[sles-beta] SLES12 network interface names

[Joe Doupnik]

     Not speaking for Urs, but from my similar position what's needed 
are two things:
     1. Adapter names eth<N> where <N> is 0, 1, etc. This is what many 
of us employ with scripts and related material. It makes sense. udev 
rules provide it. We know how to handle that with VMware movements.
     2. Visibly associate the name with the MAC address so that we 
humans can verify things. Traditionally that is in ifcfg-eth<N> style 
and udev rules files.

     We have a people/manager problem and a scripting problem at work 
here. There is also the utility aspect, such as running wireshark this 
morning, where interface names are to be selected.
     The present ens<digits> abstraction relates to nothing obvious and 
offers no advantage over the previous ifconfig method.
     We are thinking servers and other important gear here, not just 
DHCP enabled laptops where "it just works" is sufficient.
     There is already more than enough indirection and layer upon 
obscure layer of references in the new material. A return to directness 
would be most welcomed.
     Thanks,
     Joe D.

On 24/03/2014 14:36, Olaf Kirch wrote:
> Hi Urs,
>
> On Monday 24 March 2014 10:38:57 urs.frey at post.ch wrote:
>> Hi
>>
>> I had a look at the wiki you provided.
>> http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/systemd/PredictableNetworkInterfac
>> eNames/
>>
>> My concern is, that I have to know the proper network interface name before
>>   I create the autoyast autoinst.xml profile. This could be accomplished
>>   perfectly when having the eth names.
>>
>> Now with the new naming rules I run into problems as I do not know the pci
>>   bus number before powering the server. I sometimes do not even know the
>>   kind of network interface HW built in in my ProLiant servers. Sometimes
>>   Broadcom, sometimes, Intel sometimes Emulex NIC, who knows.
>>
>> Even when having installed on VMWare and changing the HW emulation level,
>>   the NIC name changes. This is really not a way to go, as with every ESXi
>>   update the HW emulation level may change. I would like to have my VMware
>>   installation living over years with no manual interaction necessary
> Just for my education - when we're talking about name persistence, there
> needs to be *something* that is permanent, otherwise there won't be a way
> to tie a configuration to any piece of hardware. And if devices keep changing
> all the time, then we're kinda out of luck if we need to tell them apart.
>
> So, will vmware leave at least the MAC address intact? Or are we really
> just talking about a configuration like "I really don't care how the NIC
> identifies itself - I just want to make it come up with DHCP"?
>
> Regards
> Olaf