[Xorp-hackers] Re: Network interface naming

[G. Paul Ziemba]

Kurt J. Lidl <lidl@pix.net> wrote:
> While the "renaming" of devices like the example I gave might be nice,
> it might be sufficient to have a interface mapping section of the
> configuration file, where you could map:
>
> device name  -> interface "label"
> 	fxp0 -> fxp000
> 	fxp1 -> fxp010
> 	fxp2 -> fxp011

Others have commented on the difficulty of figuring out the
physical layout _automatically_, so some kind of hand-crafted
mapping makes sense.

I'd like to see a map file separate from the configuration file;
in this way, it would be possible to for vendors [i.e., anyone
who distributes xorp + hardware] to supply it as part of the system.

For vendors who have design control over the hardware, they could
always invent some automatic way of generating the mapping. Others
who merely have "selection control" would have the system choose from
a (possibly 1-element) set of mappings.

Having a map file separate from the config file would keep the
network admins from mistakenly believing that the mapping was free to
be tinkered with (at least to the same degree that the rest of the
configuration is).


-- 
G. Paul Ziemba
FreeBSD unix:
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