Physical network

The physical network type connects to an existing physical network, which can be a network interface or a bridge, and serves as an uplink network for OVN.

This network type allows to specify presets to use when connecting OVN networks to a parent interface or to allow an instance to use a physical interface as a NIC. In this case, the instance NICs can simply set the networkoption to the network they connect to without knowing any of the underlying configuration details.

Configuration options

The following configuration key namespaces are currently supported for the physical network type:

  • bgp (BGP peer configuration)

  • dns (DNS server and resolution configuration)

  • ipv4 (L3 IPv4 configuration)

  • ipv6 (L3 IPv6 configuration)

  • ovn (OVN configuration)

  • user (free-form key/value for user metadata)

Note

Incus uses the CIDR notation where network subnet information is required, for example, 192.0.2.0/24 or 2001:db8::/32. This does not apply to cases where a single address is required, for example, local/remote addresses of tunnels, NAT addresses or specific addresses to apply to an instance.

The following configuration options are available for the physical network type:

BGP options

These options configure BGP peering for OVN downstream networks:

bgp.peers.NAME.address

Peer address (IPv4 or IPv6) for use by ovn downstream networks

Key: bgp.peers.NAME.address
Type:

string
Default:
Condition:

BGP server
bgp.peers.NAME.asn

Peer AS number for use by ovn downstream networks

Key: bgp.peers.NAME.asn
Type:

integer
Default:
Condition:

BGP server
bgp.peers.NAME.holdtime

Peer session hold time (in seconds; optional)

Key: bgp.peers.NAME.holdtime
Type:

integer
Default:

180
Condition:

BGP server
bgp.peers.NAME.password

Peer session password (optional) for use by ovn downstream networks

Key: bgp.peers.NAME.password
Type:

string
Default:

  • (no password)
Condition:

BGP server

DNS options

These keys control the DNS servers and search domains used by the physical network:

dns.nameservers

List of DNS server IPs on physical network

Key: dns.nameservers
Type:

string
Condition:

standard mode

IPV4 options

These options define the IPv4 configuration for the physical network:

ipv4.gateway

IPv4 address for the gateway and network (CIDR)

Key: ipv4.gateway
Type:

string
Condition:

standard mode
ipv4.ovn.ranges

Comma-separated list of IPv4 ranges to use for child OVN network routers (FIRST-LAST format)

Key: ipv4.ovn.ranges
Type:

string
Condition:
ipv4.routes

Comma-separated list of additional IPv4 CIDR subnets that can be used with child OVN networks ipv4.routes.external setting

Key: ipv4.routes
Type:

string
Condition:

IPv4 address
ipv4.routes.anycast

Allow the overlapping routes to be used on multiple networks/NIC at the same time

Key: ipv4.routes.anycast
Type:

bool
Default:

‘false’
Condition:

IPv4 address

IPV6 options

These options define the IPv6 configuration for the physical network:

ipv6.gateway

IPv6 address for the gateway and network (CIDR)

Key: ipv6.gateway
Type:

string
Condition:

standard mode
ipv6.ovn.ranges

Comma-separated list of IPv6 ranges to use for child OVN network routers (FIRST-LAST format)

Key: ipv6.ovn.ranges
Type:

string
Condition:
ipv6.routes

Comma-separated list of additional IPv6 CIDR subnets that can be used with child OVN networks ipv6.routes.external setting

Key: ipv6.routes
Type:

string
Condition:

IPv6 address
ipv6.routes.anycast

Allow the overlapping routes to be used on multiple networks/NIC at the same time

Key: ipv6.routes.anycast
Type:

bool
Default:

‘false’
Condition:

IPv6 address

OVN options

These options apply when using a physical network as an OVN uplink:

ovn.ingress_mode

Sets the method how OVN NIC external IPs will be advertised on uplink network: l2proxy (proxy ARP/NDP) or routed

Key: ovn.ingress_mode
Type:

string
Default:

l2proxy
Condition:

standard mode

Common options

These apply to all physical networks regardless of other features:

gvrp

Register VLAN using GARP VLAN Registration Protocol

Key: gvrp
Type:

bool
Default:

‘false’
Condition:
mtu

The MTU of the new interface

Key: mtu
Type:

integer
Condition:
parent

Existing interface to use for network

Key: parent
Type:

string
Condition:
vlan

The VLAN ID to attach to

Key: vlan
Type:

integer
Condition:

Supported features

The following features are supported for the physical network type: