I'm new to unraid so still finding my way around.

 

TL;DR

• Why does unraid create a linux bridge and then build the ipvlan network against that? As opposed to just defining the ipvlan network against the host interface directly (eth0 as an example).
• Why doesn't unraid allow you to select ipvlan as a custom network if bridging has been set to 'No' in the Network Settings?
• Am I correct to state (as below) that no macvtap or ipvlan host interface is created when 'Host access to custom network' is set to 'No' in the Docker Settings.  So docker is just using the linux bridge (br0) interface?

 

I opted put this post in the General section as I didn't think it fit well with the other posts in the Docker section which I quickly skimmed, apologies in advance if this was a mistake.

 

The Long Version

 

I'm successfully up and running with containers using a mix of the docker default bridge for some and ipvlan assigned containers for others.  I purposefully enable Host access in the docker settings as I run pihole as my dns server internally which the other containers need to use.

 

However I noticed the other day that my ESPHome container would lose connectivity with my ESPHome devices (or vice versa) but whilst those same devices are still working in/withHome Assistant.  It got me to jump down a rabbit hole and I'm not sure its been good/worthwhile, hoping the replies to this post will answer this.

 

My ESPHome container was set to use the ipvan network and I think the problem was mDNS not playing well with either the ipvlan network (shim-br0) or the linux bridge the ipvlan network was built against (br0).  Moving the ESPHome container on the host network resolved this issue.

 

However the rabbit hole I'm in was based on the question; Why does unraid create a linux bridge and then build the ipvlan network against that?  As opposed to just defining the ipvlan network against the host interface directly (eth0 as an example).  On the journey I realised that unraid won't allow you to select ipvlan as a custom network type if you have set bridging to 'No' in the Network Settings.  Further more I think I found that unraid doesn't honour the custom network selection (ipvlan or macvlan) if you don't enable 'Host access to custom network'.

 

Anyways I've put my findings below and would appreicate being schooled as needed to correct my understanding.  My scenario:  server with 2 physical interfaces but with only 1 connected (eth0) and 'Enable Bonding' set to 'No' in the Network Settings.  I've therefore ommitted capturing details of the eth0, eth1 and docker0 network interfaces which are present.

 

bump

Thank you! ....
 

Thanks.  So the original issue causing me to jump down the rabbit hole (ESPHome container not being able to resolve client mDNS addresses) looks to be resolved by moving back to a macvlan network for my containers (no linux bridge used).  This is how I used to run my containers on my old Synology.

 

You prompted me to look back at older unraid versions as I'm new to unraid as of 6.12.10 and I saw the threads and changelogs regards the macvlan driver causing system instability.  Looks like the kernel bug report has now found a conclusion with a fix accepted and it looks like their are some changes in-progress to the Docker Settings for the next unraid release too, will keep an eye on this.

 

Provided I'm stable in this configuration I'm happy to live as-is for the now.