NetworkManager
NetworkManager provides automatic network detection and configuration for the system. Once enabled, the NetworkManager service also monitors the network interfaces, and may automatically switch to the best connection at any given time. Applications that include NetworkManager support may automatically switch between on-line and off-line modes when the system gains or loses network connectivity.
These facilities are most useful for modern laptops, where the user may move between wireless networks, and plug in to a variety of wired networks, but NetworkManager also provides features that are relevant to workstations. Current versions of NetworkManager support modem connections, and certain types of VPN. Development of these features is ongoing.
NetworkManager requires Fedora to have drivers for the wired and wireless interfaces on the computer. Many manufacturers of modems and wireless devices provide limited support for Linux. You may need to install additional drivers or firmware on your Fedora system in order to activate these interfaces.
NetworkManager may only work with network interfaces once the relevant drivers are correctly installed on your system. Reboot your system after installing a new firmware or a new driver in order to ensure that the changes take effect.
Features
- Configuration using keyfile and ifcfg-rh formats
- Good IPv4 support
- Moderate IPv6 support
- Device bonding
- Integration with other tools
- D-Bus interface
- CLI frontends
- GUI frontends
Possible future features
- Ethernet Bridging
- Support for unmanaged devices (currently broken)
- Keeping wired devices allways on (for IPv6 link-local networking)
Note: Some of the features described here may have been already available and working at some point of time.
Known problems
- NetworkManager gets automaticaly respawned, no sane way to temporarily disable it
- List of unmanaged devices (by MAC) is sometimes ignored
- Manually assigned IPv4 addresses get lost quickly
- dhclient spawned duplicately
- Serious IPv6 problems (most of fixed in git, targeting 0.9.6)
- IPv6 code is still full of workarounds
- Malfunctioning connection 'assume' functionality for IPv4 (removed for IPv6)
- Serious doubts about working integration with network-scripts
- Doesn't work well with dnssec-trigger/unbound (DNS is not conveyed)
- Missing CLI tools that would be as simple as manual (iproute/wpa_supplicant/wvdial/...) configuration
- Too many open bug reports, many probably obsolete
Note that some of the problems are deep in the core of NetworkManager. It can be expected that more problems will emerge over time or while fixing the currently known ones.
Notes
- NetworkManager builds against specific distributions, not tools or dependencies (--with-distro)
About this section of the wiki
Currently most of the information in this page and the Tools/NetworkManager subtree have been added by me (User:Pavlix). Please feel free to add, correct and clarify stuff but please get in touch with me before deleting.
Further Information
- Refer to the System Administrator's Guide here: Fedora Documentation
- Red Hat Magazine article on NetworkManager : Good summary of the technology
- The NetworkManager Website
- The NetworkManager mailing list
- Local Caching Nameserver