Sequoia Local Network Access Issue with the http request node

General
,
1

I recently updated 2 mac minis to Sequoia and after doing so, none of my http request nodes would work. They all had EHOSTUNREACH errors. After updating node and node-RED to the latest versions, one of the 2 minis still has no issue. The other (which uses those nodes less frequently) appeared to be fixed at first, but I just opened it up today and it's not working again.

I found this post in the FAQ:

I tried it, but the last open /Applications/Node-RED.app command briefly popped up a generic icon in the dock, but it quickly closed and there was no pop-up to allow it. I checked the Privacy & Security settings and there was no blocked app there to allow.

I tried sudo spctl --master-disable and selecting to allow from Anywhere, tried opening the "app" again, but the same thing happened.

Does anyone know if there are other necessary (perhaps edge-case) steps to get this to work?

2

This is not an app that is distributed by the Node RED Project, so how (or what) did you install exactly?

Node RED is distributed via NPM, so is a Node JS app, (not a native Mac App)

Note : I have a standard Node Red install with Sequoia - zero issues, hence what did you install previously?

3

Open Settings, go to Privacy and Security, then Local Network and finally check if Node-RED is checked. Not tested (not yet upgraded to Sequoia)

Woops... no idea then

4

This is not a standard Node RED install, so Im betting its not been maintained for Sequoia maybe?

Just a guess

5

same all works with npm for me on Tahoe, and you can always use podman and docker node-red container

1 Like
6

And I should note; I am now running Tahoe. -again with no issues

@hepcat72
The location you posted is not anything we are aware of - Node RED is not a native app - so not sure what you have

1 Like
7

OK everyone, please note that that "app" is created in a step in the FAQ post I linked to:

Please take a look at that post for the missing context.

8

OK, that was the missing link.

Ensure the executable node and the app is allowed to access the local network. - like @GogoVega posted.

Screenshot 2025-10-04 at 18.01.00
Screenshot 2025-10-04 at 18.01.00827×1019 220 KB

Im on the latest Tahoe - but should be the same (Note; I don't have any issues), but use Node RED in a more standard way

9

Alright. I seem to have solved my problem without use of that procedure in the FAQ that I linked to (which creates that "app"). I had seen advice elsewhere that one solution for the network access issue is to simply re-install node. Even though I was at the latest version (v24.9.0), I did the following and after restarting node-red, I am again able to send to other devices on my network using the http request nodes. Here's my bash history:

export NVM_DIR="$HOME/.nvm"
[ -s "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh" ] && \. "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh"
nvm -v
nvm current
node -v
nvm deactivate
nvm uninstall v24.9.0
nvm current
nvm install node --reinstall-packages-from=$(nvm current)
node -v
node-red --h
which pm2
pm2 stop node-red
npm install -g --unsafe-perm node-red
node-red --h

I will note that there's a macrumors thread that recommends deleting this file (/Volumes/Macintosh HD/Library/Preferences/com.apple.networkextension.plist) in recovery mode to reset the local network access settings, but I did not try that. Nor has node, node-red, or Node.js ever shown up in the Local Network settings to "enable it".

I had performed the same node update procedure a week or so ago to resolve this same issue on 2 mac minis. One is still functioning correctly, but this other has had the EHOSTUNREACH recur, which I noticed today.

I'm not sure why it popped up again, but after the node re-install, I checked out pm2 and discovered a problem in it's "describe":

 Divergent env variables from local env 
┌─────────────────┬─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ TERM_SESSION_ID │ REDACTED                                            │
│ SSH_AUTH_SOCK   │ /private/tmp/REDACTED/Listeners                     │
└─────────────────┴─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

So I addressed it:

pm2 -v
which pm2
npm install pm2@latest -g
pm2 update
pm2 -h
pm2 list
pm2 describe node-red
pm2 restart node-red --update-env
pm2 describe node-red

I don't know if that's what caused the problem to recur on this one mac mini or whether the error coming up again is due to some lesser usage pattern on this computer that perhaps made macos come down on it? No clue.

If it recurs, I will follow up.

10

I don't use pm2 - I tend to stay away from anything that adds layers that adds to the complexity but if it works - hey! I'm game :smiley:

  • install npm
  • npm install <packlage>

im done

11

You know, I've been advised before to switch from using pm2 as my manager. pm2 was a part of the procedure I followed when I first started installing/using node-RED. When I did a node-red upgrade a few months ago on one of these mac minis, I tried setting up the manager that's described on this site (I think), but I couldn't get it to work. I don't know why, and I don't remember what the issue was, but I just updated pm2 at the time and it was easy.

However, pm2 has been somewhat problematic, because it stops working about 5 minutes after a reboot, so I always have to manually start node-red. I'd be willing to go with whatever is recommended on these macs, but at the moment, I have too much else going on to try and solve the problems I ran into last time. If you know a good setup article, specifically for macos, that uses the process manager you use, I'll bookmark it for when I have the time to migrate from pm2. Thanks!

Clarification: When I manually start node-red, I use pm2 and it's stable from the on after that first crash upon reboot. I.e. It works to restart node-red from then on, when it crashes.

12

It might come of as bit of a sales pitch, its not intended to be, but it may help.

But if you require Node RED as a service on a Mac.
Look at my project.

  1. Compile Node RED as a real executable
  2. ensure the executable is aloud to access the network (change of location matters)
  3. start it with the built in OSX daemon

Node is not even needed on the target system

What you are after, is the Standard Mode, not the emdbeed mode

1 Like
13

You don't use node-red as a service on any mac? I'm a little surprised, but I guess most people don't automate maybe as much as I do? I use Node-RED for all my home automations, which includes managing my security camera system running on one of these minis, email triggers, a ton of reminder triggers, and I even scripted the messages app to text myself home automation messages. A lot of that uses osascript to say, complete reminders and such. My reminders scripts use sqlite to "hack" the reminders DB. I have automations that trigger based on an fswatch of the DB file, so that me completing a reminder on my phone can trigger automations. It's pretty fuckin' cool if I do say so myself (which is more of a brag than a sales pitch, because I've only posted snippets of my scripts online).

(Oh, but my main automation hub is an rPi, hence the request node usage.)

14

Not on Mac - I have an RPi5 doing all the Node Red stuff as a service.
but use the standard systemd API - I like to keep as native possible.

Anything automated/started on boot is on my Pi

1 Like