Tailscale ACAP for Axis Cameras

Visit the Homepage

This repository provides an ACAP package that installs the Tailscale VPN client on Axis cameras.

• Secure remote access to cameras
• Easy to install via EAP package
• Works on Axis OS 10.12+ (non-root version, verified across 10.12–12.10)
• Works on legacy Axis OS 9.x / 10.x via the ACAP 3 variant
• Based on WireGuard VPN technology

Disclaimer: This is an independent, community-developed ACAP package and is not an official Axis Communications product. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or supported by Axis Communications AB. Use it at your own risk. For official Axis software, visit axis.com

Tailscale Notice: Tailscale is a product of Tailscale Inc. This package independently redistributes the Tailscale binaries under the BSD 3-Clause License and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or supported by Tailscale Inc. For the official Tailscale client, visit tailscale.com.

---

Table of Contents

• Installation
• Usage
• Settings
• Proxy Support
• Accessing Tailnet Services from the Camera
• Updating Tailscale
• Purpose
• Useful Links
• Compatibility
• Roadmap
• Star History
• Support

---

Installation

Get the prebuilt .eap file from the Releases page.

1. Log into your Axis camera.
2. Go to Apps → Add App.
3. Upload the .eap file.

Once installed:

• Start the app.
• Click Open to view logs and get your Tailscale authentication URL.
• On uninstall, all changes/files are removed.

You'll need a Tailscale account to authenticate.

---

Usage

• Runs a C-based parameter bridge (compiled via ACAP SDK 1.15.1) that reads settings from the ACAP parameter store and launches Tailscale.
• View logs and connection status via the Open button in the app.
• Authenticate using the provided URL, or pre-enter an auth key in Settings.
• Change the Custom Server URL in Settings to use a self-hosted Headscale control server.
• Parameter changes (ports, server URL, auth key) are applied automatically without needing to reinstall the app.

---

Settings

All parameters are configurable via the web UI (Open → Settings card) and take effect immediately without reinstalling:

Parameter	Default	Description
Custom Server URL	(empty)	Control server URL for Headscale or other self-hosted servers. Leave blank to use Tailscale's official servers.
Auth Key	(empty)	Pre-authentication key (tskey-auth-...). Cleared automatically after first successful connection. Leave blank to authenticate via browser.
HTTP Proxy Port	8080	Port for the outbound HTTP/HTTPS proxy.
SOCKS5 Proxy Port	1080	Port for the outbound SOCKS5 proxy.
Accept DNS	off	Passes --accept-dns=true to tailscale up. Allows the tailnet to push DNS settings to the camera. Off by default to avoid overriding the camera's DNS configuration. Not available on armv7hf_acap3.
Accept Routes	off	Passes --accept-routes=true to tailscale up. Allows the camera to use subnet routes advertised by other nodes in the tailnet. Not available on armv7hf_acap3.

---

All non-ROOT variants expose two local proxy endpoints that route outbound traffic through the Tailscale tunnel. The ports are configurable via Settings → HTTP Proxy Port / SOCKS5 Proxy Port in the web UI.

HTTP CONNECT Proxy — http://127.0.0.1:8080 (default)

Routes HTTP and HTTPS traffic. Set this wherever an HTTP/HTTPS proxy field is available on the camera:

Location	Field	Value
System → Network → Global proxies	HTTP proxy	http://127.0.0.1:<port>
System → Network → Global proxies	HTTPS proxy	http://127.0.0.1:<port>
System → MQTT → Broker	HTTP proxy	http://127.0.0.1:<port>
System → MQTT → Broker	HTTPS proxy	http://127.0.0.1:<port>

SOCKS5 Proxy — 127.0.0.1:1080 (default)

For ACAP apps or services that support SOCKS5, set their proxy to 127.0.0.1:<port>.

The active proxy addresses are always shown in the Proxy Configuration card of the web UI.

If you change a port that is already in use by another process, the app will log an error and exit rather than silently falling back to a different port.

---

Accessing Tailnet Services from the Camera

There is an important asymmetry to understand. Making the camera reachable from the tailnet (browsing to it, VAPIX, SSH from another tailnet node) works on every build. The harder direction is the camera reaching out to a tailnet peer, for example mounting an SMB/CIFS network share hosted on another node. How well this works depends on which build you use.

Why the build matters

Build	Networking mode	Camera-initiated access to tailnet peers
Non-root (aarch64, armv7hf) and armv7hf_acap3	--tun=userspace-networking (no kernel tailscale0 interface)	Only through the local SOCKS5 / HTTP proxies, and only for proxy-aware apps. Firmware system services (the SMB share client, NTP, etc.) are proxy-unaware, so they cannot reach a peer's 100.x Tailscale IP directly.
ROOT (aarch64_root, armv7hf_root)	Kernel networking with a real tailscale0 interface	Peer 100.x IPs are routable at the OS level, so firmware services can connect directly. Enable Accept Routes to also reach subnets behind other nodes.

In short: on non-root builds the proxies cover apps that know how to use a proxy, but a system feature like "add network share" opens a raw socket that never touches the tunnel. The ROOT build is the clean way to let the camera consume tailnet services.

Plan B: reverse-SSH tunnel

Requires root on the camera. Port 445 is privileged, so binding it needs a root-capable build (e.g. developer certificates installed).

If you cannot use the ROOT build but still need the camera to mount a share on a machine that is on your tailnet, you can make the remote share appear local to the camera with a reverse SSH tunnel. Because the destination becomes 127.0.0.1, the proxy-unaware SMB client never has to route over the tailnet.

From a computer that has both the share and tailnet access to the camera:

# Forward the camera's local port 445 back to the SMB share on this machine
ssh -R 445:localhost:445 root@<camera-tailscale-ip>

Then, in the camera's System → Storage → Add network share dialog, use 127.0.0.1 as the share host and connect.

---

Updating Tailscale

• New .eap files are auto-built and released weekly (if a new Tailscale version is available).
• To update, simply install the new .eap over the existing one.

Manual update (advanced)

Replace the binaries in common/app/lib/ (shared by aarch64, armv7hf, and their ROOT variants) or arm_acap3/app/lib/ (legacy variant, kept separate):

• tailscale
• tailscaled

Download the latest versions: Tailscale static builds

Build locally

The Tailscale binaries are not stored in git, so first download them (see Manual update above) and place them in common/app/lib/ — or arm_acap3/app/lib/ for the legacy variant.

All variants build from the repository root, pointing at the variant's own Dockerfile:

docker build -f aarch64/Dockerfile --tag <package_name> .
docker cp $(docker create <package_name>):/opt/app ./build

(Same for the others — just swap in arm/Dockerfile, aarch64_ROOT/Dockerfile, arm_ROOT/Dockerfile, or arm_acap3/Dockerfile.)

---

Good News

Tailscale ACAP can now run without root privileges, making it compatible with Axis OS 10.12+ — verified working across Axis OS 10.12, 11.11, and 12.10.

• Runs in user space networking mode.

For full kernel networking, use the ROOT version. Note: ROOT mode requires Axis OS 10.12–11.x — Axis OS 12 and later removed root access for third-party applications.

Legacy camera support (Axis OS 9.x / 10.x)

An ACAP 3 variant (armv7hf_acap3) is available for older cameras that do not support ACAP 4 / Axis OS 11+. It uses the same userspace networking mode and web UI, built against the ACAP SDK 3.5 toolchain.

---

Purpose

Adding a VPN client directly to the camera enables:

• Secure remote access without additional hardware or complex network configuration.
• Easy setup through Tailscale’s lightweight WireGuard-based tunnel.

Learn more: How Tailscale Works

---

Useful Links

• Tailscale
• Tailscale GitHub
• WireGuard
• Axis Communications

---

Compatibility

The Tailscale ACAP is compatible with Axis cameras with ARM and AARCH64-based SoCs.

Variant	Architecture	Axis OS	Notes
aarch64	AArch64	10.12 – 13 (ACAP 4)	Standard, userspace networking, configurable proxy ports
armv7hf	ARMv7	10.12 – 13 (ACAP 4)	Standard, userspace networking, configurable proxy ports
aarch64_root	AArch64	10.12 – 11.x (ACAP 4)	Full kernel networking (root) — not supported on OS 12+
armv7hf_root	ARMv7	10.12 – 11.x (ACAP 4)	Full kernel networking (root) — not supported on OS 12+
armv7hf_acap3	ARMv7	9.x – 10.x	Legacy cameras, ACAP SDK 3

Not sure which variant to use? Check System → Properties → Firmware version on your camera. Axis OS 12+ → use the standard variant (aarch64 or armv7hf). Axis OS 10.12–11.x → standard variant works too, or ROOT if you need kernel networking. Axis OS 9.x → use armv7hf_acap3.

The standard variant's floor was verified by live-testing the same build on Axis OS 10.12.300, 11.11.212, and 12.10.68 — it is not limited to 11.11+ as earlier releases implied. The ROOT variant was also verified on Axis OS 10.12.300 with genuine kernel networking confirmed over SSH (processes running as root, a real tailscale0 kernel interface present, and ip_forward correctly toggling on when subnet routes are advertised) — Axis OS 10.x ran third-party apps as root by default, before the privilege sandboxing introduced later, so ROOT was never actually limited to 11.11+.

You can verify your device details using the following command:

curl --anyauth "*" -u <username>:<password> <device_ip>/axis-cgi/basicdeviceinfo.cgi --data '{"apiVersion":"1.0","context":"Client defined request ID","method":"getAllProperties"}'

Replace <device_ip>, <username>, and <password> with your device credentials.
Enclose your password in quotes ' ' if it contains special characters.

---

Roadmap

AXIS OS 13 Preparation

AXIS OS 13 (scheduled for September 2026) introduces several breaking changes that affect all ACAP applications. The following items are required to maintain compatibility. See the full AXIS OS 13 breaking changes announcement for details.

• Recompile for 64-bit time (Y2038) - AXIS OS 13 switches to a 64-bit time interface. All ACAP apps must be recompiled against the updated SDK. Cameras with incompatible apps installed will roll back the OS upgrade rather than proceed. Done for the standard aarch64/armv7hf builds (now built against ACAP Native SDK 12.10.0); the ROOT variants intentionally stay on the older SDK since Axis OS 12+ never supports root third-party apps, so they can never reach OS 13 regardless.
• Migrate to Manifest Schema v2 - The manifest.json must use Manifest Schema v2, including an explicit declaration of compatible AXIS OS versions, to satisfy the new signing and compatibility requirements. Done for aarch64/armv7hf (schema 2.0.0, compatibleOsVersions declared); verified this does not break installability on older firmware (OS 10.12–12.10 all tested and working) before promoting it as the standard build.
• Audit for executable stack usage - Any ACAP compiled with an executable stack must be recompiled to comply with the new security restrictions in AXIS OS 13. Checked all compiled binaries (param_bridge for aarch64/armv7hf, both standard and ROOT, plus the bundled tailscale/tailscaled Go binaries) via objdump's GNU_STACK program header — all report flags rw- (no executable stack) on every architecture and variant.
• Verify web UI works over HTTPS - AXIS OS 13 enforces HTTPS-only connections by default. The bundled web UI must be tested to confirm it functions correctly under this constraint. Verified live: the page and every endpoint it calls (param.cgi GET/update, the reverseProxy settings API GET/POST, applications/list.cgi, systemlog.cgi, the restart trigger) all work correctly over HTTPS. The UI only ever issues relative-path requests (no hardcoded http:// fetch targets), so it inherits the page's own protocol with no mixed-content risk.
• Sign the ACAP via the Axis ACAP Portal - AXIS OS 13 removes the ability to install unsigned applications in production environments. The app must be submitted and signed through the official Axis ACAP Portal to remain installable. Deferred for now — the manifest's vendorId is a placeholder value, not yet a portal-registered one.

General Improvements

• Accept DNS from tailnet toggle - Add an opt-in setting to the settings page that passes --accept-dns=true to tailscale up. Defaults to off to prevent Tailscale from overriding resolv.conf on cameras that don't need MagicDNS.
• Accept routes toggle - Add an opt-in setting that passes --accept-routes=true to tailscale up, allowing the camera to use subnet routes advertised by other nodes in the tailnet.
• Switch to tiny-tailscale binaries - Evaluate replacing the bundled tailscale and tailscaled binaries with tiny-tailscale builds. These combine both into a single binary, strip unused features, and are significantly smaller (~43% reduction), reducing install size and memory footprint across all architectures.

---

Star History

---

Support

If you like this project and want to support my work:
Sponsor Me