# [2026-08-24] ESH DNS fixed at the IPv6 layer, and the naming scheme went live

Reported as "`scriberr.ana.internal` doesn't resolve on my Mac, and nslookup
shows an IPv6 DNS server." Operator's diagnosis was right; the fix took three
wrong turns worth recording.

## Root cause

`esh-userland` has IPv6 PD with RA at `pref high`, and the UDM advertises
**itself** as the resolver via RDNSS. macOS honours RDNSS and prefers it over
the DHCPv4-supplied resolver, so queries went to the UDM — which does not know
`.internal` — and returned NXDOMAIN. AdGuard was never consulted.

Two adjacent gaps found while there: `esh-userland`'s **secondary** v4 resolver
was `10.0.10.1` (the UDM itself), and `esh-server` had **DNS handout disabled
entirely**, so every host there got the UDM and could never resolve `.internal`
— esh-docker-vm was living proof.

## The three wrong turns

1. **`dhcpdv6_dns_auto=false` alone does nothing.** It is only honoured **when an
   explicit server is supplied**. Setting it bare looks like a no-op and invites
   the conclusion that the field is inert — which I drew, wrongly. Despite the
   `dhcpdv6_` prefix it *does* drive the RA's RDNSS option on a SLAAC network.
2. **`wan_dns1` is NOT used by the UDM's LAN-facing forwarder.** Setting it to
   AdGuard persists, reads back, and changes nothing. Proven with **fresh
   uncached ad domains** — AdGuard blocklists answer `0.0.0.0`, the UDM returned
   real IPs. Reverted.
3. **`force-provision` returns `rc:ok` and proves nothing** — consistent with the
   known `cmd/devmgr` behaviour.

Every failed attempt returned `rc: ok`. **Verify by observed effect.** RAs were
probed with a stdlib raw-socket Router Solicitation parsing option type 25
(`rdisc6`/`tcpdump` were both absent; nothing was installed).

## What landed

RDNSS **redirected** rather than disabled — better than switching it off:

| VLAN | v4 | v6 RDNSS |
|---|---|---|
| `esh-userland` | 10.0.50.45 + 10.100.50.40 | `…:4411:b105:50:45` |
| `esh-server` | 10.0.50.45 + 10.100.50.40 | `…:4411:b105:50:45` |

The v4 secondary moved from the UDM to the **NH3 AdGuard** — reachable over
Site Magic and authoritative for the zone. ⚠ **A secondary only fails over on
SILENCE, not on wrong answers**: NXDOMAIN is a *successful* answer, the client
accepts it and never retries. A secondary that doesn't know your private zone is
a coin flip, not a spare tyre. `esh-cameras` deliberately untouched — routing
camera DNS through AdGuard's filtering risks their cloud features.

## The naming scheme became real

The resolver address is the scheme's first live use, replacing a MAC-derived
SLAAC address that would break on a NIC change. All three `esh-server` Linux
hosts now carry `4411:B105` ("FOR ALL BIOS"):

```
esh-docker-vm  …:4411:b105:50:45     esh-pve-nas  …:4411:b105:50:55
esh-vm-db      …:4411:b105:50:60
```

Applied by an `if-up.d` hook that **derives the prefix at runtime** (self-heals
on re-delegation), backgrounds itself with a retry (SLAAC may not have landed;
a blocking hook would stall bring-up on a headless box), and adds nothing to
existing config. **Not** an `iface … inet6 static` stanza — on Debian that sets
`accept_ra=0` and would strand the host.

⚠ **Proxmox bridges need `accept_ra=2`.** `esh-pve-nas` had link-local only
despite every sysctl looking right: `vmbr0.forwarding=1`, and the kernel ignores
RAs on a forwarding interface unless `accept_ra` is explicitly `2`. Fixed with
`accept_ra_defrtr=0` alongside, so it takes the prefix but **declines the default
route** — an IPv6 identity with no change to a hypervisor's routing. Expect this
on every Proxmox node when its LAN gets v6.

Canonical: `docs/pfi/ipv6-naming-scheme.md`. UniFi limits:
auto-memory `reference_unifi_dns_rdnss_limits`.
