Optical Drive Passthrough -- scsi_hostX changes every time server reboots

Hi,

Been an Unraid user for a while now. Generally had no problems with it.

I recently built a new server and migrated over to it.  Never server has an optical drive, which I'd like to passthrough to a Windows 11 VM.

Using other posts on this forum, I managed to get the XML required to add to the VM's XML and successfully passthough the optical drive to the VM.  Everything works as expected: I can read optical discs, etc. ... until I reboot the server.

I'm using code like this:

    <hostdev mode='subsystem' type='scsi' managed='no'>
      <source>
        <adapter name='scsi_hostX'/>
        <address bus='0' target='0' unit='0'/>
      </source>
      <readonly/>
      <alias name='hostdev0'/>
      <address type='drive' controller='1' bus='0' target='0' unit='0'/>
    </hostdev>

My problem is that after a server reboot, my VM (which is set to auto-start) refuses to start.

When I enter GUI mode and try to start the VM, I see error messages indicating that they can't find device on scsi_hostX.

It seems that the X.0.0.0 number of my optical drive changes every server reboot, so I have to manually check for the correct number, and edit the XML accordingly.  Then the VM starts.

Of course, since I want this VM to auto-start after a server reboot (it's my daily driver VM), this is annoyingly inconvenient having to manually edit things.

Is there a way to make the number "stick"?  Or maybe an alternative way to specify a drive for passthough --> maybe something with /dev/disk/by-id like passing through a hard drive?

If there's a need for full XML, etc.  Let me know and I'll be happy to provide.

Thanks in advance for your time and help!

~Jondar