scripts/installer: add TAILSCALE_VERSION environment variable (#18014)

Add support for pinning specific Tailscale versions during installation via the TAILSCALE_VERSION environment variable. Example usage: curl -fsSL https://tailscale.com/install.sh | TAILSCALE_VERSION=1.88.4 sh Fixes #17776 Signed-off-by: Raj Singh <raj@tailscale.com>
23 hours ago · bd5c50909f
parent 22a815b6d2
commit bd5c50909f
2 changed files with 88 additions and 12 deletions
--- a/.github/workflows/installer.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/installer.yml
@ -58,6 +58,14 @@ jobs:
          # Check a few images with wget rather than curl.
          - { image: "debian:oldstable-slim", deps: "wget" }
          - { image: "debian:sid-slim", deps: "wget" }
+          - { image: "debian:stable-slim", deps: "curl" }
+          - { image: "ubuntu:24.04", deps: "curl" }
+          - { image: "fedora:latest", deps: "curl" }
+          # Test TAILSCALE_VERSION pinning on a subset of distros.
+          # Skip Alpine as community repos don't reliably keep old versions.
+          - { image: "debian:stable-slim", deps: "curl", version: "1.80.0" }
+          - { image: "ubuntu:24.04", deps: "curl", version: "1.80.0" }
+          - { image: "fedora:latest", deps: "curl", version: "1.80.0" }
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    container:
      image: ${{ matrix.image }}
@ -94,12 +102,18 @@ jobs:
      uses: actions/checkout@11bd71901bbe5b1630ceea73d27597364c9af683 # v4.2.2
    - name: run installer
      run: scripts/installer.sh
+      env:
+        TAILSCALE_VERSION: ${{ matrix.version }}
      # Package installation can fail in docker because systemd is not running
      # as PID 1, so ignore errors at this step. The real check is the
      # `tailscale --version` command below.
      continue-on-error: true
    - name: check tailscale version
-      run: tailscale --version
+      run: |
+        tailscale --version
+        if [ -n "${{ matrix.version }}" ]; then
+          tailscale --version | grep -q "^${{ matrix.version }}" || { echo "Version mismatch!"; exit 1; }
+        fi
  notify-slack:
    needs: test
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
--- a/scripts/installer.sh
+++ b/scripts/installer.sh
@ -4,6 +4,15 @@
 #
 # This script detects the current operating system, and installs
 # Tailscale according to that OS's conventions.
+#
+# Environment variables:
+#   TRACK: Set to "stable" or "unstable" (default: stable)
+#   TAILSCALE_VERSION: Pin to a specific version (e.g., "1.88.4")
+#
+# Examples:
+#   curl -fsSL https://tailscale.com/install.sh | sh
+#   curl -fsSL https://tailscale.com/install.sh | TAILSCALE_VERSION=1.88.4 sh
+#   curl -fsSL https://tailscale.com/install.sh | TRACK=unstable sh

 set -eu

@ -25,6 +34,7 @@ main() {
 	APT_KEY_TYPE="" # Only for apt-based distros
 	APT_SYSTEMCTL_START=false # Only needs to be true for Kali
 	TRACK="${TRACK:-stable}"
+	TAILSCALE_VERSION="${TAILSCALE_VERSION:-}"

 	case "$TRACK" in
 		stable|unstable)
@ -502,7 +512,14 @@ main() {
 	# Step 4: run the installation.
 	OSVERSION="$OS"
 	[ "$VERSION" != "" ] && OSVERSION="$OSVERSION $VERSION"
-	echo "Installing Tailscale for $OSVERSION, using method $PACKAGETYPE"
+
+	# Prepare package name with optional version
+	PACKAGE_NAME="tailscale"
+	if [ -n "$TAILSCALE_VERSION" ]; then
+		echo "Installing Tailscale $TAILSCALE_VERSION for $OSVERSION, using method $PACKAGETYPE"
+	else
+		echo "Installing Tailscale for $OSVERSION, using method $PACKAGETYPE"
+	fi
 	case "$PACKAGETYPE" in
 		apt)
 			export DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive
@ -527,7 +544,11 @@ main() {
 				;;
 			esac
 			$SUDO apt-get update
-			$SUDO apt-get install -y tailscale tailscale-archive-keyring
+			if [ -n "$TAILSCALE_VERSION" ]; then
+				$SUDO apt-get install -y "tailscale=$TAILSCALE_VERSION" tailscale-archive-keyring
+			else
+				$SUDO apt-get install -y tailscale tailscale-archive-keyring
+			fi
 			if [ "$APT_SYSTEMCTL_START" = "true" ]; then
 				$SUDO systemctl enable --now tailscaled
 				$SUDO systemctl start tailscaled
@ -538,7 +559,11 @@ main() {
 			set -x
 			$SUDO yum install yum-utils -y
 			$SUDO yum-config-manager -y --add-repo "https://pkgs.tailscale.com/$TRACK/$OS/$VERSION/tailscale.repo"
-			$SUDO yum install tailscale -y
+			if [ -n "$TAILSCALE_VERSION" ]; then
+				$SUDO yum install "tailscale-$TAILSCALE_VERSION" -y
+			else
+				$SUDO yum install tailscale -y
+			fi
 			$SUDO systemctl enable --now tailscaled
 			set +x
 		;;
@ -578,14 +603,22 @@ main() {
 				echo "unexpected: unknown dnf version $DNF_VERSION"
 				exit 1
 			fi
-			$SUDO dnf install -y tailscale
+			if [ -n "$TAILSCALE_VERSION" ]; then
+				$SUDO dnf install -y "tailscale-$TAILSCALE_VERSION"
+			else
+				$SUDO dnf install -y tailscale
+			fi
 			$SUDO systemctl enable --now tailscaled
 			set +x
 		;;
 		tdnf)
 			set -x
 			curl -fsSL "https://pkgs.tailscale.com/$TRACK/$OS/$VERSION/tailscale.repo" > /etc/yum.repos.d/tailscale.repo
-			$SUDO tdnf install -y tailscale
+			if [ -n "$TAILSCALE_VERSION" ]; then
+				$SUDO tdnf install -y "tailscale-$TAILSCALE_VERSION"
+			else
+				$SUDO tdnf install -y tailscale
+			fi
 			$SUDO systemctl enable --now tailscaled
 			set +x
 		;;
@ -594,19 +627,33 @@ main() {
 			$SUDO rpm --import "https://pkgs.tailscale.com/$TRACK/$OS/$VERSION/repo.gpg"
 			$SUDO zypper --non-interactive ar -g -r "https://pkgs.tailscale.com/$TRACK/$OS/$VERSION/tailscale.repo"
 			$SUDO zypper --non-interactive --gpg-auto-import-keys refresh
-			$SUDO zypper --non-interactive install tailscale
+			if [ -n "$TAILSCALE_VERSION" ]; then
+				$SUDO zypper --non-interactive install "tailscale=$TAILSCALE_VERSION"
+			else
+				$SUDO zypper --non-interactive install tailscale
+			fi
 			$SUDO systemctl enable --now tailscaled
 			set +x
 			;;
 		pacman)
 			set -x
-			$SUDO pacman -S tailscale --noconfirm
+			if [ -n "$TAILSCALE_VERSION" ]; then
+				echo "Warning: Arch Linux maintains their own Tailscale package. Version pinning may not work as expected, as the target version may no longer be available."
+				$SUDO pacman -S "tailscale=$TAILSCALE_VERSION" --noconfirm
+			else
+				$SUDO pacman -S tailscale --noconfirm
+			fi
 			$SUDO systemctl enable --now tailscaled
 			set +x
 			;;
 		pkg)
 			set -x
-			$SUDO pkg install --yes tailscale
+			if [ -n "$TAILSCALE_VERSION" ]; then
+				echo "Warning: FreeBSD maintains their own Tailscale package. Version pinning may not work as expected, as the target version may no longer be available."
+				$SUDO pkg install --yes "tailscale-$TAILSCALE_VERSION"
+			else
+				$SUDO pkg install --yes tailscale
+			fi
 			$SUDO service tailscaled enable
 			$SUDO service tailscaled start
 			set +x
@ -621,19 +668,34 @@ main() {
 					exit 1
 				fi
 			fi
-			$SUDO apk add tailscale
+			if [ -n "$TAILSCALE_VERSION" ]; then
+				echo "Warning: Alpine Linux maintains their own Tailscale package. Version pinning may not work as expected, as the target version may no longer be available."
+				$SUDO apk add "tailscale=$TAILSCALE_VERSION"
+			else
+				$SUDO apk add tailscale
+			fi
 			$SUDO rc-update add tailscale
 			$SUDO rc-service tailscale start
 			set +x
 			;;
 		xbps)
 			set -x
-			$SUDO xbps-install tailscale -y
+			if [ -n "$TAILSCALE_VERSION" ]; then
+				echo "Warning: Void Linux maintains their own Tailscale package. Version pinning may not work as expected, as the target version may no longer be available."
+				$SUDO xbps-install "tailscale-$TAILSCALE_VERSION" -y
+			else
+				$SUDO xbps-install tailscale -y
+			fi
 			set +x
 			;;
 		emerge)
 			set -x
-			$SUDO emerge --ask=n net-vpn/tailscale
+			if [ -n "$TAILSCALE_VERSION" ]; then
+				echo "Warning: Gentoo maintains their own Tailscale package. Version pinning may not work as expected, as the target version may no longer be available."
+				$SUDO emerge --ask=n "=net-vpn/tailscale-$TAILSCALE_VERSION"
+			else
+				$SUDO emerge --ask=n net-vpn/tailscale
+			fi
 			set +x
 			;;
 		appstore)