apt install headscale fails outright — headscale is not in the official Debian or Ubuntu archives at all. Add the deb.griffo.io
repository below and sudo apt install headscale gives you the current
release on Debian and Ubuntu alike — currently headscale 0.29.3
(updated 2026-08-17).
📦 Add the repository, then apt install headscale
Step 1: Add repository & key
sudo install -d -m 0755 /etc/apt/keyrings
curl -fsSL https://deb.griffo.io/EA0F721D231FDD3A0A17B9AC7808B4DD62C41256.asc | sudo gpg --dearmor --yes -o /etc/apt/keyrings/deb.griffo.io.gpg
echo "deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/deb.griffo.io.gpg] https://deb.griffo.io/apt $(lsb_release -sc) main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/deb.griffo.io.list > /dev/null
sudo apt updateinstall -d -m 0755 /etc/apt/keyrings
curl -fsSL https://deb.griffo.io/EA0F721D231FDD3A0A17B9AC7808B4DD62C41256.asc | gpg --dearmor --yes -o /etc/apt/keyrings/deb.griffo.io.gpg
echo "deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/deb.griffo.io.gpg] https://deb.griffo.io/apt $(lsb_release -sc) main" | tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/deb.griffo.io.list > /dev/null
apt updateStep 2: apt install headscale
sudo apt install -y headscaleapt install -y headscale🔄 How to apt install the latest headscale
Once the repository is added there is no separate "install latest" command — apt
already resolves to the newest version this repository serves, and that is rebuilt within hours of
every upstream headscale release. To move an existing install up to the latest version:
sudo apt update && sudo apt install --only-upgrade headscaleapt update && apt install --only-upgrade headscaleOr upgrade everything on the machine at once with sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade.
To see which version you would get before installing, run apt policy headscale.
📋 headscale versions available right now
Debian
| Debian release | Suite | headscale version |
|---|---|---|
| Debian 12 “Bookworm” | bookworm | 0.29.3-1~bookworm |
| Debian 13 “Trixie” | trixie | 0.29.3-1~trixie |
| Debian 14 “Forky” | forky | 0.29.3-1~forky |
| Debian Sid | sid | 0.29.3-1~sid |
Ubuntu
| Ubuntu release | Suite | headscale version |
|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu 22.04 LTS “Jammy Jellyfish” | jammy | 0.29.3-1~jammy |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS “Noble Numbat” | noble | 0.29.3-1~noble |
| Ubuntu 25.10 “Questing Quokka” | questing | 0.29.3-1~questing |
| Ubuntu 26.04 LTS “Resolute” | resolute | 0.29.3-1~resolute |
❓ Common questions
Does apt-get install headscale work too?
Yes. apt and apt-get read the same sources, so
sudo apt-get install headscale is equivalent. apt is the friendlier
front-end; apt-get is the stable one to prefer inside scripts.
Why doesn't apt install headscale work out of the box?
headscale is not packaged in the official Debian or Ubuntu archives, so a stock system has nothing to install and apt install headscale fails with "Unable to locate package". Adding this repository gives apt a source that carries headscale and keeps it current.
Which Debian and Ubuntu releases are supported?
Every currently supported release listed in the table above. The
$(lsb_release -sc) in the setup command picks the right suite for the machine you
run it on, so the same three lines work everywhere.
Is this repository trustworthy?
It's an unofficial repository maintained by Dario Griffo. Packages are built automatically from official upstream headscale releases, the packaging is open source at dariogriffo/headscale-debian, and the whole archive is GPG-signed. Several upstream projects link to it from their official installation docs.