Network management
This article Article description::lists network management software to establish and manage network connections.
Gentoo provides several tools for managing network connections. If you have emerged OpenRc without network support, i.e. with both USE flags netifrc and newnet disabled, you might need to set up a network manager such as net-misc/netifrc, net-misc/dhcpcd, net-misc/wicd, net-misc/networkmanager, or net-vpn/badvpn. Or, you have the option of emerging openrc with the newnet use flag and configuring /etc/conf.d/network and /etc/conf.d/staticroute if you only use static interfaces.[1]
Available software
The solutions listed here typically do not work together. Be sure only one of these services is running at a time. Starting more than one network management service will lead to unpredictable results!
| Name | Package | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Connman | net-misc/connman | ConnMan is a command-line network manager designed for use with embedded devices |
| Netifrc | net-misc/netifrc | Gentoo's own network configuration scripts, split from OpenRC |
| Network management using DHCPCD | net-misc/dhcpcd | explains how to use dhcpcd for complete network stack management. |
| NetworkManager | net-misc/networkmanager | a network management software for Ethernet, WiFi, DSL, dialup, VPN, WiMAX, and mobile broadband network connections |
| OpenRC [newnet] | sys-apps/openrc | The newnet USE flag enables the new network stack (experimental) |
The easiest to use is dhcpcd. It has perfect integration for wpa_supplicant and automatically switches between wired and wireless connections. In case of using dhcpcd as network manager, the USE flags netifrc and newnet may be deactivated in OpenRC.
/etc/portage/package.useDisabling netifrc and newnetsys-apps/openrc -netifrc -newnet
Gentoo's standard however for network management is using Gentoo net.* scripts aka netifrc.
Comparison table with wifi supplicant and modem managers
Here are some network packages, along with their capabilities, that are available in Gentoo:
The solutions listed as "Network managers" usually make use of other software listed below, e.g. wpa_supplicant.
| Software | Ethernet | Wifi | DSL | Modem | WiMAX | 3G | VPN | GUI | Boot time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Network managers | |||||||||
| Netifrc | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No Can use gui of wpa_supplicant | Yes |
| DHCPCD | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | Yes See dhcpcd-ui article | Yes |
| NetworkManager | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Wifi supplicant | |||||||||
| wpa_supplicant | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No | Yes qt5 use flag provides wpa_gui | Yes |
| iwd | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| Modem only | |||||||||
| net-dialup/wvdial | No | No | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | No |
See also
- Sysfs#Usage — Which network interfaces are on the computer?
- How to keep classic network interface naming
- Dependency behavior (OpenRC)