Jason Cameron

Untitled

5 min read

I love self-hosting apps, but managing servers across different networks was a nightmare until I discovered the Tailscale + Coolify combo. This guide focuses specifically on how to add multiple servers to your Coolify ecosystem using Tailscale - a game-changer if you’re running a home lab, Raspberry Pi cluster, or mixing local and cloud servers.

Why Tailscale Changes Everything

No More Network Headaches

Before Tailscale, adding a new server to my Coolify setup meant:

  • Setting up port forwarding
  • Managing dynamic DNS
  • Configuring reverse proxies
  • Worrying about exposing services to the internet

With Tailscale, all my devices exist on the same secure network mesh regardless of their physical location. My Raspberry Pi at home, VPS in the cloud, and old desktop in my garage all communicate seamlessly as if they were on the same LAN.

Getting Started with Tailscale

Creating Your Private Mesh Network

First, you need to get Tailscale running on all devices you want to connect:

  1. Sign up for a Tailscale account at tailscale.com

  2. Install Tailscale on each server you want to add to Coolify:

    # On Linux/Raspberry Pi:
curl -fsSL https://tailscale.com/install.sh | sh
 
# On macOS:
brew install tailscale

  3. Connect each server to your Tailscale network:

    sudo tailscale up

    Follow the authentication link in each case.

  4. Verify connections with:

    tailscale status

    You should see all your devices listed. Note the Tailscale IPs - you’ll need these!

When I ran this on my home lab, I was impressed to see my Raspberry Pi (100.100.100.101), old desktop (100.100.100.102), and cloud VPS (100.100.100.103) all instantly able to communicate.

Preparing Servers for Coolify

Quick Setup on Each Node

Before adding servers to Coolify, make sure they meet the requirements:

  1. Install Docker on each server:

    curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com -o get-docker.sh
sudo sh get-docker.sh
sudo usermod -aG docker $USER
newgrp docker

  2. For Raspberry Pi or low-memory devices, add swap:

    sudo fallocate -l 2G /swapfile
sudo chmod 600 /swapfile
sudo mkswap /swapfile
sudo swapon /swapfile
echo '/swapfile none swap sw 0 0' | sudo tee -a /etc/fstab

  3. Open SSH access (if not already enabled):

    sudo systemctl enable ssh
sudo systemctl start ssh

My Raspberry Pi 4 was struggling until I added that swap file - now it handles multiple Coolify services without breaking a sweat!

Adding Remote Servers to Coolify

The Magic of Tailscale Integration

Now for the main event - adding your servers to Coolify using Tailscale:

  1. Install Coolify on your main server if you haven’t already:

    curl -fsSL https://coolify.io/install.sh | bash

  2. Access Coolify dashboard using that server’s Tailscale IP:

    http://100.100.100.101:3000

  3. Add your additional servers:

    • Navigate to “Resources” → “New Resource” → “Server”
    • Use the Tailscale IP of the server you want to add
    • Connection details:
      • IP: Your server’s Tailscale IP (e.g., 100.100.100.102)
      • Username: Your SSH username
      • Authentication: Password or SSH key (I recommend SSH key)
      • SSH Port: Usually 22 (default)
    • Click “Save & Connect”

  4. Verify connection:

    • You should see a green “Connected” status
    • Coolify will show server specs (CPU, RAM, disk)

I was amazed at how smoothly this worked. My Raspberry Pi in the living room connected to my Coolify dashboard running on a VPS, all through Tailscale’s encrypted network - no port forwarding or public IP needed!

Managing Multi-Server Deployments

Putting Your Server Network to Work

Now you can deploy applications across multiple servers:

  1. Create a new resource (application, database, etc.)

  2. Select the destination server from your available servers:

    • During configuration, you’ll see a “Server” dropdown
    • Choose which Tailscale-connected server should host this service

  3. Deploy across server boundaries:

    • Run databases on high-RAM servers
    • Host static sites on your Raspberry Pi
    • Put CPU-intensive apps on your powerful desktop

I run lightweight services like my personal dashboard on my Raspberry Pi, while database servers and heavier applications run on my repurposed desktop PC. All managed from one Coolify interface!

Advanced Tailscale Features

Going Beyond Basic Connectivity

Tailscale offers additional features that enhance your multi-server Coolify setup:

  1. Use ACLs to restrict access between servers:

    • In the Tailscale admin console, set which devices can access others
    • Great for creating dev/prod separation

  2. Enable MagicDNS:

    • Access servers by hostname instead of IP
    • In Coolify, use raspberry-pi:22 instead of 100.100.100.101:22

  3. Configure subnet routing:

    • Share entire network segments through Tailscale
    • Useful if you have IoT devices or other servers you want to reach

  4. Tailscale Funnel (if needed):

    • Selectively expose services to the internet
    • Useful for public-facing apps

I’m using MagicDNS now, which means I don’t have to remember Tailscale IPs anymore - I just connect to my servers by name!

Troubleshooting Common Issues

Real Solutions I’ve Used

When things go wrong with your Tailscale-connected servers:

  1. Server shows offline in Coolify:

    # Check Tailscale status on the problem server
sudo tailscale status
 
# Restart Tailscale if needed
sudo systemctl restart tailscaled
sudo tailscale up

  2. Connection refused errors:

    • Verify SSH is running: sudo systemctl status sshd
    • Check firewall rules: sudo ufw status
    • Docker running? sudo systemctl status docker

  3. Performance issues across servers:

    • Tailscale routes through the most efficient path, but check with:
    tailscale ping server-name
    • High latency might indicate networking issues

  4. “Cannot connect to the Docker daemon”:

    # Make sure your user is in the docker group
sudo usermod -aG docker $USER
newgrp docker

After adding my old laptop as a Coolify node, I kept getting connection timeouts. Turns out its power settings were putting the network to sleep! Disabling power management fixed it instantly.

Slug: add-servers-coolify-tailscale-raspberry-pi-selfhosted

Meta Description: Learn how to expand your self-hosted infrastructure by adding multiple servers to Coolify through Tailscale. This guide shows you how to connect Raspberry Pi devices, home servers, and cloud VPS instances into one seamless private network for deploying applications.

Graph View