TL;DR:

 

Installing and running Pi-Hole successfully on Unraid was tricky until I realized I needed to give it a static IP. Now, my router reports the Pi-Hole static IP for my Unraid server. Even though everything appears to work as expected, I don't understand how to or can find information that lets me assign a custom MAC address to the Pi-Hole docker. Hence, my router reports IP addresses accurately.

 

Short story shorter. 

 

I'm new to this. I know enough to break things spectacularly, but I also often get things working. This post stems from how my router sees my Unraid server when the Pi-hole has a static IP address.

 

I spun up my first UnRaid server, and the first thing I wanted to do was retire my Raspberry Pi running PiHole. I still have a redundant Zero W Pi-Hole in service. I installed Pi-Hole as my first Docker app, and it warned me it needed an already-used address. After some digging, it sounds like the VM component of Unraid is the culprit. Maybe? I haven't found any confidence-inducing comments or guides online to work around that other than giving the Pi-Hole docker its own static IP. 

 

The static IP seems to keep everything working as expected. However, my router doesn't know what to do with the same MAC address sending out multiple IPs. If the Pi-Hole docker isn't running, I see the server's IP as expected. If the Pi-Hole docker is running, my router reports the Pi-Hole IP. Either way, things still appear to be working as expected. 

 

Since most of what I'm doing is an overengineered solution to a problem that didn't really exist, now, to keep things clean, I'm trying to figure out how to give my docker containers their own MAC address so my router reports the IPs cleanly. And it's either impossible or I haven't found the right guide to help me. 

 

I tried passing custom MAC addresses through the extra parameters section in the Docker settings, but Unraid tells me they don't support custom MAC addresses. I'm at the point where I'm running the risk of breaking things spectacularly because I'm feeling adventurous about playing with settings. 

 

Is there a way to create a proxy network with its own MAC address using the {docker network create <network_name>} command?

 

Is anyone else in the same situation? Have the same problem?

 

Even though things appear to be working as expected, is something broken that I don't know to look for?

 

Is there a way to deploy Unraid docker containers with their own MAC address?

 

Any questions I'm not asking?

 

 

Edited December 29, 20241 yr by MajorKoopa
customer to custom. Wrong word used.

Change your docker settings to macvlan. Settings -> Docker -> Advanced View (top right)

 

then you can give docker container custom macs with "--mac-address 02:42:C0:B8:C5:07" for example in the "Extra Parameters" line within the docker edit page

I'm on it. Thanks for responding so quickly Mainfrezzer.

Do I want to enable host access to custom networks?

 

Both settings have warnings. 

 

What would change by enabling host access to custom networks?

Just now, MajorKoopa said:

Do I want to enable host access to custom networks?

 

It depends, if you want your UnRaid server to use the PiHole then yes. I personally wouldnt recommend it, since it will be a Chicken Egg Problem. Although doable with static DNS Server. First DNS your pihole, second a external one.

Also VPN connections are a bit more "involved" with that setting enabled.

Ok. Thank you. I will keep it off and see what happens. 

As far as I can tell, as my server is still under construction and I'm inexperienced, your suggestion succeeded in reporting a custom MAC address with the Pi-Hole IP without running into or noticing other impacts on my setup. 

 

Thank you! I really appreciate the time you gave me.