Interface Configuration¶

This section covers network interface configuration in FloofOS. The documentation is organized into the following categories:

Basic Interface Commands - Show and clear interface statistics
Hardware Interface Commands - Hardware details and diagnostics
Set Interface Commands - Configure interface properties
Create Interface Commands - Create virtual interfaces

For Layer 2 configuration, see:

VLAN Configuration - 802.1Q VLAN sub-interfaces and Q-in-Q
Bridge Configuration - Layer 2 bridge domains
Bonding Configuration - Link aggregation (LAG/LACP)
VXLAN Configuration - VXLAN overlay tunnels

Interface Naming Convention¶

FloofOS uses a structured naming scheme for network interfaces based on speed, slot position, and port index.

Physical Interface Naming¶

Speed	VPP Interface	LCP Interface (Linux)
1 Gbps	`GEX/Y/Z`	`ge-x-y-z`
2.5 Gbps	`2.5GEX/Y/Z`	`2.5ge-x-y-z`
10 Gbps	`10GEX/Y/Z`	`10ge-x-y-z`
25 Gbps	`25GEX/Y/Z`	`25ge-x-y-z`
40 Gbps	`40GEX/Y/Z`	`40ge-x-y-z`
50 Gbps	`50GEX/Y/Z`	`50ge-x-y-z`
100 Gbps	`100GEX/Y/Z`	`100ge-x-y-z`
400 Gbps	`400GEX/Y/Z`	`400ge-x-y-z`

Naming Components¶

Component	Description	Example
X	Card/Slot ID - Identifies physical NIC or riser slot position	`12`
Y	NUMA Node - Indicates NUMA affinity (0 or 1 for dual-socket systems)	`0`
Z	Port Index - Sequential port number on the NIC	`0`

Example: GE12/0/0 = 1 Gbps interface on slot 12, NUMA node 0, port 0

Virtual Interface Types¶

Interface Type	Naming Pattern	Example
Loopback	`loop<N>`	`loop0`
Bond	`BondEthernet<N>`	`BondEthernet0`
VXLAN Tunnel	`vxlan_tunnel<N>`	`vxlan_tunnel0`
VLAN Sub-interface	`<parent>.<vlan-id>`	`GE12/0/0.100`
TAP	`tap<N>`	`tap0`
LCP Host	`host-<name>`	`host-ge-12-0-0`

Basic Interface Commands¶

Basic commands for displaying interface information and clearing statistics.

Show Interface¶

Displays software interface information including counters and features.

Syntax¶

show interface [address|addr|features|feat] [<interface> [<interface> [..]]]

Show All Interfaces¶

show interface

Show Interface Addresses¶

show interface addr

Show RX Placement¶

show interface rx-placement

Clear Interfaces¶

Clears the statistics for all interfaces (statistics associated with show interface).

Syntax¶

clear interfaces

Hardware Interface Commands¶

Commands for displaying hardware details and driver information.

Show Hardware-Interfaces¶

Displays detailed information about hardware interfaces including driver, speed, and MAC address.

Syntax¶

show hardware-interfaces [brief|verbose|detail] [<interface> [<interface> [..]]]

Parameters¶

Parameter	Description
`brief`	Only show name, index, and state
`verbose`	Display additional attributes (default)
`detail`	Display all attributes and extended statistics

Clear Hardware-Interfaces¶

Clears extended statistics for all or specified interfaces.

Syntax¶

clear hardware-interfaces [<interface> [<interface> [..]]]

Set Interface Commands¶

Commands for configuring interface properties.

Set Interface State¶

Enables or disables an interface administratively.

Syntax¶

set interface state <interface> <up|down>

Example: Bring Interface Up¶

set interface state GE12/0/0 up
commit

Example: Bring Interface Down¶

set interface state GE12/0/0 down
commit

Set Interface IP Address¶

Assigns IPv4 or IPv6 addresses to an interface.

Syntax¶

set interface ip address <interface> <address>/<prefix>
set interface ip address del <interface> <address>/<prefix>

Example: Add IPv4 Address¶

set interface ip address GE12/0/0 172.16.32.32/24
commit

Example: Add IPv6 Address¶

set interface ip address GE12/0/0 2001:db8::1/64
commit

Example: Multiple Addresses¶

set interface ip address GE12/0/0 192.168.1.1/24
set interface ip address GE12/0/0 192.168.2.1/24
set interface ip address GE12/0/0 2001:db8:1::1/64
set interface ip address GE12/0/0 2001:db8:2::1/64
commit

Example: Remove IP Address¶

set interface ip address del GE12/0/0 192.168.2.1/24
commit

Set Interface MTU¶

Configures the Maximum Transmission Unit for an interface.

Syntax¶

set interface mtu <size> <interface>

Common MTU Values¶

MTU	Use Case
1500	Standard Ethernet
9000	Jumbo frames (data center)
9216	Large jumbo frames

Example¶

set interface mtu 9000 GE12/0/0
commit

MTU Recommendation

For data center deployments, use MTU 9000 for optimal throughput. Ensure all devices in the path support the same MTU.

Set Interface Promiscuous¶

Enables or disables promiscuous mode for packet capture or monitoring.

Syntax¶

set interface promiscuous <on|off> <interface>

Example: Enable¶

set interface promiscuous on GE12/0/0

Example: Disable¶

set interface promiscuous off GE12/0/0

Set Interface RX-Mode¶

Configures the receive mode for performance tuning.

Syntax¶

set interface rx-mode <interface> <polling|interrupt|adaptive>

Modes¶

Mode	Description	Use Case
`polling`	Continuous polling (default)	High-throughput, low-latency
`interrupt`	Interrupt-driven	Low-traffic, CPU conservation
`adaptive`	Automatic switching	Variable traffic patterns

Example¶

set interface rx-mode GE12/0/0 polling

Set Interface RX-Placement¶

Assigns receive queues to specific worker threads for performance optimization.

Syntax¶

set interface rx-placement <interface> queue <n> worker <n>

Example¶

set interface rx-placement GE12/0/0 queue 0 worker 1
set interface rx-placement GE12/0/0 queue 1 worker 2
commit

Set Interface L2 Bridge¶

Assigns an interface to a Layer 2 bridge domain.

Syntax¶

set interface l2 bridge <interface> <bridge-domain-id> [bvi]

Example¶

set interface l2 bridge GE12/0/0 100
commit

See Bridge Configuration for complete bridge domain documentation.

Create Interface Commands¶

Commands for creating virtual interfaces.

Create Loopback Interface¶

Creates a loopback interface for router-id, management, or internal communication.

Syntax¶

create loopback interface
delete loopback interface <name>

Example¶

create loopback interface
set interface state loop0 up
set interface ip address loop0 10.255.255.1/32
commit

Router ID

Use a loopback interface address as your BGP router-id for stable peering.

Create Sub-Interface¶

Creates VLAN sub-interfaces. See VLAN Configuration for detailed documentation.

Syntax¶

create sub-interfaces <interface> <subid> [dot1q <vlan>] [exact-match]

Example: Simple VLAN¶

create sub-interfaces GE12/0/0 100 dot1q 100
set interface state GE12/0/0.100 up
set interface ip address GE12/0/0.100 192.168.100.1/24
commit

Automatic LCP

With lcp lcp-auto-subint on (default), the corresponding Linux interface is automatically created after commit. No manual lcp create required.

Create TAP Interface¶

Creates TAP interfaces for Linux kernel connectivity.

Syntax¶

create tap host-if-name <linux-name>

Example¶

create tap host-if-name mgmt0
set interface state tap0 up
set interface ip address tap0 10.0.0.1/24
commit

Linux Control Plane (LCP)¶

LCP creates Linux network interfaces that mirror VPP interfaces, enabling:

Standard Linux tools (ip, ping, traceroute)
BIRD routing daemon integration
Management access through Linux networking

Default LCP Settings¶

FloofOS uses these default LCP settings for automatic Linux interface creation:

lcp default netns dataplane
lcp lcp-sync on
lcp lcp-auto-subint on

Setting	Description
`lcp default netns dataplane`	LCP interfaces created in dataplane namespace
`lcp lcp-sync on`	Synchronize interface state between VPP and Linux
`lcp lcp-auto-subint on`	Automatically create LCP for sub-interfaces

Show LCP¶

show lcp

Displays the mapping between VPP interfaces and their corresponding Linux host interfaces.

Create LCP Interface¶

For physical interfaces, LCP is typically created during first-boot wizard. For manual creation:

Syntax¶

lcp create <vpp-interface> host-if <linux-name>

Example¶

lcp create GE12/0/0 host-if ge-12-0-0
commit

Automatic LCP Creation

First boot: LCP interfaces are automatically created when you accept the interface wizard
Sub-interfaces: With lcp lcp-auto-subint on (default), LCP is automatically created for sub-interfaces after commit

Delete LCP Interface¶

Syntax¶

lcp delete <vpp-interface>

Example¶

lcp delete GE12/0/0
commit

LCP Configuration Commands¶

Command	Description
`lcp default netns <name>`	Set default network namespace
`lcp lcp-sync <on/off>`	Enable/disable LCP sync
`lcp lcp-auto-subint <on/off>`	Auto-create sub-interface LCP

Troubleshooting¶

Interface Not Appearing¶

Verify interface detection during boot:
```
show hardware-interfaces
```
Check VPP logs for errors:
```
start shell
```
Then run journalctl -u vpp -n 50 in the shell.

Interface Down¶

Check physical link status:
```
show hardware-interfaces GE12/0/0
```
Check administrative state:
```
show interface GE12/0/0
```
Verify cable connection and remote port status

No Traffic¶

Check interface counters:
```
show interface
```
Verify IP configuration:
```
show interface addr
```
Check routing table:
```
show ip fib
```
Verify LCP interface (for BIRD):
```
show lcp
```

Command Reference¶

Command	Description
`show interface`	Display interface status and counters
`show interface addr`	Display interface IP addresses
`show interface rx-placement`	Display RX queue placement
`show hardware-interfaces`	Display hardware details
`clear interfaces`	Clear interface counters
`clear hardware-interfaces`	Clear hardware counters
`set interface state <if> up/down`	Set administrative state
`set interface ip address <if> <ip>`	Assign IP address
`set interface mtu <size> <if>`	Set MTU
`set interface promiscuous on/off <if>`	Set promiscuous mode
`set interface rx-mode <if> <mode>`	Set receive mode
`set interface rx-placement <if> queue <n> worker <n>`	Set RX placement
`set interface l2 bridge <if> <bd>`	Add to bridge domain
`create loopback interface`	Create loopback
`create tap host-if-name <name>`	Create TAP interface
`lcp create <if> host-if <name>`	Create LCP interface
`show lcp`	Display LCP interfaces