On 03.09.24 16:13, Alexandru Mihail wrote:
Hi, I second Hakan's thoughts and reasons for using NetworkManager
going forward, as opposed to netplan. I work in a company which ships
boat loads of network devices (think industrial routers, GSM gear,
factory equipment) running a wide variety of Linux from Ubuntu, RHEL,
Debian, etc. The way NetworkManager (including nmcli commands)
interoperate seamlessly between RHEL land, SUSE, Arch, Gentoo and
Ubuntu(maybe Debian) helps a lot with maintaining complex network
appliances which run on everything with minimal effort. Think multiple
VLANs on GSM connections, testbeds with hundreds of network namespaces
(managed with NetworkManager), docker fleets with predictable network
topology, etc.
All of this is very much possible and reasonably well documented with
NetworkManager+systemd-networkd.
I also think using a system which most of Linux land already uses can
potentially drive talent to maybe help with NetworkManager integration
here. There's waay more knowledgeable people in NM land than in netplan
in my opinion. On a more personal note, I enjoy using NetworkManager
more than netplan as well, I find the syntax and nmcli way easier to
use and harder to result in a borked network config. I also think my
personal preference is of little importance, compared to my
professional experience with both networking systems.
I’m a system administrator, and with my colleagues, we manage
approximately 1200 servers from physical installation to managing
users’ applications and everything in between. This includes network
design, wiring and implementation.
To be honest, not of our fleet is completely Debian, but many are,
and I personally prefer to work with NetworkManager rather than
Netplan. The reasons are numerous.
Thank you Alexandru and Hakan for sharing your experiences!
The nice thing about Netplan is that it would not force you into any of
those stacks (NetworkManager or systemd-networkd), but functions as a
layer on top.
Yes - this is an additional abstraction layer, but it brings the benefit
of unification. Keeping simple configurations simple across Debian.
Independent of the underlying network stack. It avoids user confusion if
we can provide a single way of how to configure the networking on Debian.
Advanced sysadmins (like you) will probably choose a network stack for
their specific needs, as you already do. In such cases Netplan can easily
be ignored and the underlying NetworkManager or systemd-netword stacks
can be configured natively, as you do today. Netplan will by default get
out of your way if you don't configure it specifically.
Cheers,
Lukas
