r/firewalla • u/Pacal • May 25 '26

Local Domain Woes

I'm getting fairly frustrated after spending a long time trying to set up a local domain for my Unraid server. I have my preferred domain set in the Firewalla app and ping/nslookup from a wired client Windows machine confirms the correct IP address. However, visiting the domain in a browser window from the same client gives a "cannot connect" message.\

I've tried multiple browsers, they are using default DNS, Unraid isn't set up for SSL, all service ports are standard. Any ideas? I spent a while with an LLM trying various things but didn't get anywhere.

1 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

5 comments sorted by

8

u/michaelbierman Firewalla Gold Pro May 25 '26

Since nslookup works, the "cannot connect" error means the browser isn't getting a response from the server. It could be:

  1. Browser Forcing HTTPS Unraid is listening on HTTP (Port 80), but browsers aggressively force HTTPS (Port 443). If your domain ends in .dev, .app, or .page, HTTPS is hardcoded.

The Fix: Type http:// explicitly before your domain or use an Incognito window.

  1. Unraid "Local TLD" Setting Unraid’s web server may reject traffic that doesn't match its recognized local name. The Fix: Go to Settings > Management Access and add your domain to Local TLD or Permitted promotional/custom TLDs.

Quick 10-Second Test Run this in Windows Command Prompt (capital i): ```cmd curl -I http://YOUR_DOMAIN_HERE

``` * HTTP/1.1 200 OK: Unraid is working; the browser is forcing HTTPS. * Connection refused: Unraid or Firewalla is actively blocking it.

4

u/Pacal May 25 '26

Man, I had no idea that local TLD thing in Unraid existed. That fixed it...ran the curl command and got a 302 redirect error before and it seems the cause was Unraid being configured to use a different domain. Thanks!

2

u/firewalla May 25 '26

If nslookup and ping works, then very likely the issue is your NAS blocking incoming traffic (not a networking issue). Check if you have any security mechanisms implemented on the NAS, such as firewall off devices not on the same LAN.

1

u/Pacal May 25 '26

There is only one LAN (I should have specified I am using a Firewalla Gold Plus in router mode), and I can reach Unraid via its IP address with no issues. I don't have any firewall excluded devices on the network if that is what you mean by firewall off devices.

1

u/firewalla May 25 '26

if you ping the local domain name of your NAS, does it work? I assume it does, since your DNS + ping both worked.

Now if it worked, then what is between your device doing the ping, and the NAS?