TL;dr: This issue started for all at the same time the "random ports" started. It also seems to be heavily influenced by port mapping and NATs. It may be that random ports keep being assigned upon connection but it surely seems linked
I think this issue is being sidetracked. I think the issue goes beyond this (and may or may not be related to the tendency of most recent version to assign random port numbers).
It seems in all cases the common thread is double-natting. I have the same issue and I have confirmed it both in Windows and Linux. My servers used to work before the later updates that broke port creation.
I'm running the server behind the ISP Router NAT and then the Eero router NAT.
Public IP > ISP Router full NAT > Eero IP per-port map -> Server IPs
In the same Eero network I have mapped services for Minecraft, Remote Desktop, SSH, Plex, Pihole web server, Sonarr, etc.
Access from the LAN works ok with the individual IP of all.
Access from the ISP router WLAN doesn't work. I can access all the services other than Minecraft in their correct and their mapped ports (respectively).
Access from the WAN works ok with the external public IP for all these services except for Minecraft (same as above), which broke in the same release the "random port number" was introduced.
Like OP, I work in devops and have services and supported networks and servers for all of my long working life. The whole network works but this particular server, which stopped working at the same time it started assigning random port numbers on startup.
So it seems the problem may be directly pointing to port mapping.
Eduo Gutierrez
TL;dr: This issue started for all at the same time the "random ports" started. It also seems to be heavily influenced by port mapping and NATs. It may be that random ports keep being assigned upon connection but it surely seems linked
I think this issue is being sidetracked. I think the issue goes beyond this (and may or may not be related to the tendency of most recent version to assign random port numbers).
It seems in all cases the common thread is double-natting. I have the same issue and I have confirmed it both in Windows and Linux. My servers used to work before the later updates that broke port creation.
I'm running the server behind the ISP Router NAT and then the Eero router NAT.
Public IP > ISP Router full NAT > Eero IP per-port map -> Server IPs
In the same Eero network I have mapped services for Minecraft, Remote Desktop, SSH, Plex, Pihole web server, Sonarr, etc.
Access from the LAN works ok with the individual IP of all.
Access from the ISP router WLAN doesn't work. I can access all the services other than Minecraft in their correct and their mapped ports (respectively).
Access from the WAN works ok with the external public IP for all these services except for Minecraft (same as above), which broke in the same release the "random port number" was introduced.
Like OP, I work in devops and have services and supported networks and servers for all of my long working life. The whole network works but this particular server, which stopped working at the same time it started assigning random port numbers on startup.
So it seems the problem may be directly pointing to port mapping.