SEC.01

The playbook

The run starts read-only: the recon probes decide what happens next. The steps that follow are adapted to the distribution and state found — a real machine is rarely clean.

  1. 01reconHeadscale already present? version
  2. 02reconservice active? existing config (server_url, listen_addr)?
  3. 03reconports 8080/9090/50443 free? 80/443 held by a reverse proxy?
  4. 04reconreverse proxy present (Caddy or Nginx) for TLS
  5. 05reconDebian >= 12 or Ubuntu >= 22.04, architecture
  6. 06actThe domain points to this serververify
  7. 07actDownload the official packageverify
  8. 08actInstall Headscaleverify
  9. 09actConfigure server_urlverify
  10. 10actEnableverify
  11. 11actTLS reverse proxyverify
  12. 12actCreate the first userverify

SEC.02

What it verifies

Each step ships its own check. The run only moves on when the check passes, so what the recipe reports as done is what is actually on the server.

  1. 01The domain points to this serverVerified bygetent ahostsv4 ${domain} | head -1; curl -4fsS https://api.ipify.org
  2. 02Download the official packageVerified bydpkg-deb -f /tmp/headscale.deb Version
  3. 03Install HeadscaleVerified byheadscale version
  4. 04Configure server_urlVerified byheadscale configtest && grep -c "^server_url: https://${domain}" /etc/headscale/config.yaml
  5. 05EnableVerified bysystemctl is-active headscale && curl -s -o /dev/null -w '%{http_code}' http://127.0.0.1:8080/health
  6. 06TLS reverse proxyVerified bycurl -s -o /dev/null -w '%{http_code}' https://${domain}/health
  7. 07Create the first userVerified byheadscale users list | grep -cw ${hs_user}

SEC.03

Guardrails

Non-negotiable instructions the run must respect, whatever it finds on the server.

TLS reverse proxy mandatory (server_url over HTTPS); Headscale listens on 127.0.0.1:8080, never expose 9090 (metrics) or 50443 (gRPC). Do not overwrite a customised config.yaml: back it up and only change server_url and base_domain. Preauth keys are secrets: do not create them unless asked and do not log them.

SEC.04

Variables

What you choose before launching — the recipe fills in the rest.

NameMeaning
${domain}Domain
${hs_user}First user

SEC.05

How a recipe runs in Servor

Servor is zero-knowledge: the platform cannot execute anything on its own. When you launch this recipe, a run reads the reconnaissance, plans the steps and asks for your approval. Each approved command is signed by your browser — with a key the server never sees — then relayed verbatim to the agent, which verifies the signature locally before executing.

recipe — fail2ban_setup150+ in catalogue
security4 steps · low risk · idempotentrun
reconsshd present? ufw active? existing jails?✓
actinstall fail2ban · write default jails✓
actenable service · restart sshd (safe)✓
verifytest ban 60s · jails active · sshd alive✓

search by intent — type “firewall”, get ufw

  • 01Read-only reconnaissance before any change
  • 02Every command signed by your browser, approved by you
  • 03Each step verified before the run moves on, every run kept in the history

SEC.06

Deploy on Servor button

Maintain Headscale or a project that needs it? Put this button in your README or on your site: one click and your users install it on their own server.

Deploy on ServorDark background
Deploy on ServorLight background
[![Deploy on Servor](https://servor.app/badges/deploy-on-servor.svg)](https://servor.app/deploy/install-headscale)

SEC.07

Verified recipe

Run this recipe on your server

Connect a server, launch the recipe, and approve each step as Servor executes and verifies it. Free plan, no card required.