diff --git a/tests/e2e/run-reboot-e2e.sh b/tests/e2e/run-reboot-e2e.sh
index e4fd191d7..898028886 100755
--- a/tests/e2e/run-reboot-e2e.sh
+++ b/tests/e2e/run-reboot-e2e.sh
@@ -10,15 +10,12 @@
 #   SSH_KEY  — path to ssh key the runner can use to reach tf-user@WAN_IP
 #
 # Sequence:
-#   1. Pre-reboot: VPC + 2 app EC2s + internet-facing ALB; verify round-robin.
+#   1. Pre-reboot: VPC + 2 app EC2s + internal ALB; verify round-robin.
 #   2. Snapshot pre-reboot state (instance IPs, ALB ENI MAC, ovn-nbctl show).
 #   3. systemctl reboot the host; poll TCP/22 from the runner until SSH returns.
 #   4. Wait for spinifex services + AWS gateway to respond.
 #   5. Post-reboot assertions (each a separate pass/fail line).
 #   6. Cleanup via EXIT trap.
-#
-# This cell is expected red until the OVN persistence fix lands — the
-# `ovn-nbctl show` diff assertion is the canonical reproducer for that bug.
 
 set -u
 
@@ -30,7 +27,7 @@ REBOOT_WAIT_SECS="${REBOOT_WAIT_SECS:-300}"
 DAEMON_READY_SECS="${DAEMON_READY_SECS:-180}"
 INSTANCE_RUNNING_SECS="${INSTANCE_RUNNING_SECS:-120}"
 LB_RECOVER_SECS="${LB_RECOVER_SECS:-180}"
-GUEST_SSH_SECS="${GUEST_SSH_SECS:-180}"
+LAUNCH_TIME_SECS="${LAUNCH_TIME_SECS:-30}"
 
 NODE_KEY_PATH="\$HOME/reboot-e2e-key"
 NODE_USERDATA_PATH="\$HOME/reboot-e2e-userdata.txt"
@@ -314,7 +311,7 @@ done
 pass "all instances have private IPs"
 
 # ==========================================================================
-# Phase 3: ALB (internet-facing)
+# Phase 3: ALB (internal)
 # ==========================================================================
 log "Creating HTTP target group..."
 ALB_TG_ARN=$(node_aws_elbv2 "create-target-group \
@@ -334,10 +331,10 @@ node_aws_elbv2 "register-targets --target-group-arn $ALB_TG_ARN \
     || { fail "register-targets"; exit 1; }
 pass "registered 2 targets"
 
-log "Creating internet-facing ALB..."
+log "Creating internal ALB..."
 ALB_LB_ARN=$(node_aws_elbv2 "create-load-balancer \
     --name reboot-e2e-alb \
-    --scheme internet-facing \
+    --scheme internal \
     --subnets $SUBNET_ID \
     --output json" | jq -r '.LoadBalancers[0].LoadBalancerArn')
 if [ -z "$ALB_LB_ARN" ] || [ "$ALB_LB_ARN" = "null" ]; then fail "create-load-balancer"; exit 1; fi
@@ -358,11 +355,14 @@ wait_for_lb_active "$ALB_LB_ARN" "ALB" || { dump_diagnostics; exit 1; }
 ENI_OUT=$(node_aws_ec2 "describe-network-interfaces \
     --filters Name=description,Values='ELB app/reboot-e2e-alb/${ALB_LB_ID}' \
     --output json" 2>/dev/null)
-ALB_PUBLIC_IP=$(echo "$ENI_OUT" | jq -r '.NetworkInterfaces[0].Association.PublicIp // empty')
 ALB_ENI_ID=$(echo "$ENI_OUT" | jq -r '.NetworkInterfaces[0].NetworkInterfaceId // empty')
 ALB_ENI_MAC=$(echo "$ENI_OUT" | jq -r '.NetworkInterfaces[0].MacAddress // empty')
-if [ -z "$ALB_PUBLIC_IP" ] || [ "$ALB_PUBLIC_IP" = "null" ]; then fail "ALB has no public IP"; exit 1; fi
-pass "ALB ENI $ALB_ENI_ID public IP: $ALB_PUBLIC_IP"
+ALB_PRIVATE_IP=$(echo "$ENI_OUT" | jq -r '.NetworkInterfaces[0].PrivateIpAddress // empty')
+if [ -z "$ALB_ENI_ID" ] || [ "$ALB_ENI_ID" = "null" ]; then fail "ALB ENI not found"; exit 1; fi
+# Internal ALB: no public IP expected; traffic uses mgmt IP reachable via br-mgmt
+ALB_MGMT_IP=$(node_ssh "ip -4 neigh show dev br-mgmt 2>/dev/null | awk '/'"$ALB_ENI_MAC"'/{print \$1}'" || echo "")
+if [ -z "$ALB_MGMT_IP" ]; then fail "ALB mgmt IP not found in br-mgmt neighbours (MAC $ALB_ENI_MAC)"; exit 1; fi
+pass "ALB ENI $ALB_ENI_ID private IP: $ALB_PRIVATE_IP mgmt IP: $ALB_MGMT_IP"
 
 wait_for_targets_healthy "$ALB_TG_ARN" 2 "ALB" || { dump_diagnostics; exit 1; }
 
@@ -371,7 +371,7 @@ wait_for_targets_healthy "$ALB_TG_ARN" 2 "ALB" || { dump_diagnostics; exit 1; }
 # ==========================================================================
 echo ""
 echo "=== Phase 4: Pre-reboot traffic ==="
-run_http_burst "http://${ALB_PUBLIC_IP}:80" "ALB pre-reboot"
+run_http_burst "http://${ALB_MGMT_IP}:80" "ALB pre-reboot"
 
 # ==========================================================================
 # Phase 5: Snapshot pre-reboot state
@@ -484,29 +484,31 @@ if [ "$IPS_PRESERVED" = true ]; then
     pass "private IPs preserved across reboot"
 fi
 
-# 8.3: guest VMs actually rebooted (uptime check via two-hop ssh)
-log "Verifying guest VMs rebooted (poll up to ${GUEST_SSH_SECS}s per guest)..."
-GUESTS_REBOOTED=true
+# 8.3: guest VMs relaunched post-reboot (LaunchTime > reboot time via describe-instances)
+# Two-hop SSH to VPC private IPs is not possible in single-node macvlan mode —
+# the host has no route to VPC subnets. LaunchTime from the daemon's recovery
+# path (reset to time.Now() on relaunch) is a reliable reboot signal.
+log "Verifying guest VMs relaunched post-reboot (LaunchTime check)..."
+GUESTS_RELAUNCHED=true
 for inst_id in "${APP_INSTANCE_IDS[@]}"; do
-    GUEST_IP="${PRE_INSTANCE_IPS[$inst_id]}"
-    GUEST_UPTIME=""
-    for attempt in $(seq 1 $((GUEST_SSH_SECS / 5))); do
-        GUEST_UPTIME=$(node_ssh "ssh -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no -o UserKnownHostsFile=/dev/null -o ConnectTimeout=5 -o LogLevel=ERROR -i $NODE_KEY_PATH ubuntu@${GUEST_IP} 'cat /proc/uptime'" 2>/dev/null | awk '{print int($1)}')
-        if [ -n "$GUEST_UPTIME" ]; then break; fi
-        sleep 5
-    done
-    if [ -z "$GUEST_UPTIME" ]; then
-        fail "$inst_id ($GUEST_IP): guest ssh failed after ${GUEST_SSH_SECS}s"
-        GUESTS_REBOOTED=false
-    elif [ "$GUEST_UPTIME" -gt 600 ]; then
-        fail "$inst_id ($GUEST_IP): uptime=${GUEST_UPTIME}s — guest did not reboot"
-        GUESTS_REBOOTED=false
+    LAUNCH_TS=$(node_aws_ec2 "describe-instances --instance-ids $inst_id \
+        --query 'Reservations[0].Instances[0].LaunchTime' \
+        --output text" 2>/dev/null || echo "")
+    if [ -z "$LAUNCH_TS" ] || [ "$LAUNCH_TS" = "None" ]; then
+        fail "$inst_id: could not retrieve LaunchTime"
+        GUESTS_RELAUNCHED=false
+        continue
+    fi
+    LAUNCH_EPOCH=$(date -d "$LAUNCH_TS" +%s 2>/dev/null || echo "0")
+    if [ "$LAUNCH_EPOCH" -ge "$REBOOT_START" ]; then
+        log "  $inst_id: LaunchTime=${LAUNCH_TS} ✓"
     else
-        log "  $inst_id ($GUEST_IP): uptime=${GUEST_UPTIME}s ✓"
+        fail "$inst_id: LaunchTime=${LAUNCH_TS} predates reboot — VM not relaunched"
+        GUESTS_RELAUNCHED=false
     fi
 done
-if [ "$GUESTS_REBOOTED" = true ]; then
-    pass "all guests rebooted (uptime < 600s)"
+if [ "$GUESTS_RELAUNCHED" = true ]; then
+    pass "all instances relaunched post-reboot"
 fi
 
 # 8.4: ALB back to active
@@ -518,7 +520,7 @@ wait_for_targets_healthy "$ALB_TG_ARN" 2 "ALB post-reboot" "$LB_RECOVER_SECS" ||
 # 8.6: re-run the traffic burst
 echo ""
 log "Re-running traffic burst against same ALB..."
-run_http_burst "http://${ALB_PUBLIC_IP}:80" "ALB post-reboot"
+run_http_burst "http://${ALB_MGMT_IP}:80" "ALB post-reboot"
 
 # 8.7: ovn-nbctl diff (this is where the known persistence bug lands)
 log "Diffing ovn-nbctl show against pre-reboot snapshot..."