Turning off Private MAC Address for node

[exjr_]

Hi there!

I'm fairly new to this Proxmox thing and have read this forum, r/Proxmox and the official documentation, but I can't find an answer this (or maybe I missed it).

I have set up a VM and a couple of CTs on my Proxmox node to which I want to set aside IP reservations so their IPs doesn't change.

When I go to manage this in my router's (Eero) management app, the app reports that the guests are "private devices", which makes it hard for it to monitor the 'devices' and set aside an IP for them. This has resulted in the guests having their IP changed multiple times, breaking any automation and integrations I had already set up for them.



For example, I set up an integration for Adguard Home within Home Assistant, which requires me feeding the IP for Adguard to Home Assistant. After a reboot, Home Assistant complained that it can no longer see the Adguard Home instance I set up as its IP changed.


I also checked to see if my host machine has its MAC address but it does not



Is there a way to turn off private addresses for guest objects? If so, is there a way to do it at a node-level to prevent any future guest objects from having its address private?

Thanks in advance for the help!

 

[gurubert]

the app reports that the guests are "private devices"

What does this app understand as "private device"?

 

[exjr_]

What does this app understand as "private device"?

This is what the app says:



The “Learn More” link leads to this support article.

 

[bbgeek17]

The screenshot you presented compares MAC to a phone number. Lets expand that comparison:
To call you on your phone number it has to be unique across all provider networks. This uniqueness is enforced by globally agreed database. You cant just assign a random phone number to your mobile and expect me to be able to call you.
Large (and small) companies run their internal phone networks (pbx) and have ability to give out a non-public numbers (extensions) that are unique internally, but certainly not globally.

Virtualization environment is like that internal PBX, you can create thousands of VMs and each has to have a MAC and IP. A globally unique MAC starts with a manufacture prefix, similar to area code. The same way there are agreed private IP ranges (192.168.0.0) , there are Locally Administered Address ranges (https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-v...UID-F22C1B03-12D6-4A74-A214-98AC84992BBB.html). In fact major virtualization solutions have dedicated ranges assigned to them: https://gist.github.com/ashee/9241ab6281e6f4d1ef9b

When you create a VM or container, a MAC is generated and saved. It doesn't change with each reboot but it is usually within a well-known range. You can control the "prefix" of generated MACs in Proxmox Datacenter options.

So we come back to the question that @gurubert asked - what does the app consider "private device". The answer may not be obvious or even known. But if we presume that they put all LAA ranges into "suspect" list, then there is nothing you can do but force-assign a "fake" "real" MAC. I.e. look at the MAC on your workstation and change last 4 characters to something random.

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