The system preference said there is an extension preventing private relay from working and provided a link to a rather thin product description page with no useful troubleshooting info. This page says nothing about what, how, or why an extension is preventing it from working nor how to fix it. Any suggestions?
MacBook Pro 16″, macOS 12.3
This message was doing my head in, below is what fixed it for me.
I reinstalled a fresh copy of macOS and all was good, until I re-installed a plugin I use in chrome called 'Videostream'... which I personally barely use anymore. As soon as it installed, notification centre alerted me that private relay was not working due to incompatible system settings..
I did a bunch of digging and found that Videostream adds a port entry to macOS' packet firewall (pf).. which, for reasons unknown breaks iCloud private relay. The below steps fixed it for me but YMMV.. (you may not have Videostream, but perhaps another app is breaking it in your instance).
open terminal, and assuming you're in an admin account:
sudo nano /etc/pf.conf
Remove lines:
# Added by Videostream service"
pass in proto tcp to port { 5557, 5556}
Ctrl+x , save yes.
Then,
curl http://127.0.0.1:5557/terminate &>/dev/null
curl http://127.0.0.1:5556/terminate &>/dev/null
sudo pfctl -f /etc/pf.conf
About 30 seconds later, notification centre alerted me IP masking with private relay was running again.
If you find any rule entries in /etc/pf.conf that don't match the default macOS ones, then you MAY have an app that's the culprit. The default values are as below.
scrub-anchor "com.apple/*"
nat-anchor "com.apple/*"
rdr-anchor "com.apple/*"
dummynet-anchor "com.apple/*"
anchor "com.apple/*"
load anchor "com.apple" from "/etc/pf.anchors/com.apple"
Bare in mind if there is a service you're dependent on that added an entry, the above steps might not be suitable for your particular use. Good luck
This message was doing my head in, below is what fixed it for me.
I reinstalled a fresh copy of macOS and all was good, until I re-installed a plugin I use in chrome called 'Videostream'... which I personally barely use anymore. As soon as it installed, notification centre alerted me that private relay was not working due to incompatible system settings..
I did a bunch of digging and found that Videostream adds a port entry to macOS' packet firewall (pf).. which, for reasons unknown breaks iCloud private relay. The below steps fixed it for me but YMMV.. (you may not have Videostream, but perhaps another app is breaking it in your instance).
open terminal, and assuming you're in an admin account:
sudo nano /etc/pf.conf
Remove lines:
# Added by Videostream service"
pass in proto tcp to port { 5557, 5556}
Ctrl+x , save yes.
Then,
curl http://127.0.0.1:5557/terminate &>/dev/null
curl http://127.0.0.1:5556/terminate &>/dev/null
sudo pfctl -f /etc/pf.conf
About 30 seconds later, notification centre alerted me IP masking with private relay was running again.
If you find any rule entries in /etc/pf.conf that don't match the default macOS ones, then you MAY have an app that's the culprit. The default values are as below.
scrub-anchor "com.apple/*"
nat-anchor "com.apple/*"
rdr-anchor "com.apple/*"
dummynet-anchor "com.apple/*"
anchor "com.apple/*"
load anchor "com.apple" from "/etc/pf.anchors/com.apple"
Bare in mind if there is a service you're dependent on that added an entry, the above steps might not be suitable for your particular use. Good luck
Greetings, carbonware.
In order to use Private Relay, you must have upgraded your iCloud account to an iCloud+ account.
“How iCloud+ works
iCloud+ is Apple’s premium cloud subscription service. It gives you more storage for your photos, files, and backups, as well as additional features including iCloud Private Relay, Hide My Email, and HomeKit Secure Video support.* You can choose from three plans:
iCloud+ with 50GB storage
Share everything with up to five other family members.
iCloud+ with 200GB storage
Share everything with up to five other family members.
iCloud+ with 2TB storage
Share everything with up to five other family members.
After you upgrade, your storage and features are available immediately, and your monthly payment date reflects the purchase date for your plan. If you upgrade from one paid plan to another, we’ll cancel your existing plan and charge you the prorated cost** of your new, larger plan.” Upgrade to iCloud+
We hope this helps!
Sincerely.
What 3rd party "security" software do you have installed. That would be the first place to look.
🫶🫶🫶
You're a godsent, man!
Private relay will not come one. A pop-up says a system extension is blocking it but does not say which one
