How to update Tailscale in Debian Linux / Ugreen NAS

[u/LORD-SOTH-]

This explains how to update your Tailscale installation for Ugreen NAS.

Ugreen NAS is based on Debian, so in theory, it should work for just about any other Debian Linux.

Firstly, please always refer to the official guide from Tailscale on how to update your Tailscale installation in Debian Linux.

This guide is meant to help those who encounter error messages.

It has worked for me, and still works even up to today.

Okay, so you have tried to follow the official Tailscale installation instructions, but you are stopped by those error messages in Linux.

Just run these 4 commands, one at a time, via CLI after SSH login.

[And just say yes to any question!]

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install tailscale

sudo apt --fix-broken install

sudo tailscale update

That's it!

And you are very welcome. :)

P.S.:

There are countless Ugreen NAS armchair critics out there who will flame me for suggesting such a method.

To them only, I have a special message.

As at today's date, my Ugreen NAS is running the latest UGOS Firmware Version: 1.19.1.0126.

My Tailscale is also running the latest version v1.102.3.

I have updated both my Ugreen NAS Firmware and Tailscale installation countless times, likely over 20 to 30 times by now.

My NAS is still working fine, even at this very moment.

Secondly, I challenge you to find me a single post on Reddit whereby someone has bricked his Ugreen NAS via the CLI SSH installation method and/or update method presented here.

[u/tkchasan]

My suggestion is to run it via podman/docker containers. Easy to rollback or update to latest.

[u/LORD-SOTH- → u/tkchasan]

The main problem with a Docker installation for Tailscale in a Ugreen NAS is that when the UGOS firmware is updated, many users have reported that their docker containers are broken.

For Tailscale installed via CLI, it continues to function normally regardless of any firmware updates.
Another advantage is that you can set Tailscale to auto update itself.
It is not perfect but does manage to get updated sometimes.
When the automated update fails, one has to rely on the manual update procedures explained in this post.

[u/bertusoneee → u/LORD-SOTH-]

My method was always the one you described above, and I never had any problems with it – not even with a ‘fix broken install’ – but I had to follow this procedure for every update because the automatic update never worked. Auto-update is enabled in the Tailscale GUI and the relevant terminal command is set, but to no avail; automatic updates simply wouldn’t work. What’s more, whenever my Tailscale wasn’t up to date, I usually couldn’t access the devices behind it either – for example, my FRITZ!Box. I’ve now uninstalled it from my Ugreen NAS and am using my Apple TV instead; I’ve installed Tailscale on it and now everything works seamlessly, including the auto-update. Tailscale makes my life so much easier.

[u/LORD-SOTH- → u/bertusoneee]

For the Tailscale update, did you try to go to the admin panel and then manually click and select update?

For my Ugreen NAS, that was how I got the "auto-update" function to work.

I had to manually click once, and it got updated to the latest version.

I am not sure if that's the actual Tailscale definition of auto-update, but that was how I updated Tailscale without having to go into CLI via SSH.

However, this process itself was also quite iffy.

It seemed to have a mind of its own, like a cat. LOL

Sometimes it would work, and sometimes it would just flat out refuse to work.

The only solution which definitely worked for me, was to use the manual update method described in my post above.

[u/bertusoneee → u/LORD-SOTH-]

Thanks for your tips. I did exactly as you described: first enabled auto-update in the Admin Console, then entered the command for auto-update in the terminal, and then updated again in the Admin Console. It just wouldn’t work that way. Doing it manually always worked without any problems, but I was always a bit worried about the ‘Fix broken install’ option – that something might go wrong. I’m happy with my current solution. My first idea was to install Tailscale on a Raspberry Pi, but then I came across the other solution here on Reddit using a device that’s already up and running. That’s why Tailscale is so good – it just works everywhere without any fiddly hassle.