Installation

Prerequisites

• OpenWrt router with internet access
• SSH access to your router
• At least 8-10 MB free space (Small mode) or 30-35 MB (Official mode)

Quick Install

SSH into your router and run:

wget -O /usr/bin/tailscale-manager https://raw.githubusercontent.com/fl0w1nd/openwrt-tailscale/main/tailscale-manager.sh && chmod +x /usr/bin/tailscale-manager && tailscale-manager

This single command will:

1. Download the manager script
2. Make it executable
3. Launch the interactive menu

Interactive Menu

The interactive installer will guide you through:

1. Download source — Choose Official (~30-35 MB) or Small (~8-10 MB)
2. Storage mode — Persistent (/opt/tailscale) or RAM (/tmp/tailscale)
3. Binary directory (persistent only) — Accept the default or type an absolute path such as /mnt/sda1/tailscale to install onto an external mount; see Custom Binary Directory
4. Auto-update — Optional daily cron to fetch new Tailscale releases (default: off)
5. LuCI web UI — Optional web management UI (default: off)
6. Download & install — Automatically fetches the correct binary for your architecture
7. Start service — Starts Tailscale via the procd init system

LuCI memory usage

LuCI status pages call the manager through rpcd, and the manager may run tailscale status --json to collect device information. Routers with only a few dozen MB of RAM can run out of memory during that query. Keep LuCI disabled on very low-memory devices and use the CLI commands instead.

Dependencies

The installer automatically detects and installs missing dependencies via opkg:

Package	Purpose
wget-ssl	Downloading binaries over HTTPS
libustream-mbedtls	TLS support for wget
ca-bundle	CA certificates for HTTPS verification
kmod-tun	Kernel TUN device (optional, for TUN mode)
iptables / iptables-nft	Firewall rules for subnet routing

TIP

If opkg is not available, the installer will show warnings with manual install instructions.

Post-Install

After installation, connect to your Tailscale network:

tailscale up

Then approve the device in the Tailscale Admin Console.

Optional LuCI UI

The first install leaves the LuCI UI disabled by default. Install it later with:

tailscale-manager luci install

For scripted installs:

tailscale-manager install --yes --luci 1

Remove only the LuCI UI with:

tailscale-manager luci remove

Next Steps

• Download Sources — Learn about Official vs Small binaries
• Subnet Routing — Access your LAN from other Tailscale devices
• CLI Commands — Full command reference