On Wed, Jan 05, 2022 at 09:22:20AM -0500, Neal Gompa wrote:
On Wed, Jan 5, 2022 at 9:11 AM Peter Robinson <pbrobinson@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Wed, Jan 5, 2022 at 2:09 PM Neal Gompa <ngompa13@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> On Wed, Jan 5, 2022 at 9:05 AM Ben Cotton <bcotton@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> >
> > https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Changes/NoIfcfgFiles
> >
> > == Summary ==
> > Do not not include NetworkManager support for legacy network
> > configuration files by in new installations.
> >
> > == Owner ==
> > * Name: [[User:Lkundrak| Lubomir Rintel]]
> > * Email: <lkundrak@xxxxx>
> >
> > * Name: Ana Cabral
> > * Email: <acabral@xxxxxxxxxx>
> >
> > * Name: [[User:Thaller| Thomas Haller]]
> > * Email: <thaller@xxxxxxxxxx>
> >
> > == Detailed Description ==
> > Long ago, network was configured using "network" service.
> > It was essentially a set of shell scripts, that sourced snippets of
> > configuration from `/etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-*` ("ifcfg
> > files").
> > The ifcfg files compatible with the legacy network service were kept
> > when NetworkManager was intruduced.
> >
> > As the NetworkManager feature set was expanding beyond what the legacy
> > network service could support,
> > the ifcfg files written by NetworkManager could no longer be
> > guarranteed to be compatible.
> > NetworkManager eventually gained support for connection types
> > completely unknown to the legacy network service
> > and ended up using a more streamlined configuration file format for
> > those, known as keyfile.
> >
> > NetworkManager's use of various configuration files is, in fact,
> > configurable and extensible with plugins.
> > Prior to Fedora 33, NetworkManager by default was configured to enable
> > both ifcfg files and keyfiles, with the former taking precedence when
> > possible.
> > The precedence changed in
> > [https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Changes/NetworkManager_keyfile_instead_of_ifcfg_rh
> > Fedora 33] to perfer keyfile.
> >
> > The precedence has an effect when a network connection profile is created.
> > Once the connection profile exists, NetworkManager is unable to
> > convert the profile to a different configuration backend.
> > This makes it necessary for NetworkManager to support the same feature
> > set in all configuration backend.
> > Given the complexities stemming from historical legacy of ifcfg files
> > not being designed (or documented) in a
> > particularly forward-looking way, this has been a huge and complex
> > effort with all the downsides:
> > The ifcfg support code is huge (130K lines, not counting the enormous
> > test suite) and has constantly been a source of bugs.
> >
> > == Benefit to Fedora ==
> > This change removes a body of code that has a large cost in terms of
> > bugs and maintenance at questionable benefit.
> >
> > It slightly reduces the default installation size.
> >
> > == Scope ==
> > * Proposal owners: Split the ifcfg plugin into a subpackage package.
> > Make sure the ifcfg plugin stays on upgrades. Provide a migration
> > tool.
> >
> > * Other developers: N/A
> >
> > * Release engineering: N/A
> >
> > * Policies and guidelines: N/A
> >
> > * Trademark approval: N/A
> >
> > * Alignment with Objectives: N/A
> >
> > == Upgrade/compatibility impact ==
> > For the time being the ifcfg plugin is kept around, albeit in a
> > sub-package that's not included in new installations.
> > The appropriate RPM tags will ensure the sub-package with the ifcfg
> > plugin will be installed on upgrades.
> > A migration tool will be provided for users who'd like to remove the
> > legacy package from their systems after upgrade.
> >
> > == How To Test ==
> > N/A.
> > The keyfiles are used by default in Fedora 33 already, so any problem
> > with them would've already been spotted.
> >
> > == User Experience ==
> > Regular users will not notice anything.
> > Users of old installations with ifcfg files will get the new
> > sub-package on upgrade.
> > New systems will default to use keyfiles, which is not something
> > regulars user would notice.
> >
> > System integrators and administrators might use tools that drop in
> > ifcfg files during automated installations (e.g. via kickstart or a
> > configration management tool).
> > They will need to update their tools -- convert the ifcfg files to
> > keyfiles or include the ifcfg sub-package.
> >
> > == Dependencies ==
> > N/A
> >
> > == Contingency Plan ==
> > * Contingency mechanism: If it turns out we can't drop support for
> > ifcfg files by default, we can either fold the ifcfg sub-package back
> > into the main NetworkManager package or make sure it is included in
> > new installations (via comps change).
> > * Contingency deadline: Any time.
> > * Blocks release? No.
> >
> > == Documentation ==
> > We'll need to write the documentation for the migration tool.
> > Perhaps also something the sysadmins wondering why their ifcfg files
> > don't work anymore could find and refer to.
> >
> > TODO: Update this once it's done.
> >
> > == Release Notes ==
> > We'll need to include a paragraph about this in the release notes.
> >
> > TODO: Update this with the actual release note text.
> >
>
> This will break cloud-init, since it doesn't know how to configure
> NetworkManager directly. It only knows how to configure netplan (which
> isn't packaged in Fedora currently), ifcfg-rh, and ifupdown configuration files.
>
> If you want to do this, you need to extend cloud-init to be able to
> configure NetworkManager properly.
Or replace cloud-init with an equivalent that does.
There are none. Ignition deliberately cannot configure the network,
and as a CoreOS tool, it is incapable of configuring the system to the
same level cloud-init can anyway. Older versions of Ignition could
configure systemd-networkd, but I don't want to ship that either.
Fedora Cloud will be forced to disable NetworkManager and switch back
to legacy network-scripts if this Change goes through. I don't want to
do that, because I *like* NetworkManager. I guess I could modify the
NetworkManager config as part of creating the image to re-enable the
ifcfg-rh plugin, but if it is getting disabled by default, it's not
far away from getting dropped.
Not completely familiar with cloud-init, but what is preventing cloud-init
from configuring NetworkManager vs the old ifcfg scripts? That feels like an
easy enough thing to do what with a combination of NetworkManager.conf and
perhaps some other files that NM would read.
--
David Cantrell <dcantrell@xxxxxxxxxx>
Red Hat, Inc. | Boston, MA | EST5EDT
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