Designating a primary NIC when creating a network bond

This document (7010254) is provided subject to the disclaimer at the end of this document.

Environment

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11

Situation

How to designate a NIC to be primary when creating a bonded network
Primary NIC in bonded environment
Linux bond
Bonded network interface cards

When creating an active-failover bond, it is sometimes desired that one particular interface be designated as primary.

Resolution

To accomplish this, complete the following steps:

1. From a terminal, execute the following command:
vi /etc/sysconfig/network/ifcfg-bondX

2. Modify the line that says:

BONDING_MODULE_OPS='mode=active-backup miimon=100'

to

BONDING_MODULE_OPS='mode=active-backup miimon=100 primary=ethX'

<where ethX is the interface you'd like to make primary>

3. Restart the network

rcnetwork restart

4. Verify the change took:

cat /proc/net/bonding/bondX

Additional Information

This option can also be set via YaST. The same modification as described above can be made to the highlighted area.

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.