Tailscale on Steam Deck

readme.md

↗️ This gist has been transferred to tailscale-dev/deck-tailscale

Hey, Xe here. Can you email xe@tailscale.com? :)

For me the problem was the line

systemd-sysext refresh > /dev/null 2>&1

that lead systemd to already performing the /usr merge.

That's why

systemctl enable systemd-sysext --now

will fail with above errors afterwards.

The systemd manpages confirms that:

merge
Merges all currently installed system extension images into /usr/ and /opt/, by overmounting these hierarchies with an "overlayfs" file system combining the underlying hierarchies with those included in the extension images. This command will fail if the hierarchies are already merged.

Running the following afterwards fixed the execution of the script after removing the offending line.

(deck@steamdeck postinstall)$ sudo systemd-sysext unmerge
(deck@steamdeck postinstall)$ sudo systemd-sysext status
HIERARCHY EXTENSIONS SINCE
/opt      none       -    
/usr      none       -    

./tailscale.sh 
Installing Tailscale: Getting version...got 1.42.0. Downloading...done. Installing...Created symlink /etc/systemd/system/multi-user.target.wants/tailscaled.service → /etc/systemd/system/tailscaled.service.
done.
If updating, reboot or run the following to finish the process: sudo systemctl restart tailscaled

It should also be possible to keep the offending line and change the following line:

--systemctl enable systemd-sysext --now
++systemctl enable systemd-sysext 

What if we moved

systemctl enable systemd-sysext --now

above

systemd-sysext refresh > /dev/null 2>&1

I can't see how it would hurt, and it might help.

I've gone ahead and rearranged that. If someone who's had problems can give it a shot, that'd be helpful.

I completed the installation correctly however, I’m getting an errir when the service tries to spin up:

tailscaled.service: Failed to set up mount namespacing: /run/systemd/unit-extensions/0: Stale file handle
tailscaled.service: Failed at step NAMESPACE spawning /usr/sbin/tailscaled: Stale file handle
tailscaled.service: Control process exited, code=exited, status=226/NAMESPACE

Is that an install issue? I ran into similar problems to those above but thought I had gotten it working since I was able to generate the QR code. I also did this prior to your latest update.

@Marto32 That's a new one, I think. Have you tried restarting the system?

Also, hey, @Xe, I emailed you a couple of weeks ago and haven't seen anything.

I did. No luck. That was the journalctl output. I’m wondering if I installed something incorrectly that messed up a symlink?

I've got no clue. I'm having a hard time finding reports of similar problems.

@legowerewolf do you foresee any issues if I just rerun the install script?

No, it should be idempotent.

@legowerewolf reinstall fixed it. However moonlight is not seeing the host now. Do I have to regenerate the QR code?

Fixed. This was a Moonlight issue. I had to look up the host ip in tailscales web ui then re-add it to moonlight. Hope that helps anyone else with this issue

Hello, I am having an issue trying to install Tailscale. After starting the process and moving tailscaled.service to /etc/systemd/system, I get Failed to start systemd-sysext.service: Unit systemd-sysext.service not found.

@CrimsonNyte it works the first time because the service is disabled and inactive, but fails on subsequent runs because... not sure why, anyway just adding checks fixes the problem, its already doing daemon-reload before these checks are done, so its not necessary to enable and start the services again.

if systemctl is-enabled --quiet systemd-sysext && systemctl is-active --quiet systemd-sysext; then
  echo "systemd-sysext is already enabled and active"
else
  systemctl enable systemd-sysext --now
fi

systemd-sysext refresh > /dev/null 2>&1
systemctl daemon-reload > /dev/null

if systemctl is-enabled --quiet systemd-sysext && systemctl is-active --quiet systemd-sysext; then
  echo "tailscaled is already active"
else
  systemctl enable tailscaled --now
fi

Hey, everyone. We're working on transferring this as a repo to the community tailscale-dev organization. Right now, you can find it at https://github.com/legowerewolf/deck-tailscale. I'll post another message when that gets transferred in.

As mentioned earlier, when I tried running Johnny Blocks' solution, it did not create a symlink as described. I tried making a symlink manually as well with no luck. Here is the full output from my terminal:

(deck@steamdeck TailScale)$ sudo systemctl enable --now tailscaled.service Job for tailscaled.service failed because the control process exited with error code. See "systemctl status tailscaled.service" and "journalctl -xeu tailscaled.service" for details.

`(deck@steamdeck TailScale)$ systemctl status tailscaled.service × tailscaled.service - Tailscale node agent Loaded: loaded (/etc/systemd/system/tailscaled.service; enabled; preset: disabled) Active: failed (Result: exit-code) since Tue 2023-04-25 15:51:13 EDT; 21s ago Docs: https://tailscale.com/kb/ Process: 7697 ExecStartPre=/usr/sbin/tailscaled --cleanup (code=exited, status=226/NAMESPACE) Process: 7698 ExecStopPost=/usr/sbin/tailscaled --cleanup (code=exited, status=226/NAMESPACE) CPU: 10ms

Apr 25 15:51:13 steamdeck systemd[1]: tailscaled.service: Scheduled restart job, restart counter is at 5. Apr 25 15:51:13 steamdeck systemd[1]: Stopped Tailscale node agent. Apr 25 15:51:13 steamdeck systemd[1]: tailscaled.service: Start request repeated too quickly. Apr 25 15:51:13 steamdeck systemd[1]: tailscaled.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'. Apr 25 15:51:13 steamdeck systemd[1]: Failed to start Tailscale node agent.`

(deck@steamdeck TailScale)$ journalctl -xeu tailscaled.service ░░ the configured Restart= setting for the unit. Apr 25 15:51:13 steamdeck systemd[1]: Stopped Tailscale node agent. ░░ Subject: A stop job for unit tailscaled.service has finished ░░ Defined-By: systemd ░░ Support: https://lists.freedesktop.org/mailman/listinfo/systemd-devel ░░ ░░ A stop job for unit tailscaled.service has finished. ░░ ░░ The job identifier is 5195 and the job result is done. Apr 25 15:51:13 steamdeck systemd[1]: tailscaled.service: Start request repeated too quickly. Apr 25 15:51:13 steamdeck systemd[1]: tailscaled.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'. ░░ Subject: Unit failed ░░ Defined-By: systemd ░░ Support: https://lists.freedesktop.org/mailman/listinfo/systemd-devel ░░ ░░ The unit tailscaled.service has entered the 'failed' state with result 'exit-code'. Apr 25 15:51:13 steamdeck systemd[1]: Failed to start Tailscale node agent. ░░ Subject: A start job for unit tailscaled.service has failed ░░ Defined-By: systemd ░░ Support: https://lists.freedesktop.org/mailman/listinfo/systemd-devel ░░ ░░ A start job for unit tailscaled.service has finished with a failure. ░░ ░░ The job identifier is 5195 and the job result is failed. lines 1410-1433/1433 (END)

I'm stuck here too. Does anyone have a workaround?

if systemctl is-enabled --quiet systemd-sysext && systemctl is-active --quiet systemd-sysext; then
echo "systemd-sysext is already enabled and active"
else
systemctl enable systemd-sysext --now
fi

systemd-sysext refresh > /dev/null 2>&1
systemctl daemon-reload > /dev/null

if systemctl is-enabled --quiet systemd-sysext && systemctl is-active --quiet systemd-sysext; then
echo "tailscaled is already active"
else
systemctl enable tailscaled --now
fi

Thank you for this @cchulo! That fixed it for me!

@legowerewolf I opened a PR to fix the issue that me and CrimsonNyte saw: tailscale-dev/deck-tailscale#1

also: "first" :)

I don't have a clear understanding of where do I copy tailscale.sh to. Anywhere I use the sudo bash tailscale.sh I get this same error

tailscale.sh: line 7: syntax error near unexpected token `newline'
tailscale.sh: line 7: `<!DOCTYPE html>'

@fawx0999 so it looks like you've somehow downloaded a webpage as tailscale.sh? Check the repository; there's newer install instructions there that should simplify things. If you're still having problems, file a ticket explaining what you're confused by and I'll see what I can do about better documentation there.

@legowerewolf I followed the newer instruction and manged to install Tailscale, although when I pasted the command to generate a QR code, I get absolutely nothing

Can you do tailscale status?

Can you do tailscale status?

It seems like I was already logged in when I had installed tailscale previously another method

Hey, cool. So it's working for you now?

@legowerewolf it works now, thanks for helping a dummy lol

No problem, glad to help.

Hey, everyone! This has been moved to https://github.com/tailscale-dev/deck-tailscale. Go check it out there, give it a star, whatever.

As mentioned earlier, when I tried running Johnny Blocks' solution, it did not create a symlink as described. I tried making a symlink manually as well with no luck. Here is the full output from my terminal:

(deck@steamdeck TailScale)$ sudo systemctl enable --now tailscaled.service Job for tailscaled.service failed because the control process exited with error code. See "systemctl status tailscaled.service" and "journalctl -xeu tailscaled.service" for details.

`(deck@steamdeck TailScale)$ systemctl status tailscaled.service × tailscaled.service - Tailscale node agent Loaded: loaded (/etc/systemd/system/tailscaled.service; enabled; preset: disabled) Active: failed (Result: exit-code) since Tue 2023-04-25 15:51:13 EDT; 21s ago Docs: https://tailscale.com/kb/ Process: 7697 ExecStartPre=/usr/sbin/tailscaled --cleanup (code=exited, status=226/NAMESPACE) Process: 7698 ExecStopPost=/usr/sbin/tailscaled --cleanup (code=exited, status=226/NAMESPACE) CPU: 10ms

Apr 25 15:51:13 steamdeck systemd[1]: tailscaled.service: Scheduled restart job, restart counter is at 5. Apr 25 15:51:13 steamdeck systemd[1]: Stopped Tailscale node agent. Apr 25 15:51:13 steamdeck systemd[1]: tailscaled.service: Start request repeated too quickly. Apr 25 15:51:13 steamdeck systemd[1]: tailscaled.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'. Apr 25 15:51:13 steamdeck systemd[1]: Failed to start Tailscale node agent.`

(deck@steamdeck TailScale)$ journalctl -xeu tailscaled.service ░░ the configured Restart= setting for the unit. Apr 25 15:51:13 steamdeck systemd[1]: Stopped Tailscale node agent. ░░ Subject: A stop job for unit tailscaled.service has finished ░░ Defined-By: systemd ░░ Support: https://lists.freedesktop.org/mailman/listinfo/systemd-devel ░░ ░░ A stop job for unit tailscaled.service has finished. ░░ ░░ The job identifier is 5195 and the job result is done. Apr 25 15:51:13 steamdeck systemd[1]: tailscaled.service: Start request repeated too quickly. Apr 25 15:51:13 steamdeck systemd[1]: tailscaled.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'. ░░ Subject: Unit failed ░░ Defined-By: systemd ░░ Support: https://lists.freedesktop.org/mailman/listinfo/systemd-devel ░░ ░░ The unit tailscaled.service has entered the 'failed' state with result 'exit-code'. Apr 25 15:51:13 steamdeck systemd[1]: Failed to start Tailscale node agent. ░░ Subject: A start job for unit tailscaled.service has failed ░░ Defined-By: systemd ░░ Support: https://lists.freedesktop.org/mailman/listinfo/systemd-devel ░░ ░░ A start job for unit tailscaled.service has finished with a failure. ░░ ░░ The job identifier is 5195 and the job result is failed. lines 1410-1433/1433 (END)

Any solutions?Unlucky to get the same faulty :(.

@SummerFoam233 might be better to open an issue on the new repo, can help you debug on there, i think this thread is abandoned