diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index cdb3b0a..456abed 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -26,9 +26,13 @@ BRANCH    = $(shell git branch --show-current)
 COMMIT    = $(shell git rev-parse --short=8 HEAD)
 BUILD     = $(shell date +%Y.%m.%d.%H%M%S) 
 VERSION  := $(if $(filter $(BRANCH), development),$(version)-$(BRANCH)-$(COMMIT)-$(BUILD),$(version))
+ONMAIN   := $(if $(filter $(BRANCH), main),"main","")
 HAVE_POD := $(shell pod2text -h 2>/dev/null)
 HAVE_LINT:= $(shell golangci-lint -h 2>/dev/null)
 DAEMON   := ephemerupd
+CLIENT   := upctl
+DATE      = $(shell date +%Y-%m-%d)
+
 
 all: cmd/formtemplate.go lint buildlocal buildlocalctl
 
@@ -47,8 +51,14 @@ buildimage: clean
 	docker-compose --verbose build
 
 release:
-	./mkrel.sh $(DAEMON) $(version)
+ifdef BR_MAIN
+	git tag -a $(version) -m "$(version) released on $(DATE)"
+	git push origin --tags
+	./mkrel.sh $(DAEMON) $(CLIENT) $(version)
 	gh release create $(version) --generate-notes releases/*
+else
+	@echo "Cannot create release on branch $(BRANCH), checkout main and retry!"
+endif
 
 install: buildlocal
 	install -d -o $(UID) -g $(GID) $(PREFIX)/bin
diff --git a/mkrel.sh b/mkrel.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..158e2ba
--- /dev/null
+++ b/mkrel.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,81 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+# Copyright © 2023 Thomas von Dein
+
+# This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+# the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+# (at your option) any later version.
+
+# This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+# GNU General Public License for more details.
+
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+# along with this program. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+
+# get list with: go tool dist list
+DIST="darwin/amd64
+freebsd/amd64
+linux/amd64
+windows/amd64"
+
+daemon="$1"
+client="$2"
+version="$3"
+
+if test -z "$version"; then
+  echo "Usage: $0 <daemon name> <client name> <release version>"
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+rm -rf releases
+mkdir -p releases
+
+
+for D in $DIST; do
+    os=${D/\/*/}
+    arch=${D/*\//}
+    binfile="releases/${daemon}-${os}-${arch}-${version}"
+    clientfile="releases/${client}-${os}-${arch}-${version}"
+    tardir="${daemon}-${os}-${arch}-${version}"
+    tarfile="releases/${daemon}-${os}-${arch}-${version}.tar.gz"
+    set -x
+
+    GOOS=${os} GOARCH=${arch} go build -o ${binfile} -ldflags "-X 'github.com/tlinden/ephemerup/cfg.VERSION=${version}'"
+    cd $client
+    GOOS=${os} GOARCH=${arch} go build -o ../${clientfile} -ldflags "-X 'github.com/tlinden/ephemerup/upctl/cfg.VERSION=${version}'"
+    cd -
+    
+    mkdir -p ${tardir}
+    cp ${binfile} ${clientfile} README.md LICENSE ${tardir}/
+    
+    echo 'daemon = ephemerupd
+client = upctl
+PREFIX = /usr/local
+UID    = root
+GID    = 0
+
+install-client:
+	install -d -o $(UID) -g $(GID) $(PREFIX)/bin
+	install -d -o $(UID) -g $(GID) $(PREFIX)/man/man1
+	install -o $(UID) -g $(GID) -m 555 $(client)  $(PREFIX)/bin/
+	install -o $(UID) -g $(GID) -m 444 $(client).1 $(PREFIX)/man/man1/
+    
+install: install-client
+	install -d -o $(UID) -g $(GID) $(PREFIX)/sbin
+	install -o $(UID) -g $(GID) -m 555 $(daemon)  $(PREFIX)/sbin/
+	install -o $(UID) -g $(GID) -m 444 $(daemon).1 $(PREFIX)/man/man1/' > ${tardir}/Makefile
+
+    tar cpzf ${tarfile} ${tardir}
+
+    for file in ${binfile} ${tarfile} ${clientfile}; do
+        sha256sum ${file} | cut -d' ' -f1 > ${file}.sha256
+    done
+
+    rm -rf ${tardir}
+    set +x
+done
+