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
โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโฌโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโ
โ TERM_SESSION_ID โ REDACTED โ
โ SSH_AUTH_SOCK โ /private/tmp/REDACTED/Listeners โ
โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโดโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโ
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.