[arch-general] Network configuration
Hi all I write you this mail because I'm a bit lost between all these network configuration tools available : - systemd-networkd - dhcpcd service - netctl - wpa_supplicant - NetworkManager/wicd There is two profiles I use now : a laptop (wifi auto-discover and connect with gui tray and easy to add network, ethernet auto-connect) and a raspberry py server (low ressources, ethernet only, dhcp configured, config not often changed). Actually, I use nm on my laptop (it's much much better than wicd) and dhcpcd on my raspberry pi. What would you use and why ? Additional question : it seems systemd-timesyncd requires systemd-networkd, is it true ? Thanks Yamakaky
I use netctl, 'cause it's lighter than networkmanager and does what I want it to do quite easily. Only thing I miss is a system tray icon. I tried using netmon, but I don't like somethign python running all the time in the background. I use timesyncd with netctl and it works perfectly well. On Fri, Jun 13, 2014 at 5:39 PM, Yamakaky <yamakaky@yamaworld.fr> wrote:
Hi all
I write you this mail because I'm a bit lost between all these network configuration tools available :
- systemd-networkd - dhcpcd service - netctl - wpa_supplicant - NetworkManager/wicd
There is two profiles I use now : a laptop (wifi auto-discover and connect with gui tray and easy to add network, ethernet auto-connect) and a raspberry py server (low ressources, ethernet only, dhcp configured, config not often changed). Actually, I use nm on my laptop (it's much much better than wicd) and dhcpcd on my raspberry pi. What would you use and why ?
Additional question : it seems systemd-timesyncd requires systemd-networkd, is it true ?
Thanks Yamakaky
-- Savyasachee Jha *"Aerodynamics is for people whodon't know how to build engines."*
Hi Yamakaky, netctl, wpa_supplicant, and NetworkManager all manage your network interface connections (your OSI layer 2 connections). dhcpcd and dhclient are DHCP clients, responsible for automatically getting you an IP address (OSI layer 3). More information about these tools can be found on the Arch Wiki: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Wireless#Wireless_management I prefer to use wpa_supplicant because it is very simple, and exposes much of the low level stuff. I have heard that it can be annoying to maintain, but I haven't reached that drawback yet. My strategy is to use the most minimal tool available until I understand why it is better to use higher level tools. I would like to move to NetworkManager because I run chronyd and want to bring it online and offline as my Internet connection comes and goes, which wpa_supplicant does not support AFAIK. But I haven't been able to get it to work yet. For my DHCP client I chose dhcpcd, for no particular reason. Hope that helps. Dolan On Fri, Jun 13, 2014 at 10:39:34AM +0200, Yamakaky wrote:
Hi all
I write you this mail because I'm a bit lost between all these network configuration tools available :
- systemd-networkd - dhcpcd service - netctl - wpa_supplicant - NetworkManager/wicd
There is two profiles I use now : a laptop (wifi auto-discover and connect with gui tray and easy to add network, ethernet auto-connect) and a raspberry py server (low ressources, ethernet only, dhcp configured, config not often changed). Actually, I use nm on my laptop (it's much much better than wicd) and dhcpcd on my raspberry pi. What would you use and why ?
Additional question : it seems systemd-timesyncd requires systemd-networkd, is it true ?
Thanks Yamakaky
On 06/13, Yamakaky wrote:
Hi all
I write you this mail because I'm a bit lost between all these network configuration tools available :
- systemd-networkd - dhcpcd service - netctl - wpa_supplicant - NetworkManager/wicd
There is two profiles I use now : a laptop (wifi auto-discover and connect with gui tray and easy to add network, ethernet auto-connect) and a raspberry py server (low ressources, ethernet only, dhcp configured, config not often changed). Actually, I use nm on my laptop (it's much much better than wicd) and dhcpcd on my raspberry pi. What would you use and why ?
This is a matter of personal choice, as each one offers different interfaces and features. From my experience wpa_supplicant connects to wifi networks much faster on its own. dhcpcd automatically checks wpa_supplicant settings on start-up, so simply running dhcpcd logs me into my home account. In that sense I don't "use" a network manager at all; configuration amounts to sticking a file containing the ESSID and passphrase for my home network in /etc/wpa_supplicant/, and it just works. For connections away from home, I use wpa_supplicant directly from the command line. NM, wicd and netctl are basically profile managers; they don't connect to a network on their own. -- "A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools." - Douglas Adams
Hi On Fri, Jun 13, 2014 at 1:39 AM, Yamakaky <yamakaky@yamaworld.fr> wrote:
Hi all
I write you this mail because I'm a bit lost between all these network configuration tools available :
- systemd-networkd - dhcpcd service - netctl - wpa_supplicant - NetworkManager/wicd
There is two profiles I use now : a laptop (wifi auto-discover and connect with gui tray and easy to add network, ethernet auto-connect) and a raspberry py server (low ressources, ethernet only, dhcp configured, config not often changed). Actually, I use nm on my laptop (it's much much better than wicd) and dhcpcd on my raspberry pi. What would you use and why ?
As it was said above it is matter of personal preference. Personally I try to use the simplest possible tools that do its job. And I switched all my machines to systemd-networkd (+wpa_supplicant for wifi). Network/WIFI/DHCP work great, no complains. My advice it to start with systemd-networkd and only if it does not work for you then look at other alternatives. https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Systemd-networkd#Basic_DHCP_network
Thanks for your answers.
As it was said above it is matter of personal preference. Personally I try to use the simplest possible tools that do its job. And I switched all my machines to systemd-networkd (+wpa_supplicant for wifi). Network/WIFI/DHCP work great, no complains.
My advice it to start with systemd-networkd and only if it does not work for you then look at other alternatives. https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Systemd-networkd#Basic_DHCP_network
That's what I was about to setup when I saw that systemd-networkd doesn't support DHCP for ipv6 ^^ Do you if it's planned ?
On 06/13/2014 11:45 AM, Yamakaky wrote:
That's what I was about to setup when I saw that systemd-networkd doesn't support DHCP for ipv6 ^^ Do you if it's planned ?
There was a patch set submitted today to systemd to start adding dhcp support for ipv6[1], but it's not been accepted yet. Even with that patch, I believe there's still work to be done. Regards, Ryan Fredette [1] http://lists.freedesktop.org/archives/systemd-devel/2014-June/019987.html
Le 13/06/2014 18:05, Ryan Fredette a écrit :
On 06/13/2014 11:45 AM, Yamakaky wrote:
That's what I was about to setup when I saw that systemd-networkd doesn't support DHCP for ipv6 ^^ Do you if it's planned ?
There was a patch set submitted today to systemd to start adding dhcp support for ipv6[1], but it's not been accepted yet. Even with that patch, I believe there's still work to be done.
Regards, Ryan Fredette
[1] http://lists.freedesktop.org/archives/systemd-devel/2014-June/019987.html
Ok. So I think I'm gonna stick with dhcpcd for now on my raspberry pi, and use systemd-networkd when it will be ipv6 ready. For my laptop, I will try wpa_supplicant, or stick with nm if I don't like it. Thanks all for your answers !
participants (6)
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Anatol Pomozov
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Bigby James
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Dolan Murvihill
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Ryan Fredette
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Savyasachee Jha
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Yamakaky