pveNetworkManager

Overview

When trying to run NetworkManager with Proxmox some applications, such as Discover or PackageKit, which rely on connectivity-change notifications from NetworkManager end up believing that the system is offline. Setting managed=false in /etc/NetworkManager/NetworkManager.conf is of no use.

pveNetworkManager solves this.

Features

• Small and fast, ~150 lines, written in Python (and 2 lines of BASH).
• No need to shut down running VMs:
  • When Ethernet is active, the interface is automatically joined to the bridge (e.g. vmbr0) to provide connectivity seamlessly.
  • When Wireless is active, the bridge (e.g. vmbr0) automatically switches to NAT mode (since Wireless can't be bridged) and runs a DHCP server, so that running VMs can simply request an IP and keep working.

Caveats

• Only 1 physical interface (Ethernet or Wireless, configured via DHCP or not) must be active at any given time, and it must provide a default gateway.

Prerequisites

1. Dependencies:

   You have isc-dhcp-server installed.

   sudo apt-get install isc-dhcp-server

2. NetworkManager settings:

   You have the following in /etc/NetworkManager/NetworkManager.conf:

   [ifupdown]
   managed=true

3. Proxmox Network Configuration:

   • You have at least ONE bridged (not NAT) bridge in Proxmox (i.e.: vmbr0).
   • You have dummy in /etc/modules (if not, run: echo dummy | sudo tee -a /etc/modules).
   • You have a dummy interface (which does nothing) assigned to the bridged bridge (i.e.: vmbr0).
   • You have no physical interfaces in /etc/network/interfaces.

   auto lo
   iface lo inet loopback
   
   audo dummy0
   iface dummy0 inet manual
       post-up ip link add dummy0 type dummy
   
   auto vmbr0
   iface vmbr0 inet manual
           bridge-ports dummy0
           bridge-stp off
           bridge-fd 0
   
   source /etc/network/interfaces.d/*

   • Note 1: if you have any other interfaces (like a NAT bridge, etc.) the software should run fine, but you run it AT YOUR OWN RISK.
   • Note 2: Make sure the configurations of [iptables, routes] are backed up.

Installation

1. Clone the Repository:

   git clone https://github.com/yourusername/pveNetworkManager.git
   cd pveNetworkManager

2. Configure isc-dhcp-server:

   Reserve a subnet in /etc/dhcp/dhcpd.conf which will be attached to vmbr0 when it's required to switch to NAT mode. For example, I'm reserving 10.20.20.0/24 whose first IP 10.20.20.1 I will add to pveNetworkManager.d/config.py

       subnet 10.20.20.0 netmask 255.255.255.0 {
           range 10.20.20.2 10.20.20.254;
           option routers 10.20.20.1;
           option domain-name-servers 8.8.8.8;
       }

3. Configure pveNetworkManager.d/config.py:

   Change the parameters below, changing at least the RESERVED_IP according to /etc/dhcp/dhcpd.conf

       SYSLOG_NAME = "pveNetworkManager" # name for syslog
       BRIDGE = "vmbr0" # bridged (not NAT) bridge in Proxmox
       ETHERNET = "enp44s0" # ethernet
       WIRELESS = "wlo1" # wireless
       RESERVED_IP = "10.20.20.1/24" # ip used by BRIDGE when switching from bridged mode to NAT mode
       DEBUG = False # activates snapshotting (before & after each command) of routes, iptables, and brctl in syslog
       TIMEOUT = 5 # time to wait for a DHCP reply (since the moment in which NetworkManager brings the interface "up")

4. Install:

   As root type:

   make check
   make install
   

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please fork the repository and submit a pull request with your changes.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. See the LICENSE file for details.

Contact

For any questions or issues, please use the appropriate Github section.