[Pkg-utopia-maintainers] Bug#619346: Bug#619346: network-manager: No option to respect RAs if IPv6 forwarding is enabled

[John Pearson]

Hi Michael,

Thanks for looking at this bug, and for pointing me to
/etc/NetworkManager/dispatcher.d/.

However, this does not allow me the degree of control that I'd like: I
have both a wired and wireless interface, and don't want to modify
accept_ra when connecting to an unknown wireless network.  Having read
man 8 NetworkManager, those scripts receive only the interface name and
state - I'd also need the SSID to give me enough information to do what
I'd like.  On the other hand, the NetworkManager applet provides a nice
place to specify per-SSID (and, of course, per-user) configurations.

Rather than adding extra controls to the applet configuration dialog,
I'd suggest that one of four things happen:

    * Adding a method like "Auto, regardless of forwarding state" to the
      methods in the IPv6 tab's drop down list, which explicitly sets
      accept_ra to 2; or
    * Rather than setting accept_ra to 1 for "Automatic", set it to
      whatever value was current when NetworkManager first started,
      allowing it to be disabled for the "Manual", "Ignore" and
      "Link-local" cases but restored to the system policy for
      "Automatic"; or
    * NetworkManager should simply not fiddle with accept_ra at all -
      it's currently forcing it to the default setting, which is
      unnecessary for most users and obstructive for those (like me)
      with special needs and the wherewithal to manage it ourselves; or
    * Pass more information to the /etc/NetworkManager/dispatcher.d
      scripts, so that they can be used to implement a per-network
      policy rather than a per-interface policy.

Regards,


John Pearson

On 09/04/11 08:58, Michael Biebl wrote:
> severity 619346 wishlist
> thanks
>
> Am 23.03.2011 02:41, schrieb John Pearson:
>   
>> Package: network-manager
>> Version: 0.8.1-6
>> Severity: important
>> Tags: ipv6
>>
>>
>> By default, network-manager allows IPv6 interfaces to use stateless
>> autoconfiguration based on router advertisements or, failing that,
>> DHCPv6; in this case, it sets /proc/sys/net/ipv6/conf/<if>/accept_ra
>> to 1.  This is exposed in the "IPv6 Settings" tab of the Gnome network
>> manager applet as "Automatic" method.
>>
>> However if IPv6 foprwarding is enabled on the interface, the kernel
>> ignores RAs even if accept_ra is set to 1.  This is a sensible default,
>> but not always appropriate; and the kernel provides for it to be
>> overridden by setting /proc/sys/net/ipv6/conf/<if>/accept_ra to 2 - then
>> RAs are acted upon even if IPv6 forwarding is enabled.
>>
>> Network-manager's curent behaviour prevents me from taking advantage opf
>> this behaviour, which (for at least some interfaces) is what I actually
>> need. It should either leave the accept_ra setting alone when the
>> "Automatic" method is selected, so that the user can specify the
>> behaviour they want in (e.g.) /etc/sysctl.conf, or provide an additional
>> option to allow stateless autoconfiguration via RAs even when IPv6
>> forwarding is enabled.
>>
>>     
> I think you could use a dispatcher script to manually set the sysctl value to
> your likings when the connection is activated. See man 8 NetworkManager .
>
> This is a very special requirement so adding configuration options to the GUI
> has the risk of cluttering the interface.
>
> Nonetheless, I'll mark your request as wishlist bug.
>
>
>
> Michael
>
>
>   


-- 
johnp at gtagalenco.com.au  |   The greatest problem in communication is
Network Administrator    | the illusion that it has been accomplished
+61 4 0739 1169          |   - George Bernard Shaw: The Sanity of Art

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