CHR on Proxmox - no DHCP lease on LAN

RouterOS Virtualization
1

Hello,

I am testing a CHR 7.14.1 on Proxmox 8.1.4 and have some issues with DHCP leases on LAN side of CHR not beeing bound, but only offered.
The machine has 4 network cards.
I have tried passing two network cards directly to the CHR instance (Intel i226), I have tried with Proxmox bridges, different driver models (E1000, virtIO, vmxnet3), different ethernet cables, a PC connected directly or with a switch in between CHR LAN interface and the PC, only 1 CPU core, 2 or even 10, tried different processor types, double checked the firewall is disabled on Proxmox and I guess some more I forgot about.
I also tried importing the config from a working CHR on esxi. Same result.

The end result is: I cannot get a DHCP lease on ether2 (LAN side of CHR) with any devices I tried, be it a PC, a laptop, a switch or a VoIP phone.
All I get is “offered” and never bound.
If I manually set the IP on the PC, traffic passes just fine.

Anyone with Proxmox 8.1.4 and CHR able to get DHCP leases?
Or maybe there is a trick with Proxmox? I am new to Proxmox, as I only used esxi lately.

CHR config

/interface list
add name=LAN
add name=WAN
/ip pool
add name=pool1 ranges=192.168.101.10-192.168.101.199
/ip dhcp-server
add address-pool=pool1 interface=ether2 lease-time=1d name=server1
/interface list member
add interface=ether2 list=LAN
add interface=ether1 list=WAN
/ip address
add address=192.168.101.1/24 interface=ether2 network=192.168.101.0
/ip dhcp-client
add interface=ether1
/ip dhcp-server network
add address=192.168.101.0/24 dns-server=192.168.101.1 gateway=192.168.101.1
/ip dns
set allow-remote-requests=yes
/ip firewall nat
add action=masquerade chain=srcnat out-interface-list=WAN

later edit: it seems there might be an issue with the Intel driver in I226 as well as I225. See https://forum.proxmox.com/threads/dhcp-on-pfsense-vm-not-handing-out-addresses-past-the-host.102763/post-570237
WIll test with another card.

2

Sure enough, it seems Intel I226-LM has this issue because of Intel vPro. Strangely, AMT is disabled in BIOS, but I guess Intel does what Intel does.
Changed the CHR nics to X710 and the issue has been fixed instantly.

So, PSA: Do NOT use Intel I226-LM (with Intel vPro) nics with Proxmox while having DHCP server on them.

later edit: it sems I226-V works fine. Only I226-LM has this issue.
even later edit: it seems I219-LM also has the same issue. See https://communities.vmware.com/t5/ESXi-Discussions/DHCP-not-exiting-ESXi-to-physical-network/td-p/2959950
On point: stay away from any nic with Intel vPro if you plan on using that card with a DHCP server.

3

I had the same problem at the beginning, trying to use my I226-LM was completely madness try to understand why it was not working, even with vPro disabled from bios.

Just a question, when using X710, you’re able to see SFP TAB inside CHR? It’s something that I’m not able to make it works, and it’s a feature that I mess don’t see the SFP details directly from CHR.
I try both with whole PCIe x710 board in PT, and also with individuals port.
Nothing changes, it’s like a normal ethernet for CHR, not an SFP+ port

4

No. I see the interface as ethernet.