systemd-networkd.service systemd Developer Tom Gundersen teg@jklm.no systemd-networkd.service 8 systemd-networkd.service systemd-networkd Network manager systemd-networkd.service /usr/lib/systemd/systemd-networkd Description systemd-networkd is a system service that manages networks. It detects and configures network devices as they appear, as well as creating virtual network devices. Network configurations applied before networkd is started are not removed, and configuration applied by networkd are not removed when networkd exits. This ensures restarting networkd does not cut the network connection, and, in particular, that it is safe to transition between the initrd and the real root, and back. Configuration Files The configuration files are read from the files located in the system network directory /usr/lib/systemd/network, the volatile runtime network directory /run/systemd/network and the local administration network directory /etc/systemd/network. All configuration files are collectively sorted and processed in lexical order, regardless of the directories in which they live. However, files with identical filenames replace each other. Files in /etc have the highest priority, files in /run take precedence over files with the same name in /usr/lib. This can be used to override a system-supplied configuration file with a local file if needed; a symlink in /etc with the same name as a configuration file in /usr/lib, pointing to /dev/null, disables the configuration file entirely. Virtual Network Devices Netdev files must have the extension .netdev; other extensions are ignored. Virtual network devices are created as soon as networkd is started. The [Bridge] section accepts the following keys: Name The interface name used when creating the bridge. This option is compulsory. Networks Network files must have the extension .network; other extensions are ignored. Networks are applied to links whenever the links appear. The network file contains a [Match] section, which determines if a given network file may be applied to a given device; and a [Network] section specifying how the device should be configured. The first (in lexical order) of the network files that matches a given device is applied. A network file is said to match a device if each of the entries in the [Match] section matches, or if the section is empty. The following keys are accepted: MACAddress The hardware address. Path The persistent path, as exposed by the udev property ID_PATH. Driver The driver currently bound to the device, as exposed by the udev property DRIVER. Type The device type, as exposed by the udev property DEVTYPE, or ethernet to match devices without a DEVTYPE. Name The device name, as exposed by the udev property INTERFACE. The [Network] section accepts the following keys: Description A description of the device. This is only used for presentation purposes. DHCP A boolean. When true enables basic DHCPv4 support. Address A static IPv4 or IPv6 address and its prefix length, separated by a '/' character. The format of the address must be as described in inet_pton3 . This is a short-hand for an [Address] section only containing an Address key (see below). Gateway The gateway address, which must be in the format described in inet_pton3 . This is a short-hand for a [Route] section only containing a Gateway key. Bridge The name of the bridge to add the configured link to. The [Address] section accepts the following keys: Address As in the [Network] section. Label An address label. The [Route] section accepts the following keys: Gateway As in the [Network] section. Destination The destination prefix of the route. Possibly followed by a slash and the prefixlength, if ommitted a full-length host route is assumed. See Also systemd1, udev7,