7.19. biosdevname
Updated biosdevname packages that fix several bugs and add various enhancements are now available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.
The biosdevname packages contain an optional convention for naming network interfaces, which assigns names to network interfaces based on their physical location. The biosdevname utility is disabled by default, except for a limited set of Dell PowerEdge, C Series, and Precision Workstation systems.
Note
The biosdevname packages have been upgraded to upstream version 0.6.2, which provides a number of bug fixes and enhancements over the previous version. Notably, it provides the *dev_port* attribute for a new Mellanox driver and allowing naming of FCoE devices to be ignored. (BZ#1158564)
Bug Fixes
- BZ#1133523
- Previously, the biosdevname utility did not parse Vital Product Data (VPD) correctly. As a consequence, names for network interfaces on Vindicator 2 Emulex card were displayed incorrectly when NIC extended partitioning (nPAR-EP) was enabled. VPD parsing has been modified, and Network interface names are now displayed correctly.
- BZ#1207557
- Prior to this update, the biosdevname utility did not read Vital Product Data (VPD) on NICs with vpd-r:2.0, which resulted in incorrect network interface names when NIC partitioning (NPAR) was enabled on certain NICs. With this update, biosdevname reads VPD data also in cases when NIC has vpdr:2.0, and interface names are now formed as expected if NPAR is enabled.
- BZ#1212449
- Due to a scheme used for slot numbers derivation, the biosdevname utility did not populate proper names for Virtual Functions (VFs) of on-board NICs. Now, the scheme that enables VFs of on-board NICs can have proper names, too.
Enhancements
- BZ#1158564
- attribute for a new Mellanox driver and allowing naming of FCoE devices to be ignored.
- BZ#1003465, BZ#1084225
- This update provides an implementation of 10-GB Ethernet adapters naming scheme from Mellanox. Now, the biosdevname utility produces expected network interface names for Mellanox 10-GB Ethernet adapters that have 2 physical ports on the same PCI device. The /sys/class/net/<iface>/dev_port attribute is designed to distinguish network interfaces.
Users of biosdevname are advised to upgrade to these updated packages, which fix these bugs and add these enhancements.
