Tailscale: Jellyfin Secure, Remote Access With No Reverse Proxy, No ...

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Tailscale: Jellyfin secure, remote access with no reverse proxy, no router settings & no port hassles.

3/14/2022

27 Comments

Background and Goal

Jellyfin is an amazing media server software app. In my experience, the single biggest barrier to entry for new users (especially people like me with pretty limited technical experience) is that - by default - Jellyfin runs without encryption and is unreachable from outside your local network.Of course, there are many ways to secure Jellyfin, and guides on opening ports, handling dynamic IP addresses, and acquiring security certificates. But all of these require multiple steps, multiple apps, and a networking learning curve that can be off-putting to new users. My GOAL was to find a "one and done" solution to replace:

DDNS
Reverse proxy
Port forwarding and router tweaking
Server security

With some important limitations, Tailscale appears to be a great option.

What is Tailscale and What Does it Do?

Tailscale describes itself as a "Zero config VPN. Installs on any device in minutes, manages firewall rules for you, and works from anywhere." In practice what this means is that Tailscale creates a private network through which two or more devices can connect and interact privately. Tailscale works seamlessly with a dynamic IP without the need for a DDNS solution, and does not require port forwarding or opening to function. Best of all, Tailscale is free for up to 20 devices.

How it Works

Install the Tailscale app on the computer running your server and on any device you wish to use as a client. (as far as I can tell, Tailscale is available for Windows, MacOS, iOS, Linux, and Android - there are some reddit posts walking you through how to get it working on the NVIDIA Shield as well). Once you have installed Tailscale on a device and signed in, that device will be assigned an internal network IP address by Tailscale. This IP address is not accessible to anyone outside your private Tailscale network (ie anyone who is not signed in to your personal Tailscale account). All devices signed into your Tailscale account, will now function as if they are all on the same local network.Once you're installed on various computers, your Tailscale admin dashboard will look something like this:

As you can see, I've registered 4 devices on my private Tailscale network and each of them has been assigned a private, internal IP address (100,x,x,x).If I wanted to access my Jellyfin server from any Tailscale connected device, I would simply open a browser window and enter 100.124.6.128:8096. Because this is a private, secure network - I don't need a reverse proxy or SSL and it doesn't matter where in the world the computers are as long as they are all connected to the same Tailscale account and logged in.The same goes for Jellyfin clients. If I connect my iPhone to Tailscale and open the Jellyfin client, I can add my server by entering http://100.124.6.128:8096. As far as my phone is concerned, my iOS client and server are on the same network.

Limitations

The biggest limitation is that you have to have Tailscale installed and be signed in on your server at all times, and you must have Tailscale installed and be logged in for any client to work. On the upside you can leave Tailscale running full time and it will not interfere with browsing or internet activities. Thought Tailscale is, technically, a VPN - it does not change your computer IP or otherwise function as a VPN unless you access one of the other computers on your Tailscale network directly.Give it a try and let me know what you think! 27 Comments Lhynzie link 6/6/2022 06:38:21 am

Excellent content! It looks like you've put a lot of work into this. Quite clear and concise. Thanks for sharing some valuable post. Great job!

Reply Lexynne link 6/10/2022 08:22:28 am

Excellent and decent post. Quite knowledgeable and informative. Thank you for sharing your knowledge. Keep it up.

Reply Rene 3/26/2023 10:27:39 pm

C'est trop compliqué. Investissez dans Plex !

Reply Exelpat 6/24/2025 08:30:19 am

et non c'est pas compliqué, en tout cas pas depuis que plex en avril 2025 est devenu payant pour consulter les vidéos de son propre serveur en dehors de son réseau...! je migre tout sur Jellyfin

Reply Ben 4/20/2023 03:59:38 pm

Thanks for the awesome post. Perfect for a noob like me! I've got access outside my home network now! Very quick setup.

Reply RAFO 4/28/2023 02:27:30 am

Worked flawlessly. Thank you!

Reply Dan Baker 5/27/2023 04:16:55 am

Impressive and a long time Plex User who is fed up with the flakey remote access.

Reply Ricardo Andrade 6/1/2023 02:47:47 pm

man, i just dont know how to thank you this is so useful!! Hope sincerely you have a good life

Reply Karan Sharma 8/20/2023 08:52:40 am

This is what a guide should look like. Crisp - Concise and on point. And best part, it works!

Reply JB 11/20/2023 07:25:05 am

Seriously? It's really that simple? It was literally as easy as a few clicks.

Reply Peach 2/2/2024 01:54:31 pm

this only work on computer?

Reply vps link 4/30/2024 10:13:05 pm

Wonderful article, their quite a neat web site that you've below, carry on the excellent operate, are going to be rear.

Reply GT 5/26/2024 08:02:09 pm

It just works! Thank you for this.

Reply asd link 5/30/2024 07:10:50 pm

gracias my boyyyyy 😁

Reply Sleepy link 7/17/2024 03:08:06 am

Works very well customers love it, good connections all the time. Thanks to Jellyfin for their server solution.

Reply Corey McMillan 9/28/2024 04:33:24 am

man, this is much appreciated. it was super easy to install and i cant wait to tell some of my friends about it.

Reply Daniel Østermark 10/15/2024 01:18:22 pm

I can't get this to work.. When I put in my PC's ip in my browser on the android phone.. It just says The site can't be reached, same if I use the pc's new Tailscale ips adress for the server adress I cant log in. And when I check tailscale on the pc, it can see both pc and phone

Reply Damien S 11/2/2024 12:29:29 am

Seem to be having the same problem as Daniel. I can see all devices connected via tailscale but when I connect them to the jellyfin server they won't connect. Really frustrating

Reply Supernerdgirl 11/17/2024 06:20:21 am

Thank you so much! This post was incredibly helpful. The first guide I have ever followed for anything Jellyfin that just worked, the way it says, the first time. Got this up and running before I finished my coffee. THANKYOU!

Reply Junanor 3/7/2025 06:09:22 am

Restarting the server throught dashboard tab on server side fixed that problem for me.

Reply BigTA78 4/29/2025 07:36:19 am

I can't get this working. Admin console has both my phone and server connected, but when i enter my 100.x.x.x. IP into JellyFin on my phone, I get an "Unable to read server" error. I have restarted TailScale on both my phone and server.

Reply old 5/1/2025 01:14:48 am

Maybe type in address correctly with http:/100.x.x.x/8096?

Reply J R 7/6/2025 10:28:03 am

I am following the instructions but having the same issue. Tailscale Admin Console shows both my server PC and laptop as connected. Within Chrome browser on my laptop I input the IP of the server PC (https://100.x.x.x:8096) and I get the error "This site can’t be reached. https’s server IP address could not be found."

E Bo 12/2/2025 01:32:05 pm

I'm also getting the 'Connection failed' error. I see the devices on the admin panel. I've tried https://100.x.x.x:8096, http://100.x.x.x:8096, 100.x.x.x:8096 Anyone have luck resolving this?

Jayde link 5/1/2025 07:31:53 pm

Does anyone know if this will break remote desktop programs such as Parsec? I like the idea of being able to leave Tailscale running 24/7, but if it means I have to choose between having Jellyfin access OR remote desktop access, that would be pretty big dealbreaker...

Reply J R 7/12/2025 08:14:35 am

Sorted it. What the instructions don't clearly state is on that within Jellyfin (on either the server machine or any client) you need to click on the 3 horizontal lines > Dashboard > General > within Settings change the Server Name to the IP address provided by Tailscale for the server, i.e.100.x.x.x

Reply io 10/1/2025 02:30:22 pm

this is amazing, thanks so much! it all worked except for one thing... connecting to my media server on a laptop via Tailscale works if I go in through an internet browser, but not if I use the Jellyfin client. in the latter case, I can browse around the Jellyfin interface, but when I try to hit 'play' on any piece of media, nothing happens. does anyone have any ideas as to why this might be happening?

Tailscale: Jellyfin Secure, Remote Access With No Reverse Proxy, No ...