How to set up bonding with YaST2

This document (3815448) is provided subject to the disclaimer at the end of this document.

Environment

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10

Situation

Network bonding needs to be configured with YaST2.

Resolution

Traditional method with ifup
Click "Edit" to get to the "Addresses" section and chose: "No IP address (for bonding devices)" or "No Link and IP Setup (Bonding Slaves)".
For SLES 11 SP1 and prior, under the "General" section choose Device activation "Never". SLES11 SP1 can also be set to "On Hotplug". With SLES 11 SP2 and later, Device activation should be set to "On Hotplug"
Click "Next" to exit the interface configuration screen

Start YaST2:
yast2 lan
For the network interfaces intended to be used as bond slaves, ensure they are configured with the following parameters:
Click "Add" => Device type "Bond network" => "Next".
Under "Address" choose "Automatic Address Setup" for DHCP or "Static Address Setup" for static IP address configuration
Now the previously configured network will be marked as ready for "Bond Slaves". Mark here all the network cards which should be bonded.
Choose "Bond Driver Options" and configure the preferred bonding method
Finish the setup by clicking "Next"

Additional Information

If the bonding configuration is correct, the command /sbin/ifconfig should look similar to this:

bond0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:0C:F6:0B:65:5B
inet addr:192.168.1.100 Bcast:192.168.1.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
inet6 addr: fe80::20c:f6ff:fe0b:655b/64 Scope:Link
UP BROADCAST NOTRAILERS RUNNING MASTER MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:195481 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:0 errors:70 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:135
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:20100809 (19.1 Mb) TX bytes:0 (0.0 b)

eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:0C:F6:0B:65:5B
UP BROADCAST RUNNING SLAVE MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:146 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:17363 (16.9 Kb) TX bytes:0 (0.0 b)
Interrupt:169

eth1 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:0C:F6:0B:65:5B
UP BROADCAST RUNNING SLAVE MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:195335 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:0 errors:70 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:135
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:20083446 (19.1 Mb) TX bytes:0 (0.0 b)
Interrupt:225 Base address:0xdc00

lo Link encap:Local Loopback
inet addr:127.0.0.1 Mask:255.0.0.0
inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:16436 Metric:1
RX packets:227 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:227 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:19314 (18.8 Kb) TX bytes:19314 (18.8 Kb)

If you want to set up bonding without using YaST or if you need additional information about bonding, please read the following Knowledgebase article How To Configure Bonding on SUSE Linux products.

Disclaimer

This Support Knowledgebase provides a valuable tool for SUSE customers and parties interested in our products and solutions to acquire information, ideas and learn from one another. Materials are provided for informational, personal or non-commercial use within your organization and are presented "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND.