Tailscale DNS stops working after network changes (restart tailscaled + resolved)

Fix Tailscale DNS dying after network changes

TL;DR: After wifi reconnects or a link change, the local DNS path can wedge while everything else keeps working. Restart both tailscaled and systemd-resolved and DNS comes back.

The error

tailscaled[94666]: [RATELIMIT] format("dns udp query: %v") (15 dropped)

Symptom level: ping mymachine and dig time out, but tailscale status looks healthy and direct-IP traffic works.

Fix it

1. Confirm it is the DNS path, not the tailnet

nslookup mymachine.mytailnet.ts.net
tailscale status

Expected: status is fine, name lookups time out. That isolates it to local DNS.

2. Restart both services

sudo systemctl restart tailscaled systemd-resolved

Expected: DNS works again within seconds. This is the workaround multiple reporters verified.

3. If it is wifi-only, try resolved alone

sudo systemctl restart systemd-resolved

One reporter on a Raspberry Pi found wifi triggered it while ethernet never did, and restarting just systemd-resolved was enough there.

Expected: lookups succeed without touching Tailscale.

When this applies

• DNS worked, then broke after suspend, wifi roam, or link change
• Only one device affected
• Logs show dns udp query rate-limit messages
• Restarting fixes it temporarily

When it does not apply

• DNS never worked on the device (initial config problem)
• All devices fail (check admin console DNS settings)
• Non-DNS traffic is also broken (network problem, not DNS)

Tool compatibility

Tailscale on Linux with systemd-resolved (Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Raspberry Pi OS). Reported on 1.56 through recent 1.x.

Variant phrasings

MagicDNS stops working after a while

Same bug. The "after a while" is usually "after the first link change".

dns udp query rate-limit spam in logs

The log signature. Same fix.

Why it happens

After a link change, the DNS forwarder and systemd-resolved can disagree about which upstream to use, and queries black-hole. Restarting both re-syncs the resolver chain.

Edge cases

• It recurs: if it happens on every roam, consider pinning the device to ethernet where possible, or scripting the resolved restart on link changes.
• Non-systemd setups: restart whatever provides local DNS (NetworkManager, dnsmasq) alongside tailscaled.
• Heavy wifi use: the Pi reporter feeding ADS-B data hit it most; busy wireless interfaces seem to trigger it more often.

Thread ref gh:tailscale/tailscale#8223 (open). DNS queries on one device stopped working a short time after MagicDNS setup, seemingly tied to link changes; the logs showed rate-limited 'dns udp query' messages. Multiple reporters confirmed the workaround: sudo systemctl restart tailscaled systemd-resolved brings DNS back. One reporter saw it only on wifi (ethernet was fine) on a Raspberry Pi, and restarting systemd-resolved alone fixed it there. Source: https://github.com/tailscale/tailscale/issues/8223