Tailscale Setup

A focused, no-nonsense reference for the Tailscale tasks Kantivo users actually do. Bookmark this page — the URLs below are the ones you'll come back to.

What Tailscale Is (and Why Kantivo Uses It)

Tailscale is a zero-configuration VPN — a private network that connects only the computers you choose, with end-to-end encryption. It's free for personal use and small teams.

Kantivo uses it as the connection layer for Remote Client Access: accountants connecting to client books, or your own laptop connecting to a database hosted on another machine. Nothing is routed through a public server — traffic flows directly between the two devices over Tailscale's private mesh.

Install & Sign In

1. Download from tailscale.com/download (Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, Linux all supported).
2. Run the installer. On Windows, Tailscale lives in the system tray (lower-right of the taskbar).
3. Sign in with Google, Microsoft, GitHub, or email. Use the same email address you'll want collaborators to share with.
4. You're on your tailnet. The machine appears at login.tailscale.com/admin/machines within a few seconds.

Share a Computer With Someone Else

This is what a client does to give their accountant access to their books. The recipient doesn't need to be on your tailnet — they just need a free Tailscale account.

1. Open login.tailscale.com/admin/machines.
2. Find the computer you want to share (for example, your hostdb or kantivo-pc machine) in the list.
3. Click the ... menu at the right end of that row.
4. Select Share...
5. Type the recipient's email and press Share. Tailscale sends them an acceptance link.
6. Once they accept, a small "1 share" badge appears on the machine's row. That's your confirmation the share is live.

Invite a Teammate to Your Tailnet

Different from sharing a single computer: this adds someone to your tailnet permanently, so they can install Tailscale on their own machines under your account and have all of them appear on your machines list.

1. Go to login.tailscale.com/admin/users.
2. Click Invite users in the top right corner.
3. Enter the email address (or multiple, comma-separated).
4. Pick a role — Member is the default. Pick Admin only for people who should be able to manage settings.
5. Press Send invite. They get an email with a join link.
6. Once they install Tailscale and accept the invite, their devices show up on your machines page alongside yours.

Accept a Computer Someone Shared With You

This is what an accountant does when a client shares their books.

1. You'll receive an email from Tailscale with the subject line "Accept the shared device (name)".
2. Click the acceptance link in the email — that's the fastest path.
3. Or open login.tailscale.com/admin/machines, switch to the Shared with me tab at the top, and click Accept on the device.
4. Once accepted, the device appears in your machines list with a small shared-icon next to its name. You can reach it by its Tailscale name or IP address from any computer on your own tailnet.

Troubleshooting

The Tailscale tray icon does nothing when I click it (Windows)

This happens occasionally on Windows when the background process gets stuck. Quickest fix:

1. Press Ctrl+Shift+Esc to open Task Manager.
2. Look under the Details tab for anything starting with tailscale (typically tailscale-ipn.exe and tailscaled.exe).
3. Right-click each and pick End task.
4. Launch Tailscale again from the Start menu. The tray icon should respond normally.

If the tray icon stays unresponsive after a restart, you can ignore it entirely — everything you need is in the web admin console at login.tailscale.com/admin/machines.

I can see my machine listed but can't reach it from another computer

• Confirm both machines show the green dot on the admin page (means they're online right now).
• If one machine has been off for a while, give Tailscale 30 seconds after waking to reconnect.
• Try using the machine's Tailscale IP (shown on the admin page) instead of its name, in case DNS lookup is lagging.
• Check that no third-party firewall is blocking the Tailscale process.

I shared a computer but the recipient says they didn't get an email

• The Tailscale share email comes from support@tailscale.com. Have them check Promotions or Spam.
• If still nothing, re-share: on your machines page, click the ... → Edit sharing... → remove the share → re-add. A fresh email goes out.

I forgot which email I signed up with

Open login.tailscale.com and pick any sign-in method. If the account exists, you'll be logged in. If not, Tailscale tells you no account is associated — try a different sign-in method.