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A.2. Explanation of Settings in the New Network Interface and Edit Network Interface Windows

These settings apply when you are adding or editing a virtual machine network interface. If you have more than one network interface attached to a virtual machine, you can put the virtual machine on more than one logical network.

Table A.13. Network Interface Settings

Field Name
Description
Name
The name of the network interface. This text field has a 21-character limit and must be a unique name with any combination of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, hyphens, and underscores.
Profile
The vNIC profile and logical network that the network interface is placed on. By default, all network interfaces are put on the ovirtmgmt management network.
Type
The virtual interface the network interface presents to virtual machines.
  • rtl8139 and e1000 device drivers are included in most operating systems.
  • VirtIO is faster but requires VirtIO drivers. Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 and later include VirtIO drivers. Windows does not include VirtIO drivers, but they can be installed from the guest tools ISO or virtual floppy disk.
  • PCI Passthrough enables the vNIC to be directly connected to a virtual function (VF) of an SR-IOV-enabled NIC. The vNIC will then bypass the software network virtualization and connect directly to the VF for direct device assignment. The selected vNIC profile must also have Passthrough enabled.
Custom MAC address
Choose this option to set a custom MAC address. The Red Hat Virtualization Manager automatically generates a MAC address that is unique to the environment to identify the network interface. Having two devices with the same MAC address online in the same network causes networking conflicts.
Link State
Whether or not the network interface is connected to the logical network.
  • Up: The network interface is located on its slot.
    • When the Card Status is Plugged, it means the network interface is connected to a network cable, and is active.
    • When the Card Status is Unplugged, the network interface will be automatically connected to the network and become active.
  • Down: The network interface is located on its slot, but it is not connected to any network. Virtual machines will not be able to run in this state.
Card Status
Whether or not the network interface is defined on the virtual machine.
  • Plugged: The network interface has been defined on the virtual machine.
    • If its Link State is Up, it means the network interface is connected to a network cable, and is active.
    • If its Link State is Down, the network interface is not connected to a network cable.
  • Unplugged: The network interface is only defined on the Manager, and is not associated with a virtual machine.
    • If its Link State is Up, when the network interface is plugged it will automatically be connected to a network and become active.
    • If its Link State is Down, the network interface is not connected to any network until it is defined on a virtual machine.