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New to this? Read How Socketchat works first.
Tailscale connects your devices into one private network over the internet, called a tailnet. Every device on a tailnet gets an address that starts with 100. and can reach the others as if they sat on the same Wi-Fi. Nothing opens to the public internet, so you need no port forwarding and no public IP. Tailscale also works when your internet provider blocks incoming connections, as with CGNAT. Tailscale is built on WireGuard and does its setup for you. Tailscale or WireGuard? compares the two.

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When to use it

  • You want friends anywhere to reach your server, with nothing open to the internet.
  • You want it working in minutes, or your group already uses Tailscale.
  • Your friends are fine with making a Tailscale account and keeping the app running.

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Set up the server

1

Install Tailscale on the server machine

Install Tailscale from tailscale.com/download on the machine that will run the server, and sign in. It can be any machine: a Mac, a Linux box, a Raspberry Pi or a Windows PC.
2

Find the machine's Tailscale name

MagicDNS is Tailscale’s feature that gives each machine a name, so you can use the name instead of the 100.x address. It is on by default for tailnets made since October 2022. Each machine has a short name, such as pi, and a full name, such as pi.tail1234.ts.net.Find the full name on the machine’s page in the Machines page of the admin console, or with the Tailscale command line:
tailscale ip -4 prints the machine’s 100.x address. Tailscale’s MagicDNS guide explains names in more detail.
3

Install Socketchat and set up the server with that name

Install Socketchat on the machine, then use the full MagicDNS name for --host:
Use the full name, not the short one. People you share the machine with can only reach it by its full name. You can use the 100.x address instead, but a shared machine can show up at a different 100.x address in someone else’s tailnet, so the name is the safer choice.
4

Make your own invite and join

On your computer, which must also be on the tailnet, run socketchat join with the link it prints. See the Quick start for the rest.

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Let your friends in

Pick one:
Sharing gives someone with their own Tailscale account access to one machine and nothing else on your tailnet. It works on every Tailscale plan.
  1. Open the Machines page and choose Share on the server machine.
  2. Share it by email, or copy an invite link and send it yourself.
  3. Your friend accepts with their own Tailscale account and keeps the Tailscale app running.
Your friend can now reach pi.tail1234.ts.net:7444. Tailscale’s sharing guide covers the details, such as reusable links.
Then send each friend a Socketchat invite as usual, with /invite in a room. See Rooms and invites.
If your tailnet uses access rules (the tailnet policy file), make sure they allow TCP port 7444 to the server machine for the people who need it, including people you shared it with.

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Remove a friend

1

Take away their Tailscale access

If you shared the server machine, open the Machines page, choose Share on the server machine, and choose Revoke invite from the menu next to your friend’s invite. If they are a user of your tailnet, remove them from the Users page. Their app can no longer reach the server.
2

Remove them from your rooms

An admin types /kick <name> in each room they were in. Until then they stay on each room’s member list. See Rooms and invites.

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Troubleshooting

  • Tailscale is running and signed in on both the server and your friend’s computer.
  • Your friend accepted the share, or joined your tailnet.
  • The link uses the full MagicDNS name, such as pi.tail1234.ts.net. A shared machine does not answer to its short name.
  • From your friend’s computer, tailscale ping pi.tail1234.ts.net gets answers.
  • If your tailnet has access rules, they allow TCP 7444 to the server.
  • A firewall on the server machine can still block port 7444. Tailscale traffic arrives on its own network interface; allow 7444 there if your firewall asks.
  • socketchat server run is running and printed “Socketchat server listening on”.
Your friends need Tailscale running whenever they use Socketchat on this server. The server machine needs Tailscale running too, and must stay on. To keep the server running after you log out, run it as a service; on Linux, see the systemd unit.