Download Sources

The manager supports two download sources for Tailscale binaries.

Comparison

Source	Size	Description
Official	~30-35 MB	Full binaries from pkgs.tailscale.com
Small	~8-10 MB	UPX-compressed binaries from GitHub Releases

The Small binary combines tailscale + tailscaled into a single executable compressed with UPX. It is functionally identical to the official version but approximately 80% smaller.

Recommendation

Use Small for most OpenWrt routers, especially those with limited flash storage.

Supported Architectures

Small Binary

Architecture	Devices
amd64	x86 routers, VMs
arm64	Raspberry Pi 4, modern ARM routers
arm	Raspberry Pi 2/3, older ARM routers (VFPv3+)
armv6	Raspberry Pi 1/Zero, ARMv6 routers
armv5	ARM devices without FPU
mipsle	MediaTek / Ralink routers (most common)
mips	Atheros / QCA routers

Official Binary

The official source supports all architectures available from the Tailscale stable channel, including amd64, arm64, arm, mipsle, mips, riscv64, 386, and more.

Switching Sources

You can change the download source at any time through:

• The interactive menu (choose during install or update)
• UCI configuration:

uci set tailscale.settings.download_source='small'
uci commit tailscale

Architecture Detection

The manager automatically detects your router's architecture using uname -m and CPU feature flags from /proc/cpuinfo. This handles edge cases like distinguishing between arm, armv6, and armv5 variants, or detecting endianness for MIPS chips.