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xl-network-configuration(5)	      Xen	   xl-network-configuration(5)

NAME
       xl-network-configuration	- XL Network Configuration Syntax

SYNTAX
       This document specifies the xl config file format vif configuration
       option.	It has the following form:

	       vif = [ '<vifspec>', '<vifspec>', ... ]

       where each vifspec is in	this form:

	       [<key>=<value>|<flag>,]

       For example:

	       'mac=00:16:3E:74:3d:76,model=rtl8139,bridge=xenbr0'
	       'mac=00:16:3E:74:34:32'
	       '' # The	empty string

       These might be specified	in the domain config file like this:

	       vif = [ 'mac=00:16:3E:74:34:32',	'mac=00:16:3e:5f:48:e4,bridge=xenbr1' ]

       More formally, the string is a series of	comma-separated	keyword/value
       pairs. All keywords are optional.

       Each device has a "DEVID" which is its index within the vif list,
       starting	from 0.

Keywords
   mac
       If specified then this option specifies the MAC address inside the
       guest of	this VIF device. The value is a	48-bit number represented as
       six groups of two hexadecimal digits, separated by colons (:).

       The default if this keyword is not specified is to be automatically
       generate	a MAC address inside the space assigned	to Xen's
       Organizationally	Unique Identifier
       <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organizationally_Unique_Identifier>
       (00:16:3e).

       If you are choosing a MAC address then it is strongly recommend to
       follow one of the following strategies:

          Generate a random sequence of 6 byte, set the locally administered
	   bit (bit 2 of the first byte) and clear the multicast bit (bit 1 of
	   the first byte). In other words the first byte should have the bit
	   pattern xxxxxx10 (where x is	a randomly generated bit) and the
	   remaining 5 bytes are randomly generated See
	   [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MAC_address] for more	details	the
	   structure of	a MAC address.

          Allocate an address from within the space defined by	your
	   organization's OUI (if you have one)	following your organization's
	   procedures for doing	so.

          Allocate an address from within the space defined by	Xen's OUI
	   (00:16:3e). Taking care not to clash	with other users of the
	   physical network segment where this VIF will	reside.

       If you have an OUI for your own use then	that is	the preferred
       strategy. Otherwise in general you should prefer	to generate a random
       MAC and set the locally administered bit	since this allows for more
       bits of randomness than using the Xen OUI.

   bridge
       Specifies the name of the network bridge	which this VIF should be added
       to. The default is "xenbr0". The	bridge must be configured using	your
       distribution's network configuration tools. See the wiki
       <https://wiki.xenproject.org/wiki/Network_Configuration_Examples_(Xen_4.1%2B)>
       for guidance and	examples.

   gatewaydev
       Specifies the name of the network interface which has an	IP and which
       is in the network the VIF should	communicate with. This is used in the
       host by the vif-route hotplug script. See wiki
       <https://wiki.xenproject.org/wiki/Vif-route> for	guidance and examples.

       NOTE: netdev is a deprecated alias of this option.

   type
       This keyword is valid for HVM guests only.

       Specifies the type of device to valid values are:

          "ioemu" (default) --	this device will be provided as	an emulate
	   device to the guest and also	as a paravirtualised device which the
	   guest may choose to use instead if it has suitable drivers
	   available.

          "vif" -- this device	will be	provided as a paravirtualised device
	   only.

   model
       This keyword is valid for HVM guest devices with	"type=ioemu" only.

       Specifies the type device to emulated for this guest. Valid values are:

          "rtl8139" (default) -- Realtek RTL8139

          "e1000" -- Intel E1000

          in principle	any device supported by	your device model

   vifname
       Specifies the backend device name for the virtual device.

       If the domain is	an HVM domain then the associated emulated (tap)
       device will have	a "-emu" suffice added.

       The default name	for the	virtual	device is "vifDOMID.DEVID" where
       "DOMID" is the guest domain ID and "DEVID" is the device	number.
       Likewise	the default tap	name is	"vifDOMID.DEVID-emu".

   script
       Specifies the hotplug script to run to configure	this device (e.g. to
       add it to the relevant bridge). Defaults	to
       "/etc/xen/scripts/vif-bridge" but can be	set to any script. Some
       example scripts are installed in	"/etc/xen/scripts".

       Note on NetBSD HVM guests will ignore the script	option for tap
       (emulated) interfaces and always	use "XEN_SCRIPT_DIR/qemu-ifup" to
       configure the interface in bridged mode.

   ip
       Specifies the IP	address	for the	device,	the default is not to specify
       an IP address.

       What, if	any, effect this has depends on	the hotplug script which is
       configured. A typically behaviour (exhibited by the example hotplug
       scripts)	if set might be	to configure firewall rules to allow only the
       specified IP address to be used by the guest (blocking all others).

   backend
       Specifies the backend domain which this device should attach to.	This
       defaults	to domain 0.  Specifying another domain	requires setting up a
       driver domain which is outside the scope	of this	document.

   rate
       Specifies the rate at which the outgoing	traffic	will be	limited	to.
       The default if this keyword is not specified is unlimited.

       The rate	may be specified as "/s" or optionally "/s@".

          "RATE" is in	bytes and can accept suffixes:

	      GB, MB, KB, B for bytes.

	      Gb, Mb, Kb, b for bits.

          "INTERVAL" is in microseconds and can accept	suffixes: ms, us, s.
	   It determines the frequency at which	the vif	transmission credit is
	   replenished.	The default is 50ms.

       Vif rate	limiting is credit-based. It means that	for "1MB/s@20ms", the
       available credit	will be	equivalent of the traffic you would have done
       at "1MB/s" during 20ms. This will results in a credit of	20,000 bytes
       replenished every 20,000	us.

       For example:

	       'rate=10Mb/s' --	meaning	up to 10 megabits every	second
	       'rate=250KB/s' -- meaning up to 250 kilobytes every second
	       'rate=1MB/s@20ms' -- meaning 20,000 bytes in every 20 millisecond period

       NOTE: The actual	underlying limits of rate limiting are dependent on
       the underlying netback implementation.

   devid
       Specifies the devid manually instead of letting xl choose the lowest
       index available.

       NOTE: This should not be	set unless you have a reason to.

   mtu
       Specifies the MTU (i.e. the maximum size	of an IP payload, exclusing
       headers). The default value is 1500 but,	if the VIF is attached to a
       bridge, it will be set to match unless overridden by this parameter.

   vlan
       Specifies the VLAN configuration. The format of this parameter is one
       or more VLAN IDs	or ranges separated by forward slashes.	Each term can
       be:

          vlan	- a single VLAN	ID in the range	1 to 4094. This	can optionally
	   followed by a p to indicate the PVID	or by a	u to indicate an
	   untagged VLAN. "p" implies u.

          vlan1-vlan2 - a range of VLAN IDs from vlan1	to vlan2, both between
	   1 and 4094 and vlan1	being less than	or equal to vlan2. This	can be
	   optionally followed by a u to indicate that the range of VLANs are
	   untagged.

          vlan+offsetxcount - describing a range of VLAN IDs starting at vlan
	   with	count additional entries, each incremented by offset. This can
	   be optionally followed by a u to indicate that the range of VLANs
	   are untagged.

       Note, one VLAN ID must be marked	as the PVID. In	the case of a vlan
       specification consisting	of a single VLAN ID (e.g. "vlan=10"), the p
       suffix may be omitted. Specifying more than one untagged	VLAN ID	is an
       advanced	configuration -	use with caution.

       For example:

	       'vlan=10' -- meaning a single VLAN that is the PVID.
	       'vlan=10p/20' --	VLAN 10	is the PVID and	VLAN 20	is tagged.
	       'vlan=10p/100+10x4' -- VLANs 10,	100, 110, 120, 130, 140, 150.

   trusted / untrusted
       An advisory setting for the frontend driver on whether the backend
       should be trusted.  The frontend	should deploy whatever protections it
       has available to	prevent	an untrusted backend from accessing guest data
       not related to the I/O processing or causing malfunction	to the
       frontend	or the whole domain.

       Note frontends can ignore such recommendation.

4.19.2-pre			  2025-11-02	   xl-network-configuration(5)

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