In the latest versions of RHEL-based Operating Systems, you no longer manage the network using NetworkManager ifcfg files. Previously in RockyLinux 8 and AlmaLinux 8, you would add ifcfg files to configure adapters and also to configure persistent static routes. In RockyLinux 9 and AlmaLinux 9, the recommended way to manage the network is to use the command line tool NMCLI embedded in Linux. However, it is still possible to use ifcfg files although not recommended. NetworkManager now prioritises key files. When you create or manage connection profiles. These profiles will be given priority over the ifcfg files. As most NVMe VPS Servers are provisioned automatically, it’s strongly advised to use NMCLI to manage your server’s network.
NMCLI Basics
These Linux NMCLI commands show you the current network status and how to add net connection profiles.
| NMCLI Command | Description |
|---|---|
nmcli con show | List all connections on the server. |
nmcli con show Public | List the current settings for the connection Public |
nmcli dev status | Show the status of NetworkManager and connections. |
nmcli con add con-name Public .. | Add a new connection named Public. |
nmcli con mod name .. | Modify the connection name. |
nmcli con reload | Tell NetworkManager to reload the configuration files. |
nmcli con up Public | Activate a connection named Public |
nmcli dev dis dev | Deactivate and disconnect the current connection on the network interface dev |
nmcli con del name | Delete the connection name and its configuration file |
Example – NMCLI Show Adapters and Status
nmcli dev statusIn this example, we can see that our RockyLinux 9 VPS has two connections named eth0 and eth1. Both of these connections are up.
DEVICE TYPE STATE CONNECTION
eth0 ethernet connected System eth0
eth1 ethernet connected System eth1
lo loopback connected (externally) lo
Example – Show NMCLI connection details
nmcli con showIn this example, we can see the two connections. Notice how nmcli assigned a UUID to the connections.
Configure Static Routes Using MNCLI
Previously to configure a static route in CentOS 7, RockyLinux 8 and AlmaLinux 8 you would add a route-eth0 file to the /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts file. You can still do this, just as you can still add ifcfg-eth files to configure networking. However, as mentioned above if you do this these connections will have a lower priority than connections configured using nmcli. Therefore, to configure a static route on RockyLinux 9 and AlmaLinux 9 use nmcli.
Configure Static Route for 10.210.250.5
In this example, we want to route all traffic for the 10.210.250.5 IP address via the gateway 10.210.250.5.
nmcli connection modify eth1 +ipv4.routes "10.210.250.0/24 10.210.250.1"But remember, you can still configure a static route in RockyLinux 9 or AlmaLinux 9 the old way by creating a route-eth1 file.
nano /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/route-eth1# Configure static route for 10.210.250.0/24 private network
10.210.250.0/24 dev eth1
default via 10.210.250.1 dev eth1
