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    "Tailscale is not online" problem

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Tailscale
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    • M
      mcury Rebel Alliance @chudak
      last edited by

      @chudak said in "Tailscale is not online" problem:

      Is ALLDEST="192.168.10.1" your TS IP?

      This is the remote site LAN IP address (other pfsense).
      This network is advertised through tailscale.

      You can use any ip address that tailscale is expected to ping when it is online.

      dead on arrival, nowhere to be found.

      chudakC 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • chudakC
        chudak @mcury
        last edited by

        @mcury said in "Tailscale is not online" problem:

        @chudak said in "Tailscale is not online" problem:

        Is ALLDEST="192.168.10.1" your TS IP?

        This is the remote site LAN IP address (other pfsense).
        This network is advertised through tailscale.

        You can use any ip address that tailscale is expected to ping when it is online.

        It restarted TS for me all the time regardless of the condition

        ./restart_tailscale
        Attempting to issue stop to tailscale service...

        tailscale has been stopped.
        Attempting to issue start to tailscale service...

        tailscale has been started.

        M 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • M
          mcury Rebel Alliance @chudak
          last edited by

          @chudak What is the output of the command: tailscale ping IP that you are trying to ping ?

          dead on arrival, nowhere to be found.

          chudakC 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • chudakC
            chudak @mcury
            last edited by

            @mcury said in "Tailscale is not online" problem:

            @chudak What is the output of the command: tailscale ping IP that you are trying to ping ?

            I think you are missing a value for "--c "

            But the line tailscale ping --c 3 --timeout 2 XYZ still does not work for me :(

            M 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • M
              mcury Rebel Alliance @chudak
              last edited by mcury

              @chudak said in "Tailscale is not online" problem:

              I think you are missing a value for "--c "

              But the line tailscale ping --c 3 --timeout 2 XYZ still does not work for me :(

              hmm, I think I may have provided the previous script, the one I was testing before deployment, let me search for the fixed one.

              Edit: https://tailscale.com/kb/1080/cli#ping

              You can ping a 100.x.x.x address or the node's name directly.
              Also, if I remember correctly, try --c1(without space),

              Edit2: script is updated in the previous post.

              dead on arrival, nowhere to be found.

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • chudakC
                chudak @chudak
                last edited by

                @chudak

                UI but tracker in case someone wants to add comments
                https://redmine.pfsense.org/issues/15319

                M 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                • M
                  mcury Rebel Alliance @chudak
                  last edited by

                  @chudak said in "Tailscale is not online" problem:

                  UI but tracker in case someone wants to add comments

                  nice, good job for reporting that.

                  Did you manage to use the script ?

                  dead on arrival, nowhere to be found.

                  chudakC 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • chudakC
                    chudak @mcury
                    last edited by

                    @mcury said in "Tailscale is not online" problem:

                    @chudak said in "Tailscale is not online" problem:

                    UI but tracker in case someone wants to add comments

                    nice, good job for reporting that.

                    Did you manage to use the script ?

                    I thought you were looking for a better version of the script.
                    Were you?

                    Did you see the Christian McDonald said it’s not a bug?
                    Apparently the current widget reports only about if the TS process running, no wonder it’s not useful

                    M 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • M
                      mcury Rebel Alliance @chudak
                      last edited by mcury

                      @chudak said in "Tailscale is not online" problem:

                      I thought you were looking for a better version of the script.
                      Were you?

                      I updated it, check above. Replace headquarters for the node's name.

                      @chudak said in "Tailscale is not online" problem:

                      Did you see the Christian McDonald said it’s not a bug?
                      Apparently the current widget reports only about if the TS process running, no wonder it’s not useful

                      I hope they include this in the next pfSense upgrade.

                      dead on arrival, nowhere to be found.

                      chudakC cmcdonaldC 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 1
                      • chudakC
                        chudak @mcury
                        last edited by

                        @mcury

                        The scripts worked, thx!

                        --timeout option seems to be broken. Did you get it to work?

                        M 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • cmcdonaldC
                          cmcdonald Netgate Developer @mcury
                          last edited by cmcdonald

                          @mcury said in "Tailscale is not online" problem:

                          @chudak said in "Tailscale is not online" problem:

                          I thought you were looking for a better version of the script.
                          Were you?

                          I updated it, check above. Replace headquarters for the node's name.

                          @chudak said in "Tailscale is not online" problem:

                          Did you see the Christian McDonald said it’s not a bug?
                          Apparently the current widget reports only about if the TS process running, no wonder it’s not useful

                          I hope they include this in the next pfSense upgrade.

                          Maybe for the release after 24.03 I'll do a proper Tailscale widget. As I said in the Redmine, service status in pfSense can only report service running or not running. There are two Tailscale binaries, tailscale and tailscaled. tailscaled is the service and tailscale is the front end. By design tailscaled has to be running to receive commands from tailscale, even before it's authenticated and connected.

                          Need help fast? https://www.netgate.com/support

                          chudakC 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                          • chudakC
                            chudak @cmcdonald
                            last edited by

                            @cmcdonald

                            I hope they include this in the next pfSense upgrade.

                            Maybe for the release after 24.03 I'll do a proper Tailscale widget. As I said in the Redmine, service status in pfSense can only report service running or not running. There are two Tailscale binaries, tailscale and tailscaled. tailscaled is the service and tailscale is the front end. By design tailscaled has to be running to receive commands from tailscale, even before it's authenticated and connected.

                            Pls do!
                            This seems like a simple UI bug but in fact it’s very misleading.
                            I suspect that start/stop from the current widget also non functional

                            TIA

                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • M
                              mcury Rebel Alliance @chudak
                              last edited by

                              @chudak said in "Tailscale is not online" problem:

                              --timeout option seems to be broken. Did you get it to work?

                              The default is fine, 5s.
                              The "Tailscale is not online" issue happens pretty fast, so there is no need for the timeout option as I see it..

                              dead on arrival, nowhere to be found.

                              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • M
                                mathwilp1011
                                last edited by mathwilp1011

                                Hi Guys,

                                For anyone interested: here is the script that I used that is working 100%.

                                The --timeout 2 is not a flag within the tailscale CLI commands.

                                SUBCOMMANDS for Tailscale
                                up Connect to Tailscale, logging in if needed
                                down Disconnect from Tailscale
                                set Change specified preferences
                                login Log in to a Tailscale account
                                logout Disconnect from Tailscale and expire current node key
                                switch Switches to a different Tailscale account
                                configure [ALPHA] Configure the host to enable more Tailscale features
                                netcheck Print an analysis of local network conditions
                                ip Show Tailscale IP addresses
                                status Show state of tailscaled and its connections
                                ping Ping a host at the Tailscale layer, see how it routed
                                nc Connect to a port on a host, connected to stdin/stdout
                                ssh SSH to a Tailscale machine
                                funnel Serve content and local servers on the internet
                                serve Serve content and local servers on your tailnet
                                version Print Tailscale version
                                web Run a web server for controlling Tailscale
                                file Send or receive files
                                bugreport Print a shareable identifier to help diagnose issues
                                cert Get TLS certs
                                lock Manage tailnet lock
                                licenses Get open source license information
                                exit-node
                                update [BETA] Update Tailscale to the latest/different version
                                whois Show the machine and user associated with a Tailscale IP (v4 or v6)

                                Anyone has comments, please let leave them.

                                Note: you must make it executable with chmod +x and I just modified the above script to make it work for my use case. The tailscale node keeps on falling off (exit node unavailable) after either a reboot or it fails after a few days ofd being online. Added error checking display message.

                                @cmcdonald, this is still occurring in the 24.03 BETA (latest revision) as you are aware.

                                ============
                                Script:

                                #!/bin/sh

                                ALLDEST="tailscaleexternalNODE"

                                COUNT=1
                                while [ $COUNT -le 2 ]
                                do
                                for DEST in $ALLDEST
                                do
                                tailscale ping --c 1 $DEST >/dev/null 2>/dev/null
                                if [ $? -eq 0 ]
                                then
                                echo "Tailscale is up"
                                exit 0
                                fi
                                done
                                if [ $COUNT -le 1 ]
                                then
                                echo "Tailscale down"
                                /usr/local/sbin/pfSsh.php playback svc stop tailscale
                                sleep 2
                                /usr/local/sbin/pfSsh.php playback svc start tailscale
                                sleep 10
                                echo "Tailscale is up"
                                exit 1
                                fi
                                COUNT=expr $COUNT + 1
                                done

                                chudakC 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • chudakC
                                  chudak @mathwilp1011
                                  last edited by

                                  @mathwilp1011

                                  Today TS is again shows Tailscale is not online. Refresh or check the Tailscale status page.

                                  The scrip says tailscale has been started.

                                  But in fact TS is down :(

                                  WTH

                                  M 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                  • M
                                    mcury Rebel Alliance @chudak
                                    last edited by

                                    @chudak 4 months later, I think this time frame tell us something.
                                    Problem should be with tailscale itself, or the other node..

                                    dead on arrival, nowhere to be found.

                                    chudakC 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • chudakC
                                      chudak @mcury
                                      last edited by

                                      @mcury said in "Tailscale is not online" problem:

                                      @chudak 4 months later, I think this time frame tell us something.
                                      Problem should be with tailscale itself, or the other node..

                                      Frankly, there is nothing to update and I still did not get to the bottom of it.

                                      TS sometimes is up and running and very stable for long periods. And then it gets flaky and can't connect.

                                      I do run "restart_tailscale" script in crontab, so I assume it makes it start.

                                      But in general, I am puzzled ...

                                      Any clues?

                                      M 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                      • M
                                        mcury Rebel Alliance @chudak
                                        last edited by mcury

                                        @chudak said in "Tailscale is not online" problem:

                                        But in general, I am puzzled ...

                                        Any clues?

                                        Any logs when the problem starts ?
                                        What happens when you try to ping the other node ?
                                        What status it shows in the GUI ?

                                        I have been using that script with the following scenario, which works fine:

                                        I have a customer that runs multi WAN in their headquarters.
                                        One of this links is a CGNAT and other is not.

                                        The branch office connects directly to the primary non CGNAT link (I have opened a port in the firewall for that connection).
                                        If a link failover happens in the headquarters, sometimes it loses connections to the TS network and that's when the script "fixes" the problem by forcing the headquarter firewall to restart the service but now using the CGNAT link, thus connecting through the TS node and not a directly connection anymore.

                                        The reverse is also true, I mean, when the primary link which is not CGNAT comes back online.

                                        dead on arrival, nowhere to be found.

                                        chudakC 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                        • chudakC
                                          chudak @mcury
                                          last edited by

                                          @mcury

                                          I don't know exactly where to look :(

                                          On a high level, only what I see is TS service is green (which is confusing but that's in a different thread and unrelated) and TS connection status is down.

                                          My use case is:

                                          pfS runs TS
                                          iPad runs TS
                                          iPhone runs TS
                                          Windows 11 VM runs TS

                                          So when psF is down, others actually work fine.
                                          I even noticed that routes get resolved.

                                          M 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                          • M
                                            mcury Rebel Alliance @chudak
                                            last edited by

                                            @chudak said in "Tailscale is not online" problem:

                                            TS connection status is down.

                                            isn't the script working for that ?
                                            script tries to ping and if it fails, it will restart the service.

                                            dead on arrival, nowhere to be found.

                                            chudakC 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
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