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SYSTEMD.LINK(5) systemd.link SYSTEMD.LINK(5)

NAME

systemd.link - Network device configuration

SYNOPSIS

link.link

DESCRIPTION

Network link configuration is performed by the net_setup_link udev builtin.

The link files are read from the files located in the system network directory /lib/systemd/network, the volatile runtime network directory /run/systemd/network, and the local administration network directory /etc/systemd/network. Link files must have the extension .link; other extensions are ignored. All link files are collectively sorted and processed in lexical order, regardless of the directories in which they live. However, files with identical filenames replace each other. Files in /etc have the highest priority, files in /run take precedence over files with the same name in /lib. This can be used to override a system-supplied link file with a local file if needed. As a special case, an empty file (file size 0) or symlink with the same name pointing to /dev/null disables the configuration file entirely (it is "masked").

The link file contains a [Match] section, which determines if a given link file may be applied to a given device, as well as a [Link] section specifying how the device should be configured. The first (in lexical order) of the link files that matches a given device is applied. Note that a default file 99-default.link is shipped by the system. Any user-supplied .link should hence have a lexically earlier name to be considered at all.

See udevadm(8) for diagnosing problems with .link files.

[MATCH] SECTION OPTIONS

A link file is said to match a device if each of the entries in the [Match] section matches, or if the section is empty. The following keys are accepted:

MACAddress=

A whitespace-separated list of hardware addresses. Use full colon-, hyphen- or dot-delimited hexadecimal. See the example below. This option may appear more than once, in which case the lists are merged. If the empty string is assigned to this option, the list of hardware addresses defined prior to this is reset.

Example:

MACAddress=01:23:45:67:89:ab 00-11-22-33-44-55 AABB.CCDD.EEFF

OriginalName=

A whitespace-separated list of shell-style globs matching the device name, as exposed by the udev property "INTERFACE". This cannot be used to match on names that have already been changed from userspace. Caution is advised when matching on kernel-assigned names, as they are known to be unstable between reboots.

Path=

A whitespace-separated list of shell-style globs matching the persistent path, as exposed by the udev property ID_PATH.

Driver=

A whitespace-separated list of shell-style globs matching the driver currently bound to the device, as exposed by the udev property DRIVER of its parent device, or if that is not set, the driver as exposed by ethtool -i of the device itself.

Type=

A whitespace-separated list of shell-style globs matching the device type, as exposed by the udev property DEVTYPE.

Host=

Matches against the hostname or machine ID of the host. See ConditionHost= in systemd.unit(5) for details.

Virtualization=

Checks whether the system is executed in a virtualized environment and optionally test whether it is a specific implementation. See ConditionVirtualization= in systemd.unit(5) for details.

KernelCommandLine=

Checks whether a specific kernel command line option is set (or if prefixed with the exclamation mark unset). See ConditionKernelCommandLine= in systemd.unit(5) for details.

KernelVersion=

Checks whether the kernel version (as reported by uname -r) matches a certain expression (or if prefixed with the exclamation mark does not match it). See ConditionKernelVersion= in systemd.unit(5) for details.

Architecture=

Checks whether the system is running on a specific architecture. See ConditionArchitecture= in systemd.unit(5) for details.

[LINK] SECTION OPTIONS

The [Link] section accepts the following keys:

Description=

A description of the device.

Alias=

The ifalias interface property is set to this value.

MACAddressPolicy=

The policy by which the MAC address should be set. The available policies are:

persistent

If the hardware has a persistent MAC address, as most hardware should, and if it is used by the kernel, nothing is done. Otherwise, a new MAC address is generated which is guaranteed to be the same on every boot for the given machine and the given device, but which is otherwise random. This feature depends on ID_NET_NAME_* properties to exist for the link. On hardware where these properties are not set, the generation of a persistent MAC address will fail.

random

If the kernel is using a random MAC address, nothing is done. Otherwise, a new address is randomly generated each time the device appears, typically at boot. Either way, the random address will have the "unicast" and "locally administered" bits set.

none

Keeps the MAC address assigned by the kernel.

MACAddress=

The MAC address to use, if no MACAddressPolicy= is specified.

NamePolicy=

An ordered, space-separated list of policies by which the interface name should be set. NamePolicy= may be disabled by specifying net.ifnames=0 on the kernel command line. Each of the policies may fail, and the first successful one is used. The name is not set directly, but is exported to udev as the property ID_NET_NAME, which is, by default, used by a udev rule to set NAME. The available policies are:

kernel

If the kernel claims that the name it has set for a device is predictable, then no renaming is performed.

database

The name is set based on entries in the udev's Hardware Database with the key ID_NET_NAME_FROM_DATABASE.

onboard

The name is set based on information given by the firmware for on-board devices, as exported by the udev property ID_NET_NAME_ONBOARD.

slot

The name is set based on information given by the firmware for hot-plug devices, as exported by the udev property ID_NET_NAME_SLOT.

path

The name is set based on the device's physical location, as exported by the udev property ID_NET_NAME_PATH.

mac

The name is set based on the device's persistent MAC address, as exported by the udev property ID_NET_NAME_MAC.

keep

If the device already had a name given by userspace (as part of creation of the device or a rename), keep it.

Name=

The interface name to use in case all the policies specified in NamePolicy= fail, or in case NamePolicy= is missing or disabled.

Note that specifying a name that the kernel might use for another interface (for example "eth0") is dangerous because the name assignment done by udev will race with the assignment done by the kernel, and only one interface may use the name. Depending on the order of operations, either udev or the kernel will win, making the naming unpredictable. It is best to use some different prefix, for example "internal0"/"external0" or "lan0"/"lan1"/"lan3".

MTUBytes=

The maximum transmission unit in bytes to set for the device. The usual suffixes K, M, G, are supported and are understood to the base of 1024.

BitsPerSecond=

The speed to set for the device, the value is rounded down to the nearest Mbps. The usual suffixes K, M, G, are supported and are understood to the base of 1000.

Duplex=

The duplex mode to set for the device. The accepted values are half and full.

AutoNegotiation=

Takes a boolean. If set to yes, automatic negotiation of transmission parameters is enabled. Autonegotiation is a procedure by which two connected ethernet devices choose common transmission parameters, such as speed, duplex mode, and flow control. When unset, the kernel's default will be used.

Note that if autonegotiation is enabled, speed and duplex settings are read-only. If autonegotation is disabled, speed and duplex settings are writable if the driver supports multiple link modes.

WakeOnLan=

The Wake-on-LAN policy to set for the device. The supported values are:

phy

Wake on PHY activity.

unicast

Wake on unicast messages.

multicast

Wake on multicast messages.

broadcast

Wake on broadcast messages.

arp

Wake on ARP.

magic

Wake on receipt of a magic packet.

secureon

Enable secureon(tm) password for MagicPacket(tm).

off

Never wake.

Defaults to off.

Port=

The port option is used to select the device port. The supported values are:

tp

An Ethernet interface using Twisted-Pair cable as the medium.

aui

Attachment Unit Interface (AUI). Normally used with hubs.

bnc

An Ethernet interface using BNC connectors and co-axial cable.

mii

An Ethernet interface using a Media Independent Interface (MII).

fibre

An Ethernet interface using Optical Fibre as the medium.

Advertise=

This sets what speeds and duplex modes of operation are advertised for auto-negotiation. This implies "AutoNegotiation=yes". The supported values are:

Table 1. Supported advertise values

Advertise Speed (Mbps) Duplex Mode
10baset-half 10 half
10baset-full 10 full
100baset-half 100 half
100baset-full 100 full
1000baset-half 1000 half
1000baset-full 1000 full
10000baset-full 10000 full
2500basex-full 2500 full
1000basekx-full 1000 full
10000basekx4-full 10000 full
10000basekr-full 10000 full
10000baser-fec 10000 full
20000basemld2-full 20000 full
20000basekr2-full 20000 full

By default this is unset, i.e. all possible modes will be advertised. This option may be specified more than once, in which case all specified speeds and modes are advertised. If the empty string is assigned to this option, the list is reset, and all prior assignments have no effect.

TCPSegmentationOffload=

Takes a boolean. If set to true, the TCP Segmentation Offload (TSO) is enabled. When unset, the kernel's default will be used.

TCP6SegmentationOffload=

Takes a boolean. If set to true, the TCP6 Segmentation Offload (tx-tcp6-segmentation) is enabled. When unset, the kernel's default will be used.

GenericSegmentationOffload=

Takes a boolean. If set to true, the Generic Segmentation Offload (GSO) is enabled. When unset, the kernel's default will be used.

GenericReceiveOffload=

Takes a boolean. If set to true, the Generic Receive Offload (GRO) is enabled. When unset, the kernel's default will be used.

LargeReceiveOffload=

Takes a boolean. If set to true, the Large Receive Offload (LRO) is enabled. When unset, the kernel's default will be used.

RxChannels=

Sets the number of receive channels (a number between 1 and 4294967295) .

TxChannels=

Sets the number of transmit channels (a number between 1 and 4294967295).

OtherChannels=

Sets the number of other channels (a number between 1 and 4294967295).

CombinedChannels=

Sets the number of combined set channels (a number between 1 and 4294967295).

EXAMPLES

Example 1. /lib/systemd/network/99-default.link

The link file 99-default.link that is shipped with systemd defines the default naming policy for links.

[Link]
NamePolicy=kernel database onboard slot path
MACAddressPolicy=persistent

Example 2. /etc/systemd/network/10-dmz.link

This example assigns the fixed name "dmz0" to the interface with the MAC address 00:a0:de:63:7a:e6:

[Match]
MACAddress=00:a0:de:63:7a:e6
[Link]
Name=dmz0

Example 3. /etc/systemd/network/10-internet.link

This example assigns the fixed name "internet0" to the interface with the device path "pci-0000:00:1a.0-*":

[Match]
Path=pci-0000:00:1a.0-*
[Link]
Name=internet0

Example 4. /etc/systemd/network/25-wireless.link

Here's an overly complex example that shows the use of a large number of [Match] and [Link] settings.

[Match]
MACAddress=12:34:56:78:9a:bc
Driver=brcmsmac
Path=pci-0000:02:00.0-*
Type=wlan
Virtualization=no
Host=my-laptop
Architecture=x86-64
[Link]
Name=wireless0
MTUBytes=1450
BitsPerSecond=10M
WakeOnLan=magic
MACAddress=cb:a9:87:65:43:21

SEE ALSO

systemd-udevd.service(8), udevadm(8), systemd.netdev(5), systemd.network(5)
systemd 241