🆓 Free forever — and licensed to stay that way

Every tool here is open source; its license guarantees the right to use and redistribute it. This mirror is that promise in practice: each package's newest release that is at least 2 months old, served free forever — no account, no authentication.
Security and patch fixes are published immediately. Want every release within hours of upstream? That's the main repository at deb.griffo.io. 🚀

💬 Questions, issues or anything about this repo? Join our Discord community — the best place to get help and connect with other users.

🕸️ Install Latest Headscale on Debian

Self-hosted implementation of the Tailscale control server

⏳ Not in the free mirror yet — get it from deb.griffo.io (main)
⏳ Headscale is not in the free mirror yet. The free mirror currently serves Ghostty and Zed, with more on the way. Get Headscale from the main repository at deb.griffo.io — every release, within hours of upstream.
SourceVersion
deb.griffo.io (main)0.29.2 ✅
Official Debian🚫 not packaged
← Back to home

What is Headscale?

Headscale is an open-source, self-hosted implementation of the Tailscale control server. It lets you run your own coordination server for a private WireGuard-based mesh network, so your devices can connect securely to each other without depending on Tailscale’s hosted control plane — while still using the standard Tailscale clients.

🚀 Why Staying Current Matters: Headscale evolves alongside the Tailscale protocol, adding support for new client features, ACL improvements and stability fixes. Running the latest version keeps you compatible with current Tailscale clients.

⚡ Key Features of Headscale

🔐 Self-hosted Control Plane

Run your own coordination server — no reliance on a third-party hosted service.

🌐 WireGuard Mesh

Fast, encrypted peer-to-peer connectivity between all your devices.

📱 Standard Clients

Works with the official Tailscale clients on desktop, mobile and servers.

📜 ACL Policies

Fine-grained access control rules to segment and secure your network.

🎯 Why Headscale?

  • Full control: Own the coordination server and your network data
  • No vendor lock-in: Open source alternative to the hosted control plane
  • Uses official clients: Keep the polished Tailscale app experience
  • Lightweight: A single Go binary that is easy to deploy

🆕 Highlights

📦 Installation from deb-free.griffo.io

Step 1: Add Repository

sudo install -d -m 0755 /etc/apt/keyrings curl -fsSL https://deb-free.griffo.io/EA0F721D231FDD3A0A17B9AC7808B4DD62C41256.asc | sudo gpg --dearmor --yes -o /etc/apt/keyrings/deb-free.griffo.io.gpg echo "deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/deb-free.griffo.io.gpg] https://deb-free.griffo.io/apt $(lsb_release -sc 2>/dev/null) main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/deb-free.griffo.io.list > /dev/null sudo apt update
install -d -m 0755 /etc/apt/keyrings curl -fsSL https://deb-free.griffo.io/EA0F721D231FDD3A0A17B9AC7808B4DD62C41256.asc | gpg --dearmor --yes -o /etc/apt/keyrings/deb-free.griffo.io.gpg echo "deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/deb-free.griffo.io.gpg] https://deb-free.griffo.io/apt $(lsb_release -sc 2>/dev/null) main" | tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/deb-free.griffo.io.list > /dev/null apt update

Step 2: Install headscale

# Install latest headscale sudo apt install headscale # Verify installation headscale version
# Install latest headscale apt install headscale # Verify installation headscale version

🎯 Basic Usage Examples

# Show version headscale version # Create a user headscale users create alice # Generate a pre-auth key for a user headscale preauthkeys create --user alice --reusable # List connected nodes headscale nodes list # Serve the control server headscale serve

🚀 Why Choose deb-free.griffo.io?

📊 Repository Comparison:
  • Official Debian: Often months behind, missing latest features
  • deb.griffo.io (main): Latest version within hours of release
  • Manual Installation: Manual downloads and PATH setup required
  • Our Repository: Pre-built, ready-to-use packages

📦 Package Build Repository

The Debian packages are automatically built and maintained in this GitHub repository:

🔗 Related Packages

Also available from deb.griffo.io:

🎯 Perfect for: Self-hosters and organizations that want a private, secure mesh VPN using the Tailscale clients but with full control over the coordination server and their data.

💝 Support This Project

If this repository saves you time and effort, please consider supporting it!

⭐ Star on GitHub 🐦 Share on Twitter

📦 Recent releases at deb.griffo.io (main)

❓ Frequently asked questions

Is Headscale in the official Debian repositories?

No — Headscale is not packaged in the official Debian archives. This free mirror serves the newest Headscale release that is at least 2 months old; the main repository at deb.griffo.io serves every release within hours of upstream.

How do I install the latest Headscale on Debian?

Add the deb-free.griffo.io repository once using the instructions above, then run: sudo apt install headscale. New releases arrive through the normal sudo apt upgrade.

Are the packages signed and how are they built?

Every package is signed with the repository's GPG key (EA0F721D231FDD3A0A17B9AC7808B4DD62C41256) and built from upstream releases in public GitHub packaging repositories that anyone can inspect.

Which Debian releases are supported?

Debian 12 Bookworm, Debian 13 Trixie, Forky and Sid.