Libvirt with bridge network

:: libvirt, virtualization, vm, kvm, system, tutorial, linux

By: Maciej Barć

User-mode

By default you would probably have something like this, the user-mode network:

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<interface type="user">
  <mac address="00:00:00:00:00:00"/>
  <model type="virtio"/>
  <address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x01" slot="0x00" function="0x0"/>
</interface>

Bridge

Bridges can be easily created using the NetworkManager’s TUI tool called nmtui.

Bridge XML configuration for Libvirt

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<interface type="bridge">
  <mac address="00:00:00:00:00:00"/>
  <source bridge="br1"/>
  <target dev="vnet2"/>
  <model type="virtio"/>
  <alias name="net0"/>
  <address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x06" slot="0x00" function="0x0"/>
</interface>

Sysctl options

Be sure the following options are enabled (1):

  • net.ipv4.ip_forward
  • net.ipv4.conf.all.send_redirects

and the following options are disabled (0):

  • net.bridge.bridge-nf-call-iptables