Recently, I encountered a frustrating error while trying to set up Tailscale on an Ubuntu LXC container in Proxmox. When running tailscale up, I kept seeing this error:
failed to connect to local tailscaled; it doesn't appear to be running (sudo systemctl start tailscaled ?)Initially, this error led me down a troubleshooting rabbit hole, but the solution was straightforward once I realized the real cause: unprivileged LXC containers in Proxmox don’t include TUN device support by default, a feature essential for Tailscale’s networking functionality.
Why does this happen?
Tailscale needs to create a virtual network interface to operate correctly. In Linux, this is done using a TUN/TAP device, which isn’t available by default inside unprivileged LXC containers. Without this, Tailscale’s daemon (tailscaled) cannot start properly.
How to fix the ‘failed to connect to local tailscaled’ error
With a few simple steps you can enable TUN device support in your Proxmox LXC container:
Step 1: Edit the LXC container configuration
First, access your Proxmox host via SSH. In my example, my container ID was 107, so I edited its configuration file directly:
nano /etc/pve/lxc/107.confStep 2: Enable TUN support
Add the following lines at the bottom of your container’s configuration file:
lxc.cgroup2.devices.allow: c 10:200 rwm
lxc.mount.entry: /dev/net/tun dev/net/tun none bind,create=fileStep 3: Restart your LXC container
After saving your changes (Ctrl+X, then Y to confirm in nano), restart your container from the Proxmox web interface or via the command line:
pct reboot 107Step 4: Verify that Tailscale works
Once your container is back online, log in and start Tailscale again:
tailscale upYou should now see Tailscale prompt you with a URL for authentication. Follow the instructions provided to authenticate your device.
To confirm that everything is working correctly, you can check the status of the Tailscale daemon:
systemctl status tailscaledIf it’s active and running, you’re all set!
I hope this helps resolve your issue quickly! If you run into further troubles or have any questions, drop a comment below.
