Fix macOS 15.5 port availability with localhost fallback to 127.0.0.1

app/electron/main.ts

@@ -31,7 +31,6 @@ import {
 import { IpcMainEvent, MenuItemConstructorOptions } from 'electron/main';
 import find_process from 'find-process';
 import * as fsPromises from 'fs/promises';
-import * as net from 'net';
 import fs from 'node:fs';
 import { userInfo } from 'node:os';
 import { promisify } from 'node:util';
@@ -50,6 +49,11 @@ import {
   getPluginBinDirectories,
   PluginManager,
 } from './plugin-management';
+import {
+  checkPortAvailability,
+  createLocalhostErrorMessage,
+  createNoPortsAvailableMessage,
+} from './portUtils';
 import { addRunCmdConsent, removeRunCmdConsent, runScript, setupRunCmdHandlers } from './runCmd';
 import windowSize from './windowSize';
 
@@ -133,6 +137,7 @@ const isHeadlessMode = args.headless === true;
 let disableGPU = args['disable-gpu'] === true;
 const defaultPort = args.port || 4466;
 let actualPort = defaultPort; // Will be updated when backend starts
+let actualHost = 'localhost'; // Will be updated to '127.0.0.1' if localhost doesn't work
 const MAX_PORT_ATTEMPTS = Math.abs(Number(process.env.HEADLAMP_MAX_PORT_ATTEMPTS) || 100); // Maximum number of ports to try
 
 const useExternalServer = process.env.EXTERNAL_SERVER || false;
@@ -660,35 +665,14 @@ async function getShellEnv(): Promise<NodeJS.ProcessEnv> {
   }
 }
 
-/**
- * Check if a port is available by attempting to create a server on it
- */
-async function isPortAvailable(port: number): Promise<boolean> {
-  return new Promise(resolve => {
-    const server = net.createServer();
-
-    server.once('error', () => {
-      resolve(false);
-    });
-
-    server.once('listening', () => {
-      server.close(() => resolve(true));
-    });
-
-    try {
-      server.listen({ port, host: 'localhost', exclusive: true });
-    } catch (err) {
-      server.emit('error', err as NodeJS.ErrnoException);
-    }
-  });
-}
-
 /**
  * Find an available port starting from the default port
  * Tries to find a free port, skipping all occupied ports (including Headlamp)
  * @returns Available port number, or throws if no port found after MAX_PORT_ATTEMPTS
  */
 async function findAvailablePort(startPort: number): Promise<number> {
+  let localhostFailedOnce = false;
+
   for (let i = 0; i < MAX_PORT_ATTEMPTS; i++) {
     const port = startPort + i;
     // Skip ports already used by another Headlamp instance.
@@ -701,21 +685,40 @@ async function findAvailablePort(startPort: number): Promise<number> {
       );
       continue;
     }
-    const available = await isPortAvailable(port);
 
-    if (available) {
+    const result = await checkPortAvailability(port);
+
+    if (result.available) {
+      actualHost = result.host;
+      if (result.localhostFailed && !localhostFailedOnce) {
+        localhostFailedOnce = true;
+        console.warn(
+          `Note: 'localhost' resolution failed, using '${result.host}' as fallback for all subsequent checks.`
+        );
+      }
       if (port !== startPort) {
         console.info(`Port ${startPort} is in use, using port ${port} instead`);
       }
       return port;
     }
 
+    if (result.localhostFailed && !localhostFailedOnce) {
+      localhostFailedOnce = true;
+    }
+
     console.info(`Port ${port} is occupied by another process, trying next port...`);
   }
 
-  throw new Error(
-    `Could not find an available port after ${MAX_PORT_ATTEMPTS} attempts starting from ${startPort}`
-  );
+  // If we exhausted all attempts, provide a helpful error message
+  if (localhostFailedOnce) {
+    // Localhost resolution issues detected
+    const errorMsg = createLocalhostErrorMessage(startPort, startPort + MAX_PORT_ATTEMPTS - 1);
+    throw new Error(errorMsg);
+  } else {
+    // Normal case - all ports occupied
+    const errorMsg = createNoPortsAvailableMessage(startPort, MAX_PORT_ATTEMPTS, false);
+    throw new Error(errorMsg);
+  }
 }
 
 async function startServer(flags: string[] = []): Promise<ChildProcessWithoutNullStreams> {
@@ -725,7 +728,8 @@ async function startServer(flags: string[] = []): Promise<ChildProcessWithoutNul
 
   actualPort = await findAvailablePort(defaultPort);
 
-  let serverArgs: string[] = ['--listen-addr=localhost', `--port=${actualPort}`];
+  console.info(`Using host address: ${actualHost}`);
+  let serverArgs: string[] = [`--listen-addr=${actualHost}`, `--port=${actualPort}`];
   if (!!args.kubeconfig) {
     serverArgs = serverArgs.concat(['--kubeconfig', args.kubeconfig]);
   }
@@ -1547,10 +1551,10 @@ function startElectron() {
       mainWindow = null;
     });
 
-    // Workaround to cookies to be saved, since file:// protocal and localhost:port
+    // Workaround to cookies to be saved, since file:// protocol and host:port
     // are treated as a cross site request.
     mainWindow.webContents.session.webRequest.onHeadersReceived((details, callback) => {
-      if (details.url.startsWith(`http://localhost:${actualPort}`)) {
+      if (details.url.startsWith(`http://${actualHost}:${actualPort}`)) {
         callback({
           responseHeaders: {
             ...details.responseHeaders,
@@ -1812,7 +1816,7 @@ if (isHeadlessMode) {
       attachServerEventHandlers(serverProcess);
 
       // Give 1s for backend to start
-      setTimeout(() => shell.openExternal(`http://localhost:${actualPort}`), 1000);
+      setTimeout(() => shell.openExternal(`http://${actualHost}:${actualPort}`), 1000);
     }
   );
 } else {

app/electron/portUtils.test.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,148 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2025 The Kubernetes Authors
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ * http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+import { describe, expect, it } from '@jest/globals';
+import * as net from 'net';
+import {
+  checkPortAvailability,
+  createLocalhostErrorMessage,
+  createNoPortsAvailableMessage,
+  isPortAvailableOnHost,
+} from './portUtils';
+
+describe('portUtils', () => {
+  describe('isPortAvailableOnHost', () => {
+    it('should return true for an available port on localhost', async () => {
+      // Use a high port that's likely to be available
+      const port = 50000 + Math.floor(Math.random() * 1000);
+      const result = await isPortAvailableOnHost(port, 'localhost');
+      expect(result).toBe(true);
+    });
+
+    it('should return true for an available port on 127.0.0.1', async () => {
+      const port = 50000 + Math.floor(Math.random() * 1000);
+      const result = await isPortAvailableOnHost(port, '127.0.0.1');
+      expect(result).toBe(true);
+    });
+
+    it('should return false for a port that is in use', async () => {
+      // Create a server to occupy a port
+      const port = 50000 + Math.floor(Math.random() * 1000);
+      const server = net.createServer();
+      await new Promise<void>(resolve => {
+        server.listen(port, 'localhost', () => resolve());
+      });
+
+      try {
+        const result = await isPortAvailableOnHost(port, 'localhost');
+        expect(result).toBe(false);
+      } finally {
+        await new Promise<void>(resolve => {
+          server.close(() => resolve());
+        });
+      }
+    });
+  });
+
+  describe('checkPortAvailability', () => {
+    it('should return localhost when port is available on localhost', async () => {
+      const port = 50000 + Math.floor(Math.random() * 1000);
+      const result = await checkPortAvailability(port);
+
+      expect(result.available).toBe(true);
+      expect(result.host).toBe('localhost');
+      expect(result.localhostFailed).toBe(false);
+      expect(result.error).toBeUndefined();
+    });
+
+    it('should return 127.0.0.1 when localhost fails but 127.0.0.1 succeeds', async () => {
+      // This test is hard to simulate without mocking, so we'll test the logic indirectly
+      // by checking that the function handles both hosts
+      const port = 50000 + Math.floor(Math.random() * 1000);
+      const result = await checkPortAvailability(port);
+
+      expect(result.available).toBe(true);
+      expect(['localhost', '127.0.0.1']).toContain(result.host);
+    });
+
+    it('should return unavailable when port is occupied on both hosts', async () => {
+      const port = 50000 + Math.floor(Math.random() * 1000);
+
+      // Occupy the port on all interfaces
+      const server = net.createServer();
+      await new Promise<void>(resolve => {
+        server.listen(port, '0.0.0.0', () => resolve());
+      });
+
+      try {
+        const result = await checkPortAvailability(port);
+
+        expect(result.available).toBe(false);
+        expect(result.localhostFailed).toBe(true);
+        expect(result.error).toContain('not available');
+      } finally {
+        await new Promise<void>(resolve => {
+          server.close(() => resolve());
+        });
+      }
+    });
+  });
+
+  describe('createLocalhostErrorMessage', () => {
+    it('should create a helpful error message with troubleshooting steps', () => {
+      const message = createLocalhostErrorMessage(4466, 4565);
+
+      expect(message).toContain('4466-4565');
+      expect(message).toContain('localhost');
+      expect(message).toContain('127.0.0.1');
+      expect(message).toContain('Troubleshooting steps');
+      expect(message).toContain('/etc/hosts');
+      expect(message).toContain('ping localhost');
+      expect(message).toContain('lsof');
+      expect(message).toContain('--port flag');
+    });
+  });
+
+  describe('createNoPortsAvailableMessage', () => {
+    it('should create error message without localhost failure note', () => {
+      const message = createNoPortsAvailableMessage(4466, 100, false);
+
+      expect(message).toContain('4466');
+      expect(message).toContain('4565'); // 4466 + 100 - 1
+      expect(message).toContain('100 attempts');
+      expect(message).not.toContain('localhost');
+      expect(message).not.toContain('fallback');
+    });
+
+    it('should create error message with localhost failure note', () => {
+      const message = createNoPortsAvailableMessage(4466, 100, true);
+
+      expect(message).toContain('4466');
+      expect(message).toContain('4565');
+      expect(message).toContain('100 attempts');
+      expect(message).toContain('localhost');
+      expect(message).toContain('127.0.0.1');
+      expect(message).toContain('fallback');
+    });
+
+    it('should calculate correct port range', () => {
+      const message = createNoPortsAvailableMessage(5000, 50, true);
+
+      expect(message).toContain('5000');
+      expect(message).toContain('5049'); // 5000 + 50 - 1
+    });
+  });
+});