Re: Last-resort tunnel recommendations on WAN network ...

[Brandon Martin via NANOG <nanog () lists nanog org>]

On 3/19/26 02:22, Owen DeLong wrote:
> Linux has a bunch of different possible ways to administer all of this stuff.

Indeed, and that's pretty much the downside of Linux-as-a-router and a 
lot of open source options in general.  Too much choice can be at 
minimum overwhelming and even a problem.

If you can find a distribution that integrates everything with your 
favorite method of administration, you're on the right track.

> My strong recommendation is take the time to learn systemd-networkd and use it. It’s a bit of a pain and some of the 
> syntax can be arcane and frustrating. It’s also annoying the way it dithers the configuration for a given interface 
> across a multitude of files in some cases. However, when I think the obvious corner cases through and consider the 
> alternatives, I usually find myself realizing that they’ve probably made as good a choice as any for what needs to be 
> done.


Yes, systemd-networkd is very capable (if arcane and unfriendly at 
times) for static configuration persistence.  NetworkManager is more 
geared toward and indeed seems better for systems that are using lots of 
runtime dynamic configuration (DHCP, 802.1x, etc.) and also provides 
better desktop environment integration.

I mostly use systemd-networkd on my generic-Linux-distro-as-a-router and 
adjacent (local DHCP/DNS, for example) systems.
_______________________________________________
NANOG mailing list 
https://lists.nanog.org/archives/list/nanog () lists nanog org/message/LNJZSCG6IG3LT5FUUEY7KCA7XGKZGQB3/