Setting Up Networking With NetworkManager

Different tools are available to configure the network. All of them typically perform the same functions. You can select any tool or a combination of tools to manage the network.

Web-Based Tools

Cockpit is a web-based configuration tool for managing network configuration, including network interfaces, bonds, teams (available in Oracle Linux 8), bridges, virtual VLANs, and the firewall. See Oracle Linux: Using the Cockpit Web Console for detailed instructions about managing the network with Cockpit.

Graphical Tools

If you selected the default System With GUI installation profile or environment to install Oracle Linux, these tools are automatically included. For more information on installation profiles, see the Oracle Linux release's installation guide.

Tool	Details
GNOME Settings	The GNOME Settings application enables you to perform various system configurations, including networking. You can access GNOME Settings in the following ways: Select the network icon in the upper-right corner of the desktop, then select Settings. From the desktop menu bar, select Activities, then Show Applications, and then Settings. From the list in the left panel, select the type of configuration that you want to perform.
Network Connection Editor	The Network Connection Editor is a subset of the GNOME settings application which you can use to directly perform network configurations. To start the editor, run the nm-connection-editor command in a terminal window.

Command Line Tools

Use these NetworkManager command line tools if you didn't select the Server With GUI installation profile to install Oracle Linux.

Tool	Details
nmcli	nmcli is NetworkManager's command line tool for managing network settings. Combine subcommands, options, and arguments, to complete network configurations in a single command syntax. To avoid entering long commands, you can also use nmcli in interactive mode. Other commands, such as ip and ethtool, complement nmcli for configuring and managing network settings.
nmtui	nmtui is NetworkManager's text-based user interface (TUI). Navigate through the interface by using keyboard keys instead of a mouse. To start the TUI, run the nmtui command in a terminal window.

For more information, see the nmcli(1), ip(8), and ethtool(8) manual pages.

Traditionally, early kernel versions assigned names to network interface devices by assigning a prefix, which is typically based on the device driver, and a number, such as eth0. With the availability of different types of devices, this naming schema is no longer efficient. The names don't necessarily correspond to the chassis labels and the names themselves might be inconsistent across existing network interfaces. The inconsistency would affect embedded adapters on the system, including add-in adapters. Server platforms with several network adapters could have problems managing these interfaces.

Oracle Linux implements a consistent naming scheme for all network interfaces through the udev device manager. The scheme offers the following advantages:

• The names of the devices are predictable.
• Device names persist across system reboots or after changes are made to the hardware.
• You can identify and replace defective hardware.

The feature that implements consistent naming on devices is enabled in Oracle Linux by default. Network interface names are based on information that's derived from the system BIOS. Alternatively, they can be based on a device's firmware, system path, or MAC address.

Network interfaces are identified by a name that combines a prefix and a suffix. The prefix depends on the type of network interface:

The suffix contains any of the following information: