[CentOS] NetworkManager on servers

Mon Feb 10 07:55:33 UTC 2020
Nicolas Kovacs <info at microlinux.fr>

Hi,

I'm currently reading the upstream "Considerations in adopting RHEL 8" 
document. The chapter about networking states that traditional networking 
scripts (shipped with the network-scripts package) are considered obsolete.

I bluntly admit I don't see the point in this. As far as I'm concerned, I've 
been a happy user of NetworkManager since the early days (when folks used to 
call it NotworkManager :oD). It's one of those nifty pieces of software that 
brought the Linux desktop to the masses - or at least a bit nearer to them - 
since it allows managing wireless and wired interfaces transparently and easily 
on a laptop or any computer with a wireless card.

On servers though, one of the first post-installation steps I performed was to 
get rid of Network-Manager and all its components. The servers I'm working on 
are relatively small-scale and have from one to four network interfaces. Each 
interface has a corresponding configuration in /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts, 
and that's it. From there, I rarely - if ever - touch it. In all my setups, 
NetworkManager is merely a useless layer of abstraction, and I like sticking to 
the KISS principle and shave off useless layers.

Maybe there's a reason to make NetworkManager more or less mandatory from now 
on, but I don't see it. So I thought I'd rather ask on this list.

Cheers from the foggy South of France,

Niki
-- 
Microlinux - Solutions informatiques durables
7, place de l'église - 30730 Montpezat
Site : https://www.microlinux.fr
Mail : info at microlinux.fr
Tél. : 04 66 63 10 32
Mob. : 06 51 80 12 12