[arch-projects] netcfg release rfc

Jouke Witteveen

30 Apr 2012 30 Apr '12

8:28 p.m.

Dear all, I have pushed the 2.8.2 tag for netcfg and I think we're in a pretty good shape. If nothing too serious pops up in the next week or two, I suggest moving it to [core]. Since much has changed, a news item is in order. Please help me write one. ---suggestion starts here------ netcfg 2.8.2 release === netcfg 2.8.2 has been moved to [core]. It has been six months since it had an update, so it accumulated quite some changes. Here is a shortlist. - Configuration has moved out of 'rc.conf'. Please move your configuration to '/etc/conf.d/netcfg'. - Connection types ending in '-old', '-dbus' and '-iproute' are discontinued. Remove the suffix if you still have it: you didn't need it. - Systemd is now supported for single profile, multiple profile, automatic wired and automatic wireless connections. - For your basic wifi needs, you can now use the bundled 'wifi-menu' tool. It is a dialog based connection aid inspired by wifi-select. - Disconnecting an interface is no longer done through '-i'. The new parameter is '-D'. Reconnecting an interface is possible through '-R'. - There is a new connection type: PPPoE. The full changelog is at http://projects.archlinux.org/netcfg.git/tree/NEWS?id=2.8.2. ---suggestion ends here------ In addition, the wiki is in need of updating. Please help out on this one (if you're no programmer, this is your chance to do something). In particular, we need to remove all rc.conf references and detail systemd usage (and possibly the NET= kernel syntax that is not documented well). Besides that I don't like the references to newlan (it sucks) and the references to wifi-select should make note of the existence of wifi-menu. Regards, - Jouke

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Tom Gundersen

30 Apr 30 Apr

8:37 p.m.

Hi Jouke, I don't use netcfg, so sorry if these questions are stupid: On Mon, Apr 30, 2012 at 6:28 PM, Jouke Witteveen wrote:

...

- Configuration has moved out of 'rc.conf'. Please move your configuration to '/etc/conf.d/netcfg'.

Does this mean that the old config will stop working?

...

- Connection types ending in '-old', '-dbus' and '-iproute' are discontinued. Remove the suffix if you still have it: you didn't need it.

Does this mean that things will stop working for people who don't update their config? If at all possible, it is usually for the best if we let old configs continue to work, but remove their documentation and print warnings when they are used (but maybe that's what you have done :-) ). As a comparison, the old network syntax in rc.conf still works, even though we complain when it is used. Cheers, Tom

Dan McGee

8:43 p.m.

On Mon, Apr 30, 2012 at 11:37 AM, Tom Gundersen wrote:

...

Hi Jouke,

I don't use netcfg, so sorry if these questions are stupid:

On Mon, Apr 30, 2012 at 6:28 PM, Jouke Witteveen wrote:

...
- Configuration has moved out of 'rc.conf'. Please move your configuration to '/etc/conf.d/netcfg'.

Does this mean that the old config will stop working? Without a deprecation notice, this is going to screw a lot of people over, if it has been removed. Especially since WIRED_INTERFACE couldn't even be read from both files in the 2.7.x version (commit 9564b6c66), you need a migration period for this.

...

...
- Connection types ending in '-old', '-dbus' and '-iproute' are discontinued. Remove the suffix if you still have it: you didn't need it.

Does this mean that things will stop working for people who don't update their config?

If at all possible, it is usually for the best if we let old configs continue to work, but remove their documentation and print warnings when they are used (but maybe that's what you have done :-) ). As a comparison, the old network syntax in rc.conf still works, even though we complain when it is used.

Jouke Witteveen

8:51 p.m.

...

On Mon, Apr 30, 2012 at 6:28 PM, Jouke Witteveen wrote:

...
- Configuration has moved out of 'rc.conf'. Please move your configuration to '/etc/conf.d/netcfg'.

Does this mean that the old config will stop working?

Not yet, a warning is issued. But since all connections with initscripts have become optional (systemd is equally well supported now), rc.conf is no longer the appointed place and although rc.conf was one of the things that drew me to Arch some 8 years ago, I think this is the right thing to do.

...

...
- Connection types ending in '-old', '-dbus' and '-iproute' are discontinued. Remove the suffix if you still have it: you didn't need it.

Does this mean that things will stop working for people who don't update their config?

Yes, but it has been deprecated for a long time. In fact, it was never really supported in the first place :-P. The -old connections were properly deprecated (warnings and all), the -dbus and -iproute connections are short-lived and didn't work well back then. They were symlinked to the normal connections for a long time now.

...

If at all possible, it is usually for the best if we let old configs continue to work, but remove their documentation and print warnings when they are used (but maybe that's what you have done :-) ). As a comparison, the old network syntax in rc.conf still works, even though we complain when it is used.

I totally agree and have learned the hard way :-P. However, I do want to simplify netcfg. The code has become a bit bulky and dropping rc.conf support for non-initscript users is something I do intend to do in the near future it removes 19 somewhat cryptic lines. That might not seem much, but it is the difference between an rc.d script that is a bit difficult to understand and one that is blatantly obvious. For initscript users, rc.conf will keep working even after that, because the output hook sources it. Thanks for helping out! - Jouke

Jouke Witteveen

8:56 p.m.

On Mon, Apr 30, 2012 at 18:43, Dan McGee wrote:

...

On Mon, Apr 30, 2012 at 11:37 AM, Tom Gundersen wrote:

...
On Mon, Apr 30, 2012 at 6:28 PM, Jouke Witteveen wrote:

...
- Configuration has moved out of 'rc.conf'. Please move your configuration to '/etc/conf.d/netcfg'.

Does this mean that the old config will stop working? Without a deprecation notice, this is going to screw a lot of people over, if it has been removed. Especially since WIRED_INTERFACE couldn't even be read from both files in the 2.7.x version (commit 9564b6c66), you need a migration period for this.

This should have been fixed since, isn't it? The commit you refer to seems to include both configuration files?

Dan McGee

9 p.m.

On Mon, Apr 30, 2012 at 11:56 AM, Jouke Witteveen wrote:

...

On Mon, Apr 30, 2012 at 18:43, Dan McGee wrote:

...
On Mon, Apr 30, 2012 at 11:37 AM, Tom Gundersen wrote:

...
On Mon, Apr 30, 2012 at 6:28 PM, Jouke Witteveen wrote:

...
- Configuration has moved out of 'rc.conf'. Please move your configuration to '/etc/conf.d/netcfg'.

Does this mean that the old config will stop working? Without a deprecation notice, this is going to screw a lot of people over, if it has been removed. Especially since WIRED_INTERFACE couldn't even be read from both files in the 2.7.x version (commit 9564b6c66), you need a migration period for this.

This should have been fixed since, isn't it? The commit you refer to seems to include both configuration files?

Yes, it appears to be fixed now- my point was up until your new release here, I was *required* to define it in rc.conf, so if you had removed the ability to set this in rc.conf, there would have been no migration path which is unacceptable when it comes to something critical like networking. But as you said in your reply to Tom, it appears that rc.conf-based config variables still work, so I have nothing to worry about yet. -Dan

Jouke Witteveen

4 May 4 May

4:43 p.m.

...

I have pushed the 2.8.2 tag for netcfg and I think we're in a pretty good shape. If nothing too serious pops up in the next week or two, I suggest moving it to [core].

Could someone package this tag? No testing will be done when it is not in testing ;-). It is as simple as `make upload` and `make pkgbuild` followed by uploading the generated PKGBUILD.

...

Since much has changed, a news item is in order. Please help me write one.

Help is still wanted.

...

---suggestion starts here------ netcfg 2.8.2 release ===

netcfg 2.8.2 has been moved to [core]. It has been six months since it

replace the last 'it' on the previous line by 'netcfg'

...

had an update, so it accumulated quite some changes. Here is a shortlist. - Configuration has moved out of 'rc.conf'. Please move your configuration to '/etc/conf.d/netcfg'. - Connection types ending in '-old', '-dbus' and '-iproute' are discontinued. Remove the suffix if you still have it: you didn't need it. - Systemd is now supported for single profile, multiple profile, automatic wired and automatic wireless connections.

Perhaps link to usage documentation on the wiki (also has to be written)?

...

- For your basic wifi needs, you can now use the bundled 'wifi-menu' tool. It is a dialog based connection aid inspired by wifi-select. - Disconnecting an interface is no longer done through '-i'. The new parameter is '-D'. Reconnecting an interface is possible through '-R'. - There is a new connection type: PPPoE.

The full changelog is at http://projects.archlinux.org/netcfg.git/tree/NEWS?id=2.8.2. ---suggestion ends here------

Regards, - Jouke

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Dan McGee
Jouke Witteveen
Tom Gundersen