---
title: "Use NVIDIA Sync to Connect Remotely to Your AI Compute — Enable Tailscale"
canonical: "https://build.nvidia.com/playbooks/connect-to-your-spark/tailscale.md"
---

# Step 1. Decide whether you need Tailscale

Tailscale is a free service that creates secure tunnels between devices on different networks.
It lets you connect devices that aren't exposed to the internet, for example a DGX Spark on your home network, to
other devices that are on a different network, for example your laptop when you are working from a coffee shop.

NVIDIA Sync has a Tailscale integration that uses those tunnels to reach your device when a direct local connection is unavailable.
You do not need a separate Tailscale app on your laptop.

# Step 2. Create a Tailscale account

Tailscale requires you to sign up through a third party auth provider like Google or GitHub.

[Go here](https://login.tailscale.com/start) to create a free Tailscale account.

# Step 3. Enable Tailscale in NVIDIA Sync

1. Open NVIDIA Sync **Settings** and select **Tailscale**.
2. Select **Enable Tailscale**. It can take a while for Tailscale to pick up the request.
3. In the browser window, sign in to Tailscale and select **Connect**.
4. Wait for **Login Successful**, then return to NVIDIA Sync.

# Step 4. Add your device to Tailscale

1. In NVIDIA Sync **Settings → Tailscale**, select **Add a Device**.
2. Select the device you already added to NVIDIA Sync.
3. Use the link in the dialog to create a Tailscale authentication key with the default settings.
4. Paste the key into NVIDIA Sync and select **Add Device**.
5. A terminal opens on the device. Follow its prompts to install and authenticate Tailscale on the device.

**Success:** The device appears in the Tailscale device list in NVIDIA Sync.

# Step 5. Connect when you are away

1. When your laptop is away from the local network, connect to the device in NVIDIA Sync as usual.
2. Check the connection indicator. NVIDIA Sync selects Tailscale automatically when a direct connection is unavailable.

For more help, see [Tailscale Connections in the NVIDIA Sync User Guide](https://docs.nvidia.com/sync/latest/tailscale.html#nvidia-sync-tailscale).