28. Creating an Ubuntu KVM Networked Bridge Interface
By default, the KVM virtualization environment on Ubuntu creates a virtual network to which virtual machines may connect. It is also possible to configure a direct connection using a MacVTap driver, though as outlined in the chapter entitled “An Overview of Virtualization Techniques”, this approach does not allow the host and guest systems to communicate.
The goal of this chapter is to cover the steps involved in creating a network bridge on Ubuntu enabling guest systems to share one or more of the host system’s physical network connections while still allowing the guest and host systems to communicate with each other.
In the remainder of this chapter we will explain how to configure an Ubuntu network bridge for use by KVM-based guest operating systems.
28.1 Identifying the Network Management System
The steps to create a network bridge will differ depending on whether the host system is using Network Manager or Netplan for network management. If you installed Ubuntu using the desktop installation media then you most likely have a system running Network Manager. If, on the other hand, you installed from the server or Network installer image, then your system is most likely using Netplan.
To identify which networking system is being used, open a Terminal window and run the following command:
# networkctl status
If the above command generates output similar to the following then the system is using Netplan:
# networkctl status
● State: routable
Address: 192.168.86.242 on enp0s3
fe80::a00:27ff:fe52:69a9 on enp0s3
Gateway: 192.168.86.1 (Google, Inc.) on enp0s3
DNS: 192.168.86.1
Search Domains: lan
May 04 15:46:09 demo systemd[1]: Starting Network Service...
May 04 15:46:09 demo systemd-networkd[625]: Enumeration completed
.
.
If, on the other hand, output similar to the following appears, then Netplan is not running:
# networkctl status -a
WARNING: systemd-networkd is not running, output will be incomplete.
Failed to query link bit rates: Unit dbus-org.freedesktop.network1.service not found.
.
.
To identify if NetworkManager is running, change directory to /etc/netplan. If you are using NetworkManager this directory will contain a file named 01-network-manager-all.yaml with the following content:
# Let NetworkManager manage all devices on this system
network:
version: 2
renderer: NetworkManager
Having identified your network management system, follow the corresponding steps in the remainder of this chapter.
28.2 Getting the Netplan Network Settings
Before creating the network bridge on a Netplan based system, begin by obtaining information about the current network configuration using the networkctl command as follows:
# networkctl status -a
● 1: lo
Link File: /lib/systemd/network/99-default.link
Network File: n/a
Type: loopback
State: carrier (unmanaged)
Address: 127.0.0.1
::1
● 2: eno1
Link File: /lib/systemd/network/99-default.link
Network File: /run/systemd/network/10-netplan-eno1.network
Type: ether
State: routable (configured)
Path: pci-0000:00:19.0
Driver: e1000e
Vendor: Intel Corporation
Model: 82579LM Gigabit Network Connection (Lewisville)
HW Address: fc:4d:d4:3b:e4:0f (Universal Global Scientific Industrial Co., Ltd.)
Address: 192.168.86.214
fe80::fe4d:d4ff:fe3b:e40f
Gateway: 192.168.86.1
DNS: 192.168.86.1
Search Domains: lan
● 3: virbr0
Link File: /lib/systemd/network/99-default.link
Network File: n/a
Type: ether
State: no-carrier (unmanaged)
Driver: bridge
HW Address: 52:54:00:2d:f4:2a
Address: 192.168.122.1
● 4: virbr0-nic
Link File: /lib/systemd/network/99-default.link
Network File: n/a
Type: ether
State: off (unmanaged)
Driver: tun
HW Address: 52:54:00:2d:f4:2a
In the above output we can see that the host has an Ethernet network connection established via a device named eno1 and the default bridge interface named virbr0 which provides access to the NAT-based virtual network to which KVM guest systems are connected by default. The output also lists the loopback interface (lo).
28.3 Creating a Netplan Network Bridge
The creation of a network bridge on an Ubuntu system using Netplan involves the addition of an entry to the /etc/netplan/01-netcfg.yaml or /etc/netplan/00-installer-config.yaml file. Using your preferred editor, open the file and add a bridges entry beneath the current content as follows (replacing eno1 with the connection name on your system):
network:
ethernets:
eno1:
dhcp4: true
version: 2
bridges:
br0:
interfaces: [eno1]
dhcp4: yes
Note that the bridges: line must be indented by two spaces. Without this indentation, the netplan tool will fail with the following error when run:
Error in network definition: unknown key ‘bridges’
Once the changes have been made, apply them using the following command:
# netplan apply
Note that this command will switch the network from the current connection to the bridge resulting in the system being assigned a different IP address by the DHCP server. If you are connected via a remote SSH session this will cause you to lose contact with the server. If you would prefer to assign a static IP address to the bridge connection, modify the bridge declaration as follows (making sure to turn off DHCP for both IPv4 and IPv6):
network:
version: 2
renderer: networkd
ethernets:
eno1:
dhcp4: no
dhcp6: no
bridges:
br0:
interfaces: [eno1]
dhcp4: no
addresses: [192.168.86.230/24]
gateway4: 192.168.86.1
nameservers:
addresses: [192.168.86.1]
After running the netplan apply command, check that the bridge is now configured and ready for use within KVM virtual machines:
# networkctl status -a
● 1: lo
Link File: /lib/systemd/network/99-default.link
Network File: n/a
Type: loopback
State: carrier (unmanaged)
Address: 127.0.0.1
::1
● 2: eno1
Link File: /lib/systemd/network/99-default.link
Network File: /run/systemd/network/10-netplan-eno1.network
Type: ether
State: carrier (configured)
Path: pci-0000:00:19.0
Driver: e1000e
Vendor: Intel Corporation
Model: 82579LM Gigabit Network Connection (Lewisville)
HW Address: fc:4d:d4:3b:e4:0f (Universal Global Scientific Industrial Co.,
.
.
● 5: br0
Link File: /lib/systemd/network/99-default.link
Network File: /run/systemd/network/10-netplan-br0.network
Type: ether
State: routable (configured)
Driver: bridge
HW Address: b6:56:ed:e9:d5:75
Address: 192.168.86.230
fe80::b456:edff:fee9:d575
Gateway: 192.168.86.1
DNS: 192.168.86.1
28.4 Getting the Current Network Manager Settings
A network bridge can be created using the NetworkManager command-line interface tool (nmcli). The NetworkManager is installed and enabled by default on Ubuntu desktop systems and is responsible for detecting and connecting to network devices in addition to providing an interface for managing networking configurations.
A list of current network connections on the host system can be displayed as follows:
# nmcli con show
NAME UUID TYPE DEVICE
Wired connection 1 56f32c14-a4d2-32c8-9391-f51967efa173 ethernet eno1
virbr0 59bf4111-e0d2-4e6c-b8d4-cb70fa6d695e bridge virbr0
In the above output we can see that the host has an Ethernet network connection established via a device named eno1 and the default bridge interface named virbr0 which provides access to the NAT-based virtual network to which KVM guest systems are connected by default.
Similarly, the following command can be used to identify the devices (both virtual and physical) that are currently configured on the system:
# nmcli device show
GENERAL.DEVICE: eno1
GENERAL.TYPE: ethernet
GENERAL.HWADDR: FC:4D:D4:3B:E4:0F
GENERAL.MTU: 1500
GENERAL.STATE: 100 (connected)
GENERAL.CONNECTION: Wired connection 1
GENERAL.CON-PATH: /org/freedesktop/NetworkManager/ActiveConnection/1
WIRED-PROPERTIES.CARRIER: on
IP4.ADDRESS[1]: 192.168.86.207/24
IP4.GATEWAY: 192.168.86.1
IP4.ROUTE[1]: dst = 0.0.0.0/0, nh = 192.168.86.1, mt = 100
IP4.ROUTE[2]: dst = 192.168.86.0/24, nh = 0.0.0.0, mt = 100
IP4.ROUTE[3]: dst = 169.254.0.0/16, nh = 0.0.0.0, mt = 1000
IP4.DNS[1]: 192.168.86.1
IP4.DOMAIN[1]: lan
IP6.ADDRESS[1]: fe80::d3e2:c3dc:b69b:cd30/64
IP6.GATEWAY: --
IP6.ROUTE[1]: dst = ff00::/8, nh = ::, mt = 256, table=255
IP6.ROUTE[2]: dst = fe80::/64, nh = ::, mt = 256
IP6.ROUTE[3]: dst = fe80::/64, nh = ::, mt = 100
GENERAL.DEVICE: virbr0
GENERAL.TYPE: bridge
GENERAL.HWADDR: 52:54:00:9D:19:E5
GENERAL.MTU: 1500
GENERAL.STATE: 100 (connected)
GENERAL.CONNECTION: virbr0
GENERAL.CON-PATH: /org/freedesktop/NetworkManager/ActiveConnection/2
IP4.ADDRESS[1]: 192.168.122.1/24
IP4.GATEWAY: --
IP4.ROUTE[1]: dst = 192.168.122.0/24, nh = 0.0.0.0, mt = 0
IP6.GATEWAY: --
.
.
The above partial output indicates that the host system on which the command was executed contains a physical Ethernet device (eno1) and the virtual bridge (virbr0).
The virsh command may also be used to list the virtual networks currently configured on the system:
# virsh net-list --all
Name State Autostart Persistent
----------------------------------------------------------
default active yes yes
At this point, the only virtual network present is the default network provided by virbr0. Now that some basic information about the current network configuration has been obtained, the next step is to create a network bridge connected to the physical network device (in this case the device named eno1).
28.5 Creating a Network Manager Bridge from the Command-Line
The first step in creating the network bridge is to add a new connection to the network configuration. This can be achieved using the nmcli tool, specifying that the connection is to be a bridge and providing names for both the connection and the interface:
# nmcli con add ifname br0 type bridge con-name br0
Once the connection has been added, a bridge slave interface needs to be established between physical device eno1 (the slave) and the bridge connection br0 (the master) as follows:
# nmcli con add type bridge-slave ifname eno1 master br0
At this point, the NetworkManager connection list should read as follows:
# nmcli con show
NAME UUID TYPE DEVICE
Wired connection 1 56f32c14-a4d2-32c8-9391-f51967efa173 ethernet eno1
br0 8416607e-c6c1-4abb-8583-1661689b95a9 bridge br0
virbr0 dffab88d-1588-4e69-8d1c-2148090aa5ee bridge virbr0
bridge-slave-eno1 43383092-6434-448f-b735-0cbea39eb38f ethernet --
The next step is to start up the bridge interface. If the steps to configure the bridge are being performed over a network connection (i.e. via SSH) this step can be problematic because the current eno1 connection must be closed down before the bridge connection can be brought up. This means that the current connection will be lost before the bridge connection can be enabled to replace it, potentially leaving the remote host unreachable.
If you are accessing the host system remotely this problem can be avoided by creating a shell script to perform the network changes. This will ensure that the bridge interface is enabled after the eno1 interface is brought down, allowing you to reconnect to the host after the changes are complete. Begin by creating a shell script file named bridge.sh containing the following commands:
#!/bin/bash
nmcli con down "Wired connection 1"
nmcli con up br0
Once the script has been created, execute it as follows:
# sh ./bridge.sh
When the script executes, the connection will be lost when the eno1 connection is brought down. After waiting a few seconds, however, it should be possible to reconnect to the host once the br0 connection has been activated.
If you are working locally on the host, the two nmcli commands can be run within a terminal window without any risk of losing connectivity:
# nmcli con down "Wired connection 1"
# nmcli con up br0
Once the bridge is up and running, the connection list should now include both the bridge and the bridge-slave connections:
# nmcli con show
NAME UUID TYPE DEVICE
br0 8416607e-c6c1-4abb-8583-1661689b95a9 bridge br0
bridge-slave-eno1 43383092-6434-448f-b735-0cbea39eb38f ethernet eno1
virbr0 dffab88d-1588-4e69-8d1c-2148090aa5ee bridge virbr0
Wired connection 1 56f32c14-a4d2-32c8-9391-f51967efa173 ethernet --
Note that the Wired Connection 1 connection is still listed but is actually no longer active. To exclude inactive connections from the list, simply use the --active flag when requesting the list:
NAME UUID TYPE DEVICE
br0 8416607e-c6c1-4abb-8583-1661689b95a9 bridge br0
bridge-slave-eno1 43383092-6434-448f-b735-0cbea39eb38f ethernet eno1
virbr0 dffab88d-1588-4e69-8d1c-2148090aa5ee bridge virbr0
28.6 Declaring the KVM Bridged Network
At this point, the bridge connection is present on the system but is not visible to the KVM environment. Running the virsh command should still list the default network as being the only available network option:
# virsh net-list --all
Name State Autostart Persistent
----------------------------------------------------------
default active yes yes
Before the bridge can be used by a virtual machine it must be declared and added to the KVM network configuration. This involves the creation of a definition file and, once again, the use of the virsh command-line tool.
Begin by creating a definition file for the bridge network named bridge.xml that reads as follows:
<network>
<name>br0</name>
<forward mode="bridge"/>
<bridge name="br0" />
</network>
Next, use the file to define the new network:
# virsh net-define ./bridge.xml
Once the network has been defined, start it and, if required, configure it to autostart each time the system reboots:
# virsh net-start br0
# virsh net-autostart br0
Once again list the networks to verify that the bridge network is now accessible within the KVM environment:
# virsh net-list --all
Name State Autostart Persistent
----------------------------------------------------------
br0 active yes yes
default active yes yes
28.7 Using a Bridge Network in a Virtual Machine
To create a virtual machine that makes use of the bridge network, use the virt-install --network option and specify the br0 bridge name. For example:
# virt-install --name MyFedora --memory 1024 --disk path=/tmp/myFedora.img,size=10 --network network=br0 --os-variant fedora28 --cdrom /home/demo/Downloads/Fedora-Server-dvd-x86_64-29-1.2.iso
When the guest operating system is running it will appear on the same physical network as the host system and will no longer be on the NAT-based virtual network.
To modify an existing virtual machine so that it uses the bridge, use the virsh edit command. This command loads the XML definition file into an editor where changes can be made and saved:
# virsh edit GuestName
By default, the file will be loaded into the vi editor. To use a different editor, simply change the $EDITOR environment variable, for example:
# export EDITOR=gedit
To change from the default virtual network, locate the <interface> section of the file which will read as follows for a NAT based configuration:
<interface type='network'>
<mac address='<your mac address here>'/>
<source network='default'/>
<model type='virtio'/>
<address type='pci' domain='0x0000' bus='0x01' slot='0x00' function='0x0'/>
</interface>
Alternatively, if the virtual machine was using a direct connection, the entry may read as follows:
<interface type='direct'>
<mac address='<your mac address here>'/>
<source dev='eno1' mode='vepa'/>
<model type='virtio'/>
<address type='pci' domain='0x0000' bus='0x01' slot='0x00' function='0x0'/>
To use the bridge, change the source network property to read as follows before saving the file:
<interface type='network'>
<mac address='<your mac address here>'/>
<source network='br0'/>
<model type='virtio'/>
<address type='pci' domain='0x0000' bus='0x01' slot='0x00' function='0x0'/>
</interface>
If the virtual machine is already running, the change will not take effect until it is restarted.
28.8 Creating a Bridge Network using nm-connection-editor
If either local or remote desktop access is available on the host system, much of the bridge configuration process can be performed using the nm-connection-editor graphical tool. To use this tool, open a Terminal window within the desktop and enter the following command:
# nm-connection-editor
When the tool has loaded, the window shown in Figure 28-1 will appear listing the currently configured network connections (essentially the same output as that generated by the nmcli con show command):
To create a new connection, click on the ‘+’ button located in the bottom left-hand corner of the window. From the resulting dialog (Figure 28-2) select the Bridge option from the menu:
With the bridge option selected, click on the Create... button to proceed to the bridge configuration screen. Begin by changing both the connection and interface name fields to br0 before clicking on the Add button located to the right of the Bridge connections list as highlighted in Figure 28-3:
From the connection type dialog (Figure 28-4) change the menu setting to Ethernet before clicking on the Create... button:
Another dialog will now appear in which the bridge slave connection needs to be configured. Within this dialog, select the physical network to which the bridge is to connect (for example eno1) from the Device menu:
Figure 28-5
Click on the Save button to apply the changes and return to the Editing br0 dialog (as illustrated in Figure 28-3 above). Within this dialog, click on the Save button to create the bridge. On returning to the main window, the new bridge and slave connections should now be listed:
Figure 28-6
All that remains is to bring down the original eno1 connection and bring up the br0 connection using the steps outlined in the previous chapter (remembering to perform these steps in a shell script if the host is being accessed remotely):
# nmcli con down "Wired connection 1"
# nmcli con up br0
It will also be necessary, as it was when creating the bridge using the command-line tool, to add this bridge to the KVM network configuration. To do so, simply repeat the steps outlined in the section above entitled “Declaring the KVM Bridged Network”. Once this step has been taken, the bridge is ready to be used by guest virtual machines.
By default, KVM virtual machines are connected to a virtual network that uses NAT to provide access to the network to which the host system is connected. If the guests are required to appear on the network with their own IP addresses, the guests need to be configured to share the physical network interface of the host system. As outlined in this chapter, this can be achieved using either the nmcli or nm-connection-editor tools to create a networked bridge interface.