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11.2. Interface Configuration Files

Interface configuration files control the software interfaces for individual network devices. As the system boots, it uses these files to determine what interfaces to bring up and how to configure them. These files are usually named ifcfg-name, where name refers to the name of the device that the configuration file controls.

11.2.1. Ethernet Interfaces

One of the most common interface files is /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0, which controls the first Ethernet network interface card or NIC in the system. In a system with multiple NICs, there are multiple ifcfg-ethX files (where X is a unique number corresponding to a specific interface). Because each device has its own configuration file, an administrator can control how each interface functions individually.
The following is a sample ifcfg-eth0 file for a system using a fixed IP address: 
DEVICE=eth0
BOOTPROTO=none
ONBOOT=yes
NETMASK=255.255.255.0
IPADDR=10.0.1.27
USERCTL=no
The values required in an interface configuration file can change based on other values. For example, the ifcfg-eth0 file for an interface using DHCP looks different because IP information is provided by the DHCP server: 
DEVICE=eth0
BOOTPROTO=dhcp
ONBOOT=yes
NetworkManager is graphical configuration tool which provides an easy way to make changes to the various network interface configuration files (see Chapter 10, NetworkManager for detailed instructions on using this tool).
However, it is also possible to manually edit the configuration files for a given network interface.
Below is a listing of the configurable parameters in an Ethernet interface configuration file:
BONDING_OPTS=parameters
sets the configuration parameters for the bonding device, and is used in /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-bondN (see Section 11.2.4, “Channel Bonding Interfaces”). These parameters are identical to those used for bonding devices in /sys/class/net/bonding_device/bonding, and the module parameters for the bonding driver as described in bonding Module Directives.
This configuration method is used so that multiple bonding devices can have different configurations. In Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6, place all interface-specific bonding options after the BONDING_OPTS directive in ifcfg-name files. See Where to specify bonding module parameters for more information.
BOOTPROTO=protocol
where protocol is one of the following:
  • none — No boot-time protocol should be used.
  • bootp — The BOOTP protocol should be used.
  • dhcp — The DHCP protocol should be used.
BROADCAST=address
where address is the broadcast address. This directive is deprecated, as the value is calculated automatically with ipcalc.
DEVICE=name
where name is the name of the physical device (except for dynamically-allocated PPP devices where it is the logical name).
DHCP_HOSTNAME=name
where name is a short host name to be sent to the DHCP server. Use this option only if the DHCP server requires the client to specify a host name before receiving an IP address.
DHCPV6C=answer
where answer is one of the following:
  • yes — Use DHCP to obtain an IPv6 address for this interface.
  • no — Do not use DHCP to obtain an IPv6 address for this interface. This is the default value.
An IPv6 link-local address will still be assigned by default. The link-local address is based on the MAC address of the interface as per RFC 4862.
DHCPV6C_OPTIONS=answer
where answer is one of the following:
  • -P — Enable IPv6 prefix delegation.
  • -S — Use DHCP to obtain stateless configuration only, not addresses, for this interface.
  • -N — Restore normal operation after using the -T or -P options.
  • -T — Use DHCP to obtain a temporary IPv6 address for this interface.
  • -D — Override the default when selecting the type of DHCP Unique Identifier (DUID) to use.
    By default, the DHCP client (dhclient) creates a DHCP Unique Identifier (DUID) based on the link-layer address (DUID-LL) if it is running in stateless mode (with the -S option, to not request an address), or it creates an identifier based on the link-layer address plus a timestamp (DUID-LLT) if it is running in stateful mode (without -S, requesting an address). The -D option overrides this default, with a value of either LL or LLT.
DNS{1,2}=address
where address is a name server address to be placed in /etc/resolv.conf provided that the PEERDNS directive is not set to no.
ETHTOOL_OPTS=options
where options are any device-specific options supported by ethtool. For example, if you wanted to force 100Mb, full duplex: 
ETHTOOL_OPTS="autoneg off speed 100 duplex full"
Instead of a custom initscript, use ETHTOOL_OPTS to set the interface speed and duplex settings. Custom initscripts run outside of the network init script lead to unpredictable results during a post-boot network service restart.

Important

Changing speed or duplex settings almost always requires disabling auto-negotiation with the autoneg off option. This option needs to be stated first, as the option entries are order-dependent.
See Section 11.8, “Ethtool” for more ethtool options.
HOTPLUG=answer
where answer is one of the following:
  • yes — This device should be activated when it is hot-plugged (this is the default option).
  • no — This device should not be activated when it is hot-plugged.
The HOTPLUG=no option can be used to prevent a channel bonding interface from being activated when a bonding kernel module is loaded.
See Section 11.2.4, “Channel Bonding Interfaces” for more information about channel bonding interfaces.
HWADDR=MAC-address
where MAC-address is the hardware address of the Ethernet device in the form AA:BB:CC:DD:EE:FF. This directive must be used in machines containing more than one NIC to ensure that the interfaces are assigned the correct device names regardless of the configured load order for each NIC's module. This directive should not be used in conjunction with MACADDR.

Note

  • Persistent device names are now handled by /etc/udev/rules.d/70-persistent-net.rules.
  • HWADDR must not be used with System z network devices.
  • See Section 25.3.3, "Mapping subchannels and network device names", in the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 Installation Guide.
IPADDRn=address
where address is the IPv4 address and the n is expected to be consecutive positive integers starting from 0 (for example, IPADDR0). It is used for configurations with multiple IP addresses on an interface. It can be omitted if there is only one address being configured.
IPV6ADDR=address
where address is the first static, or primary, IPv6 address on an interface.
The format is Address/Prefix-length. If no prefix length is specified, /64 is assumed. Note that this setting depends on IPV6INIT being enabled.
IPV6ADDR_SECONDARIES=address
where address is one or more, space separated, additional IPv6 addresses.
The format is Address/Prefix-length. If no prefix length is specified, /64 is assumed. Note that this setting depends on IPV6INIT being enabled.
IPV6INIT=answer
where answer is one of the following:
  • yes — Initialize this interface for IPv6 addressing.
  • no — Do not initialize this interface for IPv6 addressing. This is the default value.
    This setting is required for IPv6 static and DHCP assignment of IPv6 addresses. It does not affect IPv6 Stateless Address Autoconfiguration (SLAAC) as per RFC 4862.
    See Section D.1.14, “/etc/sysconfig/network” for information on disabling IPv6.
IPV6_AUTOCONF=answer
where answer is one of the following:
  • yes — Enable IPv6 autoconf configuration for this interface.
  • no — Disable IPv6 autoconf configuration for this interface.
If enabled, an IPv6 address will be requested using Neighbor Discovery (ND) from a router running the radvd daemon.
Note that the default value of IPV6_AUTOCONF depends on IPV6FORWARDING as follows:
  • If IPV6FORWARDING=yes, then IPV6_AUTOCONF will default to no.
  • If IPV6FORWARDING=no, then IPV6_AUTOCONF will default to yes and IPV6_ROUTER has no effect.
IPV6_MTU=value
where value is an optional dedicated MTU for this interface.
IPV6_PRIVACY=rfc3041
where rfc3041 optionally sets this interface to support RFC 3041 Privacy Extensions for Stateless Address Autoconfiguration in IPv6. Note that this setting depends on IPV6INIT option being enabled.
The default is for RFC 3041 support to be disabled. Stateless Autoconfiguration will derive addresses based on the MAC address, when available, using the modified EUI-64 method. The address is appended to a prefix but as the address is normally derived from the MAC address it is globally unique even when the prefix changes. In the case of a link-local address the prefix is fe80::/64 as per RFC 2462 IPv6 Stateless Address Autoconfiguration.
LINKDELAY=time
where time is the number of seconds to wait for link negotiation before configuring the device. The default is 5 secs. Delays in link negotiation, caused by STP for example, can be overcome by increasing this value.
MACADDR=MAC-address
where MAC-address is the hardware address of the Ethernet device in the form AA:BB:CC:DD:EE:FF.
This directive is used to assign a MAC address to an interface, overriding the one assigned to the physical NIC. This directive should not be used in conjunction with the HWADDR directive.
MASTER=bond-interface
where bond-interface is the channel bonding interface to which the Ethernet interface is linked.
This directive is used in conjunction with the SLAVE directive.
See Section 11.2.4, “Channel Bonding Interfaces” for more information about channel bonding interfaces.
NETMASKn=mask
where mask is the netmask value and the n is expected to be consecutive positive integers starting from 0 (for example, NETMASK0). It is used for configurations with multiple IP addresses on an interface. It can be omitted if there is only one address being configured.
NETWORK=address
where address is the network address. This directive is deprecated, as the value is calculated automatically with ipcalc.
NM_CONTROLLED=answer
where answer is one of the following:
  • yes — NetworkManager is permitted to configure this device. This is the default behavior and can be omitted.
  • no — NetworkManager is not permitted to configure this device.

Note

The NM_CONTROLLED directive is now, as of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.3, 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 bonding and VLAN interfaces.
ONBOOT=answer
where answer is one of the following:
  • yes — This device should be activated at boot-time.
  • no — This device should not be activated at boot-time.
PEERDNS=answer
where answer is one of the following:
  • yes — Modify /etc/resolv.conf if the DNS directive is set, if using DHCP, or if using Microsoft's RFC 1877 IPCP extensions with PPP. In all cases yes is the default.
  • no — Do not modify /etc/resolv.conf.
SLAVE=answer
where answer is one of the following:
  • yes — This device is controlled by the channel bonding interface specified in the MASTER directive.
  • no — This device is not controlled by the channel bonding interface specified in the MASTER directive.
This directive is used in conjunction with the MASTER directive.
See Section 11.2.4, “Channel Bonding Interfaces” for more about channel bonding interfaces.
SRCADDR=address
where address is the specified source IP address for outgoing packets.
USERCTL=answer
where answer is one of the following:
  • yes — Non-root users are allowed to control this device.
  • no — Non-root users are not allowed to control this device.
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