add docs for hostname collision setting (#1051)

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Pascal Fischer
2026-10-16 17:30:37 +02:00
committed by GitHub
parent 4f29fccbdf
commit 0562a517ad
2 changed files with 21 additions and 1 deletions
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@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@ NetBird provides centralized DNS management to help your peers resolve domain na
Starting with [v0.11.0](https://github.com/netbirdio/netbird/releases), NetBird automatically assigns a domain name to each peer in a private `netbird.cloud` space. You can access machines using names like `my-server.netbird.cloud` instead of IP addresses.
When two peers in an account share a hostname, the second one gets an IP-based suffix such as `my-server-12-7.netbird.cloud` by default. You can make such registrations fail instead with the [Unique Peer Hostnames](/manage/settings/clients#unique-peer-hostnames) setting.
<Note>
Available on both NetBird Cloud and self-hosted versions running v0.11.0 or later.
</Note>
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export const description =
'Configure account-wide client behavior: automatic updates, lazy connections, and exposing services from the CLI.'
'Configure account-wide client behavior: automatic updates, lazy connections, exposing services from the CLI, and unique peer hostnames.'
# Client Settings
@@ -29,6 +29,24 @@ Instead of maintaining always-on connections, NetBird can activate peer connecti
See [Lazy Connections](/manage/peers/lazy-connection) for how activation works, inactivity thresholds, and per-client overrides.
## Unique Peer Hostnames
Two machines in one account can register with the same hostname, for example similar VMs that a provisioning tool all named `laptop`. Every peer still needs its own DNS name, so by default NetBird keeps the registration and adds the last two octets of the peer's NetBird IP to the DNS label: a second `laptop` that gets the IP `100.64.12.7` becomes `laptop-12-7.netbird.cloud`. Renaming a peer to a name another peer already uses gets the same suffix.
The suffix keeps every peer reachable, but it also hides the duplicate. If you want a registration with a duplicate hostname to fail loudly instead, enable the `Reject Hostname Collisions` toggle. With the toggle on:
- A peer registering with a hostname that another peer in the account already uses is rejected. The client reports `peer with hostname "laptop" is already registered`, stops retrying, and stays disconnected until it logs in again with a different hostname.
- Renaming a peer in the dashboard or through the API to a name another peer already uses fails with the same error.
- Ephemeral peers are treated exactly like other peers.
Collisions are matched on the DNS label, not the raw hostname. The label is the hostname lowercased with characters that are not valid in DNS replaced by `-`, so `Laptop` and `laptop` collide, and so do `my_laptop` and `my-laptop`.
Enabling the toggle does not touch existing peers: labels that already carry a suffix keep it, and a peer logging in again under its own name is not a collision. Deleting a peer frees its name for the next registration. To let a rejected peer join, give the machine a unique hostname or start the client with one: `netbird up --hostname <name>`.
Keep the toggle off if your fleet registers machines with identical hostnames on purpose, such as autoscaled VMs or containers that join through a [setup key](/manage/peers/register-machines-using-setup-keys). The default suffix exists for that case, and with the toggle on every such machine after the first fails to join.
This setting is available on NetBird Cloud and on self-hosted management servers running v0.81.0 or later. In the API it is the `peer_hostname_collision_rejected` field of the [account settings](/ipa/resources/accounts).
## Agent Network-focused view
Accounts using [Agent Network](/agent-network) see an additional `Agent Network focused view` toggle. When enabled, the dashboard shows only the Agent Network-related sections and hides parts that are not relevant for it, such as Networks, DNS, and Reverse Proxy. Disable it to bring back the full dashboard.