Custom network interface names: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 12:26, 22 September 2023

This material is proposed for merging ...

It should be merged with mdev. This could be part of a "configuring mdev" section in the mdev article (Discuss)

This article shows how to rename/change name of a network interface.

Alpine Linux uses busybox mdev by default to manage devices in /dev. mdev reads /etc/mdev.conf and according to mdev documentation one can define a command to be executed per device definition. The command which is going to be used to change network interface name is nameif.

/etc/mdev.conf configuration

Contents of /etc/mdev.conf

-SUBSYSTEM=net;DEVPATH=.*/net/.*;.*     root:root 600 @/sbin/nameif -s

Here we tell mdev to call nameif for devices found in /sys/class/net/.

# ls -d -C -1 /sys/class/net/eth* /sys/class/net/eth1 /sys/class/net/eth2 /sys/class/net/eth3 /sys/class/net/eth4 /sys/class/net/eth5

nameif configuration

nameif itself reads /etc/mactab by default. Example line for a network interface with following hwaddr

# cat /sys/class/net/eth0/address 90:e2:ba:04:28:c0

would be

# grep 90:e2:ba:04:28:c0 /etc/mactab dmz0 90:e2:ba:04:28:c0

ramdisk rebuild

/etc/mdev.conf is part of ramdisk

# grep /etc/mdev.conf /etc/mkinitfs/features.d/*.files /etc/mkinitfs/features.d/base.files:/etc/mdev.conf

thus we need to rebuild ramdisk

# mkinitfs $(ls /lib/modules/) ==> initramfs: creating /boot/initramfs-lts

finalization

To use renamed network interface without reboot, just call nameif while the network interface is down.

# nameif -s

And finally reboot...

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+{{Merge|mdev|This could be part of a "configuring mdev" section in the mdev article}}
 This article shows how to rename/change name of a network interface.
-Alpine Linux uses ''busybox'' ''mdev'' to manage devices in ''/dev''. ''mdev'' reads ''/etc/mdev.conf'' and according to [https://git.busybox.net/busybox/plain/docs/mdev.txt mdev documentation] one can define a command to be executed per device definition. The command which is going to be used to change network interface name is ''nameif''.
+Alpine Linux uses {{pkg|busybox}} ''mdev'' by default to manage devices in {{path|/dev}}. ''mdev'' reads {{path|/etc/mdev.conf}} and according to [https://git.busybox.net/busybox/plain/docs/mdev.txt mdev documentation] one can define a command to be executed per device definition. The command which is going to be used to change network interface name is ''nameif''.
-== ''/etc/mdev.conf'' configuration ==
+== {{path|/etc/mdev.conf}} configuration ==
-<pre>
+{{cat|/etc/mdev.conf|<nowiki>-SUBSYSTEM=net;DEVPATH=.*/net/.*;.*     root:root 600 @/sbin/nameif -s</nowiki>}}
--net/.*         root:root 600 @/sbin/nameif -s
-</pre>
-Here we tell ''mdev'' to call ''nameif'' for devices found in ''/sys/class/net/''.
+Here we tell ''mdev'' to call ''nameif'' for devices found in {{path|/sys/class/net/}}.
-<pre>
+{{cmd|# ls -d -C -1 /sys/class/net/eth*
-# ls -d -C -1 /sys/class/net/eth*
 /sys/class/net/eth1
 /sys/class/net/eth2
@@ Line 17: / Line 16: @@
 /sys/class/net/eth4
 /sys/class/net/eth5
-</pre>
+}}
 == ''nameif'' configuration ==
-''nameif'' itself reads ''/etc/mactab'' by default. Example line for a network interface with following hwaddr
+''nameif'' itself reads {{path|/etc/mactab}} by default. Example line for a network interface with following hwaddr
-<pre>
+{{cmd|# cat /sys/class/net/eth0/address
-# cat /sys/class/net/eth0/address
 :e2:ba:04:28:c0
-</pre>
+}}
 would be
-<pre>
+{{cmd|# grep 90:e2:ba:04:28:c0 /etc/mactab
-# grep 90:e2:ba:04:28:c0 /etc/mactab
 dmz0 90:e2:ba:04:28:c0
-</pre>
+}}
 == ramdisk rebuild ==
-''/etc/mdev.conf'' is part of ramdisk
+{{path|/etc/mdev.conf}} is part of ramdisk
-<pre>
+{{cmd|# grep /etc/mdev.conf /etc/mkinitfs/features.d/*.files
-# grep /etc/mdev.conf /etc/mkinitfs/features.d/*.files
 /etc/mkinitfs/features.d/base.files:/etc/mdev.conf
-</pre>
+}}
 thus we need to rebuild ramdisk
-<pre>
+{{cmd|<nowiki># mkinitfs $(ls /lib/modules/)
-# mkinitfs $(ls /lib/modules/)
 ==> initramfs: creating /boot/initramfs-lts
-</pre>
+</nowiki>}}
 == finalization ==
@@ Line 55: / Line 50: @@
 To use renamed network interface without reboot, just call ''nameif'' while the network interface is down.
-<pre>
+{{cmd|# nameif -s}}
-# nameif -s
-</pre>
 And finally reboot...
 [[Category:Networking]]