Connect your laptop

Your laptop is the first device to enroll. Install the official Tailscale client, sign in, and it joins the practice tailnet.

On macOS, use the App Store app or the standalone package from tailscale.com. On Windows, run the installer. On Linux, the install script sets up the package repository for you. After installing, sign in through the app, or from a terminal:

sudo tailscale up

The client creates a virtual network interface and receives stable tailnet addresses. It does not replace your Wi-Fi or Ethernet interface. Your regular Internet traffic keeps flowing exactly as before. Only traffic addressed to tailnet devices uses the new interface. This surprises people coming from traditional VPNs, where connecting means everything goes through the tunnel.

Inspect what the device received

Confirm the device is connected before you touch routes or access policy:

tailscale status
tailscale ip -4
tailscale ip -6

100.87.12.44   flavio-mbp   flavio@   macOS   -
100.87.12.44
fd7a:115c:a1e0::4401:c2c

The IPv4 address comes from the 100.64.0.0/10 range, and the IPv6 address from a Tailscale-specific prefix. Both stay with this device for as long as it remains in the tailnet, no matter which network it joins. Home Wi-Fi, hotel Wi-Fi, phone hotspot: same address.

Match it in the admin console

Open the admin console and find your laptop in the Machines list. Compare what you see there with the terminal output. Same IP, same name, same user.

This check matters more than it seems. Later lessons make policy decisions based on these identities. If the console shows a device you do not recognize, or your laptop under a different user, stop and sort that out now.

Rename the device if its generated name is unclear. flavios-macbook-pro-3 is a bad name to type into an SSH config. flavio-mbp is better. The MagicDNS name follows the machine name, so pick one you are happy to type everywhere.

One last check before moving on. If tailscale status prints Logged out or Stopped, run sudo tailscale up again and complete the browser login. Nothing in the next lessons works from a stopped client, and “it doesn’t connect” is very often just this.