Interfaces

An interface represents either a physical interface (Ethernet) or a logical interface (VLAN) on the bonder.

Interfaces are required to create interface legs and connected IPs.

Adding, editing, & deleting interfaces

Interfaces are displayed in a table on the bond details page.

To add an interface, click the node-object-add button to the upper-left of the interfaces table. This will open the “add interface” modal.

To edit an interface, click the node-object-edit button. This will open the “edit interface” modal.

To delete an interface, click the node-object-delete button. This will ask for confirmation, and is permanent.

Interface status

To get comprehensive details on a particular interface’s running state, click the caret node-object-caret beside its ID.

This will open the status information dropdown. Here, interface details detected by the bonder at runtime can be found (e.g., if the interface detects carrier, or the detected MTU).

Configuring an interface

Interface configuration options are accessed through the interface add and edit modals.

Type

Bonders can have four different types of interfaces:

  1. Ethernet
  2. VLAN
  3. VXLAN
  4. Bridge

Ethernet interfaces must exist on the host (they will not be created by bonding). Conversely, VLAN, VXLAN, and bridge interfaces will be created on the device if they do not exist already, and they will be recreated if they already exist when bonding starts.

VLAN interfaces require an existing Ethernet interface to be defined for use as a trunk device.

VXLAN interfaces can be used on bonders to implement layer-2 EVPN functionality. For integration with local networks, a VXLAN can be attached to a bridge that also has an ethernet or VLAN interface attached. Also, if a VXLAN-aware switch is connected to an ethernet interface, the VXLAN can be set to communicate directly using multicast.

Ethernet interface options

These options are specific to Ethernet interfaces.

Interface name

The name of the interface on the bonder. Can’t be changed after creation.

Interface mode

This setting controls the interface speed and whether it uses full-duplex or half-duplex communication. Set to auto negotiation by default.

VLAN interface options

These options are specific to VLAN interfaces.

Ethernet interface

The Ethernet interface to use as the trunk device. Can’t be changed after creation.

VLAN tag

The tag ID of this VLAN.

VXLAN interface options

These options are specific to VXLAN interfaces.

VXLANs are like VLANs but much more powerful. See here for an introduction to the technology.

Interface name

The name to give the VXLAN interface on the bonder. Can’t be changed after creation.

VNI

The VXLAN Network Identifier (analogous to a VLAN tag ID).

Ethernet interface

The name of the base interface to use on the bonder.

Unlike VLANs, a base device is not required for VXLANs, and can be changed after creation.

Having a base Ethernet interface allows the VXLAN device to join a multicast group and perform neighbor discovery, instead of requiring peers to be manually added. This can be used to peer with a local VXLAN-aware switch.

Multicast group

The multicast group for the interface to participate in.

A base Ethernet device is required to use multicast. If no multicast group is explicitly set and a base Ethernet device is configured, the 240.0.0.0 group is used.

Source address

The source address to use for this interface.

Must belong to the same IP family (IPv4 or IPv6) as the source address of peer VXLAN devices.

TTL

The TTL to set on packets leaving the interface.

ToS

The ToS to set on packets leaving the interface.

Add endpoint

Configure a peer VXLAN device by VNI, address, and port.

Bridge interface options

These options are specific to bridge interfaces.

Bridges allow multiple interfaces to be combined into a single layer-2 bridge that operates as a virtual switch.

They can be used to avoid the need for a local switch when connecting multiple devices to a bonder that need to be in the same network. They can also be used in conjunction with VXLAN interfaces to implement a layer-2 EVPN.

When using bridges it is important to note that any IP addressing must be attached to the bridge itself and not any of the interfaces attached to the bridge.

Ageing Time

The maximum time a MAC address is held in the forwarding database since the last time it sent a frame.

STP

Enables Spanning Tree Protocol, which protects networks from bridging loops that can cause network failures.

This should be enabled when multiple switches and bridges are connected together. When plugging in a new device there will be a short delay before it will forward layer-2 traffic while it attempts to detect a loop.

For simple bridges, this can be disabled to eliminate the forwarding delay.

For more information, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanning_Tree_Protocol

Hello Time

When STP is enabled, and this bridge is determined to be a designated or root bridge, this is the interval in seconds between the transmission of hello messages.

Forward Delay

When STP is enabled, this sets the delay in seconds after a device is plugged before it will forward traffic. This delay is used to detect loops.

Priority

When STP is enabled, this defines the priority of this bridge when electing the root bridge. Lower priority values are preferred over higher ones.

Common interface options

These options can be set for all interface types.

Bridge

Attaches the interface to a bridge interface. This can be set for any interface types except for bridge.

When an interface is attached to a bridge, it can no longer be used with connected IPs or services. Connected IPs and services must be assigned to the bridge interface instead.

Interface MAC

The MAC address for the interface. This is required when using VLAN interfaces that connect to the same ISP to keep the connection from constantly flapping up and down.

Interface MTU

The MTU for the interface, in bytes. If MTU detection is enabled, this represents the upper bound of possible MTU values that are checked when detecting the path MTU. Reducing this value will speed up detection if the path MTU is less than 1500. If MTU detection is disabled, this field should be provided when the path MTU is less than 1500 and the modem cannot report its MTU to the bonder correctly.

If the bond MTU detection option is disabled, the interface MTU should be set manually in these scenarios:

  1. When connected to a DSL modem in non-bridged mode, where the modem is providing a DHCP address to the bonder
  2. When connected to a mobile broadband leg over Ethernet
  3. Any other environment where the path MTU between the bonder and aggregator is less than 1500 bytes, but the leg is connected via Ethernet with a 1500 byte MTU

We strongly recommend that the bond’s MTU detection option is not disabled, as it handles all these scenarios automatically.

Note

A free-form field for any relevant information.

Backwards compatibility

As of 6.4, interface mode is only configurable on Ethernet interfaces. This changes the behaviour of the v3 API in the context of attempting to change the interface mode of a leg with a VLAN interface (i.e. any such request will be ignored).