Connecting an Apple client

This documentation has the goal of showing how a user can use the official iOS and macOS Tailscale clients with headscale.

!!! info "Instructions on your headscale instance"

An endpoint with information on how to connect your Apple device
is also available at `/apple` on your running instance.

iOS

Install the official Tailscale iOS client from the App Store.

Open Tailscale
Tap the user profile icon in the top right corner of the Tailscale app to open the Settings menu
If you are not signed into any other tailnets, tap the Log in menu item. Otherwise, tap the signed-in user
Tap the ⋯ icon menu in the top right corner, then select Use a custom coordination server
Enter the custom control server URL and tap Log in
Enter your credentials and log in. Headscale should now be working on your iOS device.

Choose one of the available Tailscale clients for macOS and install it.

Use Tailscale's login command to connect with your headscale instance (e.g https://headscale.example.com):

tailscale login --login-server <YOUR_HEADSCALE_URL>

ALT + Click the Tailscale icon in the menu and hover over the Debug menu
Under Custom Login Server, select Add Account...
Enter the URL of your headscale instance (e.g https://headscale.example.com) and press Add Account
Follow the login procedure in the browser

Install the official Tailscale tvOS client from the App Store.

!!! danger

**Don't** open the Tailscale App after installation!

Open Settings (the Apple tvOS settings) > Apps > Tailscale
Under ALTERNATE COORDINATION SERVER URL, select URL
Enter the URL of your headscale instance (e.g https://headscale.example.com) and press OK
Return to the tvOS Home screen
Open Tailscale
Click the button Install VPN configuration and confirm the appearing popup by clicking the Allow button
Scan the QR code and follow the login procedure