glinet-tailscale-updater

Tailscale Updater for GL.iNet Routers

Keep Tailscale up-to-date on your GL.iNet router with ease!

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💖 Support the Project

If you find this tool helpful, consider supporting its development:

📖 About

This script automatically fetches and installs the latest Tailscale version, optimized specifically for GL.iNet routers. Keep your Tailscale installation current with just one command!

Created by Admon for the GL.iNet community. Tested on nearly all GL.iNet routers with firmware 4.x.

🎖️ Community Maintained – Part of the GL.iNet Toolbox project
⚠️ Independent Project – Not officially affiliated with GL.iNet or Tailscale

✨ Features

• 🚀 Automatic Updates – Fetches and installs the latest Tailscale version
• 📦 Tiny Version Support – Uses optimized tiny binaries to save space
• 🗜️ UPX Compression – Further reduces binary size when needed
• 🔒 Tailscale SSH Ready – Enables secure SSH access to the router via Tailscale
• 🎯 Version Selection – Install specific Tailscale versions
• 🔧 Stateful Filtering – Auto-configures for exit node compatibility
• 🛡️ Safe Restore – Restore original firmware binaries if needed
• 🖥️ GL.iNet KVM Support – Updates Tailscale on Comet and Comet Pro, following the device’s own init script
• ⚡ Flexible Options – Multiple flags for customized installations

📋 Requirements

⚠️ Please make sure, that you enabled Tailscale in the GL.iNet router settings before running this script!

🚀 Quick Start

Run the updater without cloning the repository:

wget -q https://get.admon.me/tailscale -O update-tailscale.sh ; sh update-tailscale.sh

⚠️ Important: Do not run this script as a cron job! Manual execution is recommended.

🎛️ Arguments

The update-tailscale.sh script supports the following arguments:

📚 Usage Examples

Standard Update

Update to the latest stable release:

wget -q https://get.admon.me/tailscale -O update-tailscale.sh ; sh update-tailscale.sh

Testing/Prerelease Versions

Install prerelease versions from the testing branch for early access to new features:

sh update-tailscale.sh --testing

⚠️ Warning: Testing versions are experimental and may contain bugs or unstable features. Use at your own risk!

Select a Specific Version

Install a specific Tailscale version (useful if the latest version has issues):

wget -q https://get.admon.me/tailscale -O update-tailscale.sh ; sh update-tailscale.sh --select-release

The script will display available releases for you to choose from.

⚠️ Warning: Downgrading Tailscale is not officially supported and may cause unexpected behavior.

Force Update (Unattended Installation)

Skip all prompts and make the installation permanent:

wget -q https://get.admon.me/tailscale -O update-tailscale.sh ; sh update-tailscale.sh --force

Combine with --ignore-free-space for devices with limited storage:

wget -q https://get.admon.me/tailscale -O update-tailscale.sh ; sh update-tailscale.sh --force --ignore-free-space

Restore Original Binaries

Revert to the original firmware binaries:

wget -q https://get.admon.me/tailscale -O update-tailscale.sh ; sh update-tailscale.sh --restore

⚠️ Caution: This does not restore configuration files and may result in a broken installation.

Logging and Output Options

Enable timestamps for debugging or tracking execution time:

wget -q https://get.admon.me/tailscale -O update-tailscale.sh ; sh update-tailscale.sh --log

🔍 Key Features Explained

🎯 Tailscale Stateful Filtering

The script automatically adds --stateful-filtering=false to the gl_tailscale script. This is required for proper exit node functionality on GL.iNet routers.

The modification is:

• ✅ Applied automatically
• ✅ Permanent (survives firmware upgrades)
• ✅ No manual configuration needed

🔐 Tailscale SSH Ready

If you agree to enable Tailscale SSH during installation (manually or by using --ssh), the script will automatically configure Tailscale SSH after updating. You can read more about Tailscale SSH here.

⚠️ Warning: If you are connected to your router via Tailscale SSH, you will be disconnected when SSH support is enabled. This might cause the script to terminate prematurely. It is recommended to run the script via local SSH or via GoodCloud SSH terminal.

📦 Tiny-Tailscale

By default, the script uses optimized tiny binaries that:

• 🔹 Significantly reduce storage footprint
• 🔹 Maintain useful functionality for routers
• 🔹 Skip UPX compression (already optimized)
• 🔹 Are recommended for all GL.iNet routers

Use --no-tiny if you need the full-sized binaries.

🗜️ UPX Compression

For standard (non-tiny) binaries, UPX compression:

• 🔹 Substantially reduces binary size
• 🔹 Is recommended for storage-limited devices
• 🔹 Requires xz (auto-installed if missing)
• 🔹 Can be disabled with --no-upx

🖥️ GL.iNet KVM Devices (Comet, Comet Pro)

GL.iNet’s KVM devices are not OpenWrt, so the script handles them differently:

• 🔹 The binaries are installed where /etc/init.d/S99tailscale starts them (/usr/bin). No firmware file is modified.
• 🔹 The Tailscale config and state from /etc/kvmd/user are backed up to /root/tailscale_config_backup before the update.
• 🔹 There is no /etc/sysupgrade.conf on these devices. A firmware upgrade may bring back the original binaries, so re-run the script afterwards.
• 🔹 Tailscale is enabled, disabled and logged in through the KVM web UI.
• 🔹 --restore is not available.

📸 Screencast

💡 Getting Help

Need assistance or have questions?

• 💬 Join the discussion on GL.iNet Forum – Community support
• 💬 Join GL.iNet Discord – Real-time chat
• 🐛 Report issues on GitHub – Bug reports and feature requests
• 📧 Contact via forum private message – For private inquiries

⚠️ Disclaimer

This script is provided as-is without any warranty. Use it at your own risk.

It may potentially:

• 🔥 Break your router, computer, or network
• 🔥 Cause unexpected system behavior
• 🔥 Even burn down your house (okay, probably not, but you get the idea)

You have been warned!

Always read the documentation carefully and understand what a script does before running it.

👥 Contributors

Special thanks to:

• lwbt – UPX compression & tiny-tailscale feature
• Aubermean – Clarification of --stateful-filtering=false (#1)
• Dongming Han (GL.iNet) - Implementing the fwmark patch for GL.iNet routers (#82)
• lmerega – Fixing the skipped Tailscale config backup (#90)
• freeatnet and glendonyeo – Analysis and workaround for GL.iNet KVM devices (#89)
• All the testers and feedback providers in the GL.iNet forum!
• Copilot – Yeah, I am using AI to help write code. But I review and test everything thoroughly!

Want to contribute? Pull requests are welcome!

📜 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License – see the LICENSE file for details.