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Programster
Asked: 2013-01-16 07:27:51 +0800 CST

How do I set up a xen bridge?

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I have been reading various pages on how to set up the network for xen. Unfortunately, none of them actually have a full example config. They clearly show what the xenbr0 section should look like, but not how you should change the eth0 after mentioning:

Note! The IP configuration of the bridge device should replace the IP configuration of the underlying interface, i.e. remove the IP settings from eth0 and move them to the bridge interface. eth0 will function purely as the physical uplink from the bridge so it can't have any IP (L3) settings on it!

I have tried many configurations that all fail (after running /etc/init.d/networking restart, there is no normal netowork access and can't ssh in or out).

Here is my current config:

auto lo
iface lo inet loopback

auto xenbr0
iface xenbr0 inet static
    bridge_ports eth0
    address 10.0.0.3
    netmask 255.0.0.0
    broadcast 10.255.255.255
    gateway 10.0.0.1

auto eth0
iface eth0 inet manual

Perhaps that is correct and I just need to set up some iptables forwarding rules? I tried running the command sudo iptables -I FORWARD -m physdev --physdev-is-bridged -j ACCEPT but I recieved an error message that --physdev-is-bridged is not a recognized option.

The debug output of restarting the network gives the following output:

Reconfiguring network interfaces...
Waiting for xenbr0 to get ready (MAXWAIT is 32 seconds).
RTNETLINK answers: No such process
Failed to bring up xenbr0
ssh stop/waiting
ssh start/running, process 3775

I have checked that xenbr0 already exists because when I try to create a bridge with that name, brctl tells me it can't create as one already exists.

networking

2 Answers

  1. Best Answer

    In the end I ended up just creating an interface and forwarding packets over it with some iptables rules, which seems to be working for me. This does NOT use the 'bridge' option that all the tutorials seem to suggest so I don't know if there is a fatal flaw?

    auto lo
iface lo inet loopback


auto xenbr0
iface xenbr0 inet static
        bridge_ports none
        address 192.168.2.1
        netmask 255.255.255.0
        network 192.168.2.0
        broadcast 192.168.2.255
        gateway 10.0.0.3


# The primary network interface
auto eth0
iface eth0 inet static
        address 10.0.0.3
        netmask 255.0.0.0
        network 10.0.0.0
        broadcast 10.255.255.255
        gateway 10.0.0.1
        # dns-* options are implemented by the resolvconf package, if installed
        dns-nameservers 8.8.8.8

    You need to edit /etc/sysctl.conf and and uncomment the following line:

    net.ipv4.ip_forward=1

    Then you need to create a script to edit iptables to forward packets:

    sudo /sbin/iptables --table nat --append POSTROUTING --out-interface eth0 -j MASQUERADE
sudo /sbin/iptables --append FORWARD --in-interface xenbr0 -j ACCEPT
return 0

    Then you need to make sure that the script is called by the rc.local file:

    sudo vi /etc/rc.local

    Add the following line:

    /bin/sh <path-to-script-you-just-created-here>

    Then reboot to make all the settings take effect.

    As you may notice, I set it so that the virtual machines use a 192.168.2.x address subnet whilst the outside lan is on 10.x.x.x, which is probably different from what most people will want so you will have to edit these to your own personal needs.

    Update
    Later I realized that a lack of bridging meant that I couldnt access my virtual machines from outside the network (i.e. I couldn't directly ssh into them from home, or run a website off of them etc)

    Using a network configuration like so worked:

    # The loopback network interface
auto lo
iface lo inet loopback

auto eth0
iface eth0 inet manual

auto xenbr0
iface xenbr0 inet static
        address 23.29.115.142
        netmask 255.255.255.248
        network 23.29.115.136
        broadcast 23.29.115.143
        gateway 23.29.115.137
        bridge_ports eth0
        bridge_stp off
        bridge_fd 0
        bridge_maxwait 0

    (copied from here)

    I'm guessing those extra bridge options made it work, or maybe the order in which the interfaces were listed in the file (eth0 before the bridge this time)

    • 5

  2. Define eth0 first, without setting a gateway and IP. (Otherwise you will have "RTNETLINK answers: File exists" errors when the system attempts to create a route for the interface, since the bridge will attempt to create a route with the same priority and gateway and it's not smart enough to realize that they're identical anyways.)

    auto lo
iface lo inet loopback

auto eth0
iface eth0 inet manual

auto xenbr0
iface xenbr0 inet static
    address 192.168.1.10
    netmask 255.255.255.0
    gateway 192.168.1.1
    bridge_ports eth0
    #allow-hotplug xenbr0 #Uncomment if using vSwitches

    Alternatively, your bridge can use DHCP:

    auto lo
iface lo inet loopback

auto eth0
iface eth0 inet manual

auto xenbr0
iface xenbr0 inet dhcp
    bridge_ports eth0
    #allow-hotplug xenbr0 #Uncomment if using vSwitches

    When done, reboot. Otherwise, since you have been changing eth0 but not setting a new IP, your bridge may not come up properly, even if you use the ifup command/restart networking. This is because eth0 can accidentally keep its IP address.

    Finally, configure your guest OS's network interfaces as if it were any other physical host on your network. (With example 1, you could use 192.168.1.11.) At this point, other devices on your network should be able to reach the guest.

    ping 192.168.1.11

    No iptables or IP forwarding (sysctl.conf) is necessary. STP is needed only if your network supports STP and you need to avoid Layer 2 network loops, and you don't want to handle that manually. (i.e. Small networks won't need bridge_stp, bridge_fd or bridge_maxwait.)

    • 2