 deletion mkdocs.yml
Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ repo_name: juanfont/headscale
repo_url: https://github.com/juanfont/headscale

# Copyright
copyright: Copyright &copy; 2023 Headscale authors
copyright: Copyright &copy; 2024 Headscale authors

# Configuration
theme:
Expand Down
Loading