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NetworkManager

NetworkManager attempts to keep an active network connection available at all times.

The point of NetworkManager is to make networking configuration and setup as painless and automatic as possible. If using DHCP, NetworkManager is intended to replace default routes, obtain IP addresses from a DHCP server and change nameservers whenever it sees fit. In effect, the goal of NetworkManager is to make networking Just Work.

If you have special needs, The upstream's developers would like to hear about them, but understand that NetworkManager is not intended to serve the needs of all users.

NetworkManager is composed of two parts:

A daemon running as root (network-manager).
A front-end (network-manager-gnome, network-manager-kde or cnetworkmanager).

NetworkManager will only handle interfaces not declared in /etc/network/interfaces (see README file).

Features

The features of NetworkManager are described on its homepage.

Documentation

Make sure you read the fine manual:

NetworkManager in Squeeze

Wired Networks are Unmanaged

This problem is very likely to occur to people who upgrade to Squeeze, see 530024 .

Unmanaged devices means NetworkManager doesn't handle those devices. This occurs when two conditions are met:

The file /etc/network/interfaces contains anything about the interface, even:
```
allow-hotplug eth0
iface eth0 inet dhcp
```

And /etc/NetworkManager/nm-system-settings.conf contains:

[main]
plugins=ifupdown,keyfile

[ifupdown]
managed=false

To allow NetworkManager to manage wired interfaces, either:

Comment the relevant lines in /etc/network/interfaces to restore the behavior experienced in Lenny.
or
Set managed=true in nm-system-settings.conf if you want network-manager to handle interfaces that are declared in /etc/network/interfaces

Finally, restart NetworkManager:

```
/etc/init.d/network-manager restart
```

(Click on the Comments to show Syslog error's error message related to this problem):

"Auto Ethernet" and "Auto eth0"

Auto Ethernet means "Select and Ethernet interface automatically"
Auto eth0 means autconfigure the eth0 interface.

FAQ

Q. How do I configure a static IP address (for a server, etc) ?: A) Configure /etc/network/interfaces.
Q. Why can't I see NetworkManager with my new user account ?: A) Make sure human users are in the netdev group (see /usr/share/doc/network-manager-gnome/README.Debian).

External Links

http://projects.gnome.org/NetworkManager/users/ - Project homepage and GNOME front-end (with some documentation);
- http://live.gnome.org/NetworkManager - Various resources (FAQ, mailing list...)
http://en.opensuse.org/Projects/KNetworkManager - KDE front-end
http://vidner.net/martin/software/cnetworkmanager/ - Command-line client

CategoryNetwork

NetworkManager

NetworkManager

Features

Documentation

NetworkManager in Squeeze

Wired Networks are Unmanaged

"Auto Ethernet" and "Auto eth0"

FAQ

See Also

External Links