Edit Interface (Standalone)

What Is Edit Interface?

Edit Interface is the operation of changing the configuration of an existing network interface on TR7. The editing form has the same structure as the Add Interface form; it comes filled with the current values of the interface and the type of the interface cannot be changed. The other fields can be edited according to the type of the interface.

In TR7 the interfaces can be of these types: physical (ETH), VLAN, VXLAN, V-ETH, V-ETH(Peer), Bond, LACP and Bridge. While on the physical interfaces only the route table and the advanced settings can be changed, on the interfaces added afterwards the parameters given during the creation can be edited as well:

Interface Type	The Fields That Can Be Edited
ETH	Route table, MTU, TCP acceleration
VLAN	Interface name, Route table, VLAN ID, Master interface, MTU, TCP acceleration
VXLAN	Interface name, Route table, VNI, Underlying interface, Transport mode and the peer fields, MTU, Local source IP, UDP port, TTL, MAC learning, TCP acceleration
V-ETH	Interface name, Route table, Master interface, MTU, TCP acceleration
V-ETH(Peer)	Interface name, Route table, V-ETH peer, MTU, TCP acceleration
Bond	Interface name, Route table, Bond members, MTU, TCP acceleration
LACP	Interface name, Route table, Bond members, LACP Transmit Rate, MTU, TCP acceleration
Bridge	Interface name, Route table, Bridge members, MTU, TCP acceleration

Type is read-only in every type and Interface name only on the ETH interfaces. The Route table field is seen only while more than one route table is defined in the system and is locked on the interfaces that are bond/LACP members (the members follow the table of their master interfaces).

Best Practices

• Record the current state before editing. Before making an interface edit, note down the current configuration; this makes it possible to go back in unexpected problems.
• Evaluate the effect of the route table change. When an interface is moved to a different route table, the IP addresses and the static routes on it are moved as well; the sub-interfaces such as VLAN/V-ETH, on the other hand, stay in their own tables. Do not confirm without reading the warnings in the confirmation window.
• Plan a maintenance window in the production environment. On the interfaces other than ETH and V-ETH(Peer), a change of the name, the VLAN ID, the master interface, the member list or the route table causes the interface to be deleted and created again in the system; the connection is cut off for a short time (in V-ETH(Peer) only a name change recreates the pair).
• Use TCP acceleration carefully. TCP acceleration turns on the RFS setting across the device and it is applied to all the interfaces again at every network synchronization; if it is not on on any interface, the setting across the device is turned off. Before enabling it, analyze the network traffic characteristics.
• Meet the preconditions in member changes. There must be no IP, route or sub-interface on the physical interface to be added to a Bond/LACP; otherwise the record is rejected.

How to Edit?

There is more than one way of editing an existing interface on TR7. All the methods below open the same Interface Editing Form as a closable tab (the first three inside the interface list screen, the fourth inside the Dashboard screen):

From the Actions Menu Method 1

On the Network → Interfaces screen the interface to be edited is selected; then Actions → Edit interface is selected. The option is active only while a single row is selected and no network operation continues.

From the Preview Panel Method 2

On the Network → Interfaces screen an interface is selected; the Edit interface button in the header of the preview panel that opens on the right is clicked.

From the Right-Click Menu Method 3

On the Network → Interfaces screen an interface is right-clicked; Edit interface is selected from the menu that opens.

From the Interface Dashboard Method 4

On the Dashboard screen of an interface the Edit interface button in the header of the preview panel that opens is clicked (network configuration authorization is required).

While the editing tab is open, the preview panel on the right shows the interface being edited; the Edit/Delete/Up/Down buttons in the header of the panel are not offered during this time, but the Up/Down in the Details tab and the delete and enable operations in the IP and Routes tabs continue to work.

The Edit Interface Form

By following one of the methods above, the interface editing form is opened in a closable tab named Edit interface. The content of the form changes according to the type of the selected interface; the meaning and the rules of the type-specific fields are explained on the Add Interface page. Below, the physical interface (ETH) editing form is taken as the example.

WARNING

The editing forms of the interfaces added afterwards (VLAN, VXLAN, LACP, etc.) also contain the parameters given during the creation (the VLAN ID, the master interface, the members, etc.) and these can be edited. The VIP fields seen in a cluster (two-device) setup (VIP communication, VIP communication (v6), VIP transition duration (s), VIP transition method) are not seen in a standalone setup.

The Edit Interface Form (ETH)

INFO

System ID

The unique identifier of the interface in the TR7 system is displayed as an information row (on the physical interfaces the system name of the interface, on the ones added afterwards a generated identity). It is present only in the editing form; it is read-only.

INFO

Type

The type of the interface (ETH, VLAN, VXLAN, V-ETH, V-ETH(Peer), Bond, LACP, Bridge) is displayed. This field is read-only; the type of the interface cannot be changed.

INFO

Route Table

The route table the interface belongs to is selected. The field is seen only if more than one route table is defined in the system; it is locked on the interfaces that are bond/LACP members. During the move the server checks that the IP addresses and the routes of the interface do not collide in the target table; in a collision the record is rejected with the "IP collision: ..." or "Route destinations collide: ..." error.

The interfaces that cannot be moved:

• Bridge members: the field does not appear locked, but the record is rejected with the "... is a bridge member" error.
• A bridge with members: since the members stay in the old table, the record is rejected with the "Must be in the same namespace" error. Since the members cannot be moved while they are members either, they must first be removed from the bridge membership, moved and then added again.
• Protected interfaces: the interfaces that carry a management access IP (HTTP/HTTPS/SSH/SNMP) or that are the cluster synchronization interface cannot be moved outside DEFAULT: "Interface '...' is protected (...)".

WARNING

When the route table is changed, the IP addresses and the static routes of the interface are moved as well; the VLAN/VXLAN/V-ETH sub-interfaces defined on it, on the other hand, stay in their own tables. These effects are listed in the confirmation window that opens before the record (see below).

INFO

Interface Name

The name of the interface is displayed. It is read-only on the ETH interfaces; in the other types it can be changed with the rules on the Add Interface page (1–15 characters, the "Name is used" uniqueness check). When the name of an interface added afterwards is changed, the interface is created again in the system.

INFO

The Type-Specific Fields

Between Interface name and Details there are the fields in the creation form according to the type of the interface: VLAN ID and Master interface in VLAN; VNI, Underlying interface, Transport mode and the peer fields in VXLAN (VLAN ID and VNI take place above Interface name); Master interface in V-ETH; V-ETH peer in V-ETH(Peer); Bond members in Bond/LACP (in LACP also LACP Transmit Rate); Bridge members in Bridge. All of them can be edited. In the master interface lists only the bond/LACP members are passive; the member lists (Bond members / Bridge members), on the other hand, are not filtered at all; unsuitable selections are rejected during the record by the server (e.g. a physical interface that carries an IP cannot be added to a bond: "Interface '...' has N IPs").

INFO

Details

By clicking the Details header row, the advanced settings (MTU, TCP acceleration; in VXLAN the additional tunnel fields) are opened; the section is closed by default.

Details

MTU

The maximum transmission unit (Maximum Transmission Unit) value of the interface is entered. When the field is left empty or 0 is entered, the MTU is not changed; the current value is preserved and the real MTU read from the system is shown in the preview panel. No upper limit is enforced in the form; the value must be consistent with the MTU on the master interface and on the switch side. An MTU change is applied in place, without the interface being created again.

TCP Acceleration

When it is enabled, Receive Flow Steering (RFS) is turned on on the interface: the incoming packets are directed to the CPU core on which the application that handles the related connection runs; the performance improves on high-traffic interfaces. The change is applied without the interface being created again.

INFO

Edit Interface

The changes are saved by clicking the Edit interface button; while there is an erroneous field in the form, the button is passive. After the record the form tab closes and the change is applied in the system in the background. If the server rejects the record, an error window opens and the form stays open.

In saving, a confirmation window opens only when the route table is changed and if there is an IP/route or a sub-interface to be moved on the interface ("Are you sure?"); the effects listed:

• 🟠 "N IP and M route entries will move to route table '...' together with the interface": the IPs and the routes of the interface will be moved together with the table.
• ℹ️ "N VLAN/macvtap interface(s) are defined on this interface: ...": there are sub-interfaces defined on the interface; these are not moved.

The other changes such as the name, the VLAN ID, the member list and the MTU are saved without confirmation being asked; a table change of an interface that has no IP, route or sub-interface is applied without confirmation in the same way.

The System Behavior After Saving

TR7 applies the saved configuration by comparing it with the real state in the system; its effect differs according to which field has changed:

Change	Its effect in the system
The name, the VLAN ID / VNI, the master interface, the member list, the LACP transmission rate, the VXLAN tunnel parameters or the route table on an interface added afterwards	The interface is deleted and created again in the system; the connection is cut off for a short time, the IP addresses and the routes are added again in the same pass
The route table on an ETH interface	The physical interface is not deleted; it is moved to the target table and turned on. During the move its addresses are cleared and added again in the same pass
The name of a V-ETH(Peer)	Both ends of the pair are deleted and created again; only in a route table change is the pair preserved
MTU	It is applied in place (if it is 0/empty, it is not applied)
TCP acceleration	It is applied in place

Turning an Interface On and Off (Up / Down)

The on/off state of the interface is not a field in the form but an instant operation; it is not saved to the configuration. It is done from three places:

• The Down / Up in the menu that opens by right-clicking the interface in the interface list,
• The Up / Down in the ⋮ menu in the header of the preview panel (it is not offered while the editing tab is open),
• The Up / Down buttons in the Details tab of the preview panel.

WARNING

• The protected interfaces (the ones that carry a management access IP or that are the cluster synchronization interface) cannot be turned off and on: "Interface '...' is protected (...)".
• Down is not permanent: at every network configuration application (even if the configuration has not changed), TR7 turns on again automatically the interfaces it finds down during the IP and route evaluation; this behavior is independent of whether there is an IP on the interface. The Down operation is not sufficient in order to disable an interface permanently.

Deleting an Interface

An interface added afterwards is deleted by selecting it in the interface list and using Actions → Delete interface(s) (more than one selection can be made) or with Delete interface in the ⋮ menu of the preview panel on the interface list screen. There is no interface deletion option in the right-click menu and in the preview panel of the Dashboard screen.

The deletion always asks for confirmation: "Are you sure that you want to delete interfaces object?" (in a multiple selection "Are you sure you want to delete N interfaces objects?"). In the confirmation window the side effects of the deletion are listed with their levels; if there is an item at the 🔴 level, a second "This action has destructive consequences. Are you REALLY sure?" confirmation is asked.

Level	Warning	Meaning
🔴	"N attached interface(s) will also be deleted: ..."	The VLAN/VXLAN/V-ETH sub-interfaces on the interface will be deleted as well
🔴	"N IP address(es) will be deleted: ..."	The IP addresses of the interface and of its sub-interfaces will be deleted
🟠	"N route(s) will be deleted"	The bound routes will be deleted
🔴	"Route table '...' will lose its IPv4 default gateway" (IPv6 for IPv6)	One of the deleted routes is the default gateway
ℹ️	"Member interfaces will be released: ..." / "Bridge member interfaces will be released: ..."	When a Bond/LACP or a bridge is deleted, the members will be released
ℹ️	"veth peer interfaces will be left unpaired: ..."	The other end of the V-ETH(Peer) pair will be left without a peer
🟠	"The cluster IP pair of the following interfaces will be cleared: ..."	The deleted IP is used in a VIP pair (only in a cluster setup)

The interfaces that cannot be deleted

• Physical (ETH) interfaces cannot be deleted: "Cannot delete physical interface". If an ETH is included in the selection, the operation is rejected without the confirmation window being opened and no interface is deleted.
• Protected interfaces (the ones that carry a management access IP or that are the cluster synchronization interface) cannot be deleted: "Interface '...' is protected (...)".