7.155. NetworkManager
Updated NetworkManager packages that fix multiple bugs and add various enhancements are now available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.
NetworkManager is a system network service that manages network devices and connections, attempting to keep active network connectivity when available. It manages Ethernet, wireless, mobile broadband (WWAN), and PPPoE (Point-to-Point Protocol over Ethernet) devices, and provides VPN integration with a variety of different VPN services.
Bug Fixes
- BZ#813573
- Previously, NetworkManager did not allow selecting the WPA protocol version for a connection. Certain enterprise WLAN networks using Cisco equipment do not allow roaming between WPA and WPA2 Virtual Access Points (VAP) provided by the same physical access point, requiring the use of a specific WPA protocol version to prevent disconnections. This update adds a WPA protocol combo box to the NetworkManager user interface allowing a specific WPA protocol version to be used when necessary, thus preventing this problem.
- BZ#829499
- Previously, NetworkManager tried to enable an interface only once. Consequently, after a network failure, if a link was restored before the connection to a DHCP server was functioning, NetworkManager sometimes timed out and failed to bring up the interface. A patch has been applied so that NetworkManager now tries three times to connect after a failure and then again in five minute intervals. As a result, NetworkManager can now more reliably restore connections after a network failure.
- BZ#833199
- Due to a bug in reading and writing network configuration files, network connections using the LEAP authentication method could not be made available to all users. A patch has been applied to address this issue and the network configuration files now allow LEAP as expected.
- BZ#834349
- When a connection was locked to a specific WPA protocol version (either v1 or v2/RSN) via either the GConf system or settings in the "/etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/" configuration files, NetworkManager overwrote that preference when the connection was edited and saved. This bug has been fixed and such WPA preferences are now preserved in the described scenario.
- BZ#837056
- When attempting to configure a wireless LEAP authenticated connection, the credentials were asked for twice by the authentication dialog. A patch has been applied and the problem no longer occurs.
- BZ#840580
- The NetworkManager service logged a warning when the Bluetooth service was not running or not installed. A patch has been applied to prevent this and the problem no longer occurs.
Enhancements
- BZ#558983
- This update adds bridging support for NetworkManager. Note that this is dependent on the NM_BOND_VLAN_ENABLED directive in /etc/sysconfig/network. If and only if that directive is present and is one of yes, y, or true, will NetworkManager detect and manage bridging, bonding and VLAN interfaces.
- BZ#465345
- The NetworkManager service now provides support for bonding network connections as well as creating VLAN and IPoIB network connections.
- BZ#817660
- NetworkManager now copies the DHCP lease files created by init scripts if they are newer then those NetworkManager currently has. This results in a more seamless takeover of DHCP assigned connections.
- BZ#834444
- This update enables Proactive Key Caching (PKC), also known as Opportunistic Key Caching (OKC), for all WPA-Enterprise configurations.
- BZ#901662
- A number of improvements have been made to NetworkManager to allow more bonding options and to handle incompatibilities between options. As a result, more complex bonding configurations can now be controlled by NetworkManager.
All users of NetworkManager are advised to upgrade to these updated packages, which fix these bugs and add these enhancements.
