DHCP Option 12 "host name" with wrong value

Dear community


An MBA with Sequoia 15.5 shows a strange behaviour when requesting an IP address for the wifi from the DHCP server.

In the request the host name in option 12 is set to "Mac". The real computer name is in the form abcmba0001 and all the following terminal commands show this name:


hostname

defaults read /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.smb.server.plist | grep NetBIOS

defaults read /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.smb.server.plist | grep ServerDesc

dsconfigad -show | grep -i 'Computer' | awk -F "= " '{printf $NF}'

nvram -p | grep computer-name

echo "${HOST}"

sudo networksetup -getcomputername

sudo systemsetup -getcomputername

echo 'show State:/Network/NetBIOS' | scutil | grep "RegisteredName"

echo 'show Setup:/System' | scutil | grep "ComputerName "

defaults read /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/preferences.plist System

scutil --get LocalHostName

scutil --get HostName

scutil --get ComputerName


DHCP request for the wired connection have the correct name.


This happens on other MacBooks as well. So we end up with several "Mac.domain.net" entries in our DNS.


The behaviour seems to have started after we updated the MacBooks from Ventura to Seqoia.


Any idea where this "Mac" entry is coming from and how we could change that?


best regards


Roger


MacBook Pro 14″, macOS 15.5

Posted on May 13, 2025 1:31 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on May 26, 2025 7:25 AM

I believe this is what Sequoia sends out when you have Private Wi-Fi address enabled. Aside from rotating through different MAC addresses, Private Wi-Fi address also masks your hostname. Specifically, when you have Private Wi-Fi Address set to 'Fixed', macOS uses the hostname 'Mac' (which it sends through DHCP Option 12); when you have it set to 'Rotating', macOS doesn't send DHCP Option 12.


The only way to make macOS send Option 12 and therefore bind that machine's hostname to the DHCP-leased address is to have Private Wi-Fi turned off.


I don't know where this is documented, but you can quickly verify the above yourself by changing Private Wi-Fi address settings on a machine connected to your network.

5 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

May 26, 2025 7:25 AM in response to Zueri4i

I believe this is what Sequoia sends out when you have Private Wi-Fi address enabled. Aside from rotating through different MAC addresses, Private Wi-Fi address also masks your hostname. Specifically, when you have Private Wi-Fi Address set to 'Fixed', macOS uses the hostname 'Mac' (which it sends through DHCP Option 12); when you have it set to 'Rotating', macOS doesn't send DHCP Option 12.


The only way to make macOS send Option 12 and therefore bind that machine's hostname to the DHCP-leased address is to have Private Wi-Fi turned off.


I don't know where this is documented, but you can quickly verify the above yourself by changing Private Wi-Fi address settings on a machine connected to your network.

Jun 13, 2025 12:17 AM in response to jmibanez

thanks jmibanez for your analysis. I tried to replicate your findings as you suggested. However, I got slightly different and inconsistent results. So I did some more testing. My findings are.

  • private address OFF: option 12 is sent with the real hostname
  • switching from OFF to STATIC: option 12 is sent with a generic hostname ("MacBookPro" in my case)
  • switching from OFF to ROTATING: no hostname is sent
  • switching from STATIC (generic hostname sent) to ROTATING: a generic hostname is sent as well
  • switching from OFF to ROTATING (no hostname) to STATIC: still no hostname


I have to say, I don't trust Apple in that they know what they are doing here. Ah well.


Side note: when switching from OFF to another state I was presented with a password prompt for admin credentials. However, I wasn't able to use the keyboard to type the name and pw. I could paste the copied name/pw with via right-click context menu though.

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DHCP Option 12 "host name" with wrong value

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