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FeatureReq - Support for USB NIC adapters with ASIX AX88179 chipset and similar
Support for USB NIC adapters would be really great, especially for those using Intel NUCs and other systems with only a single LAN Adapter. Please note that in general this is not a driver issue, the adapter is recognized alright and the ethernet device is created. However it appears to be an interface naming issue in XenServer/xcp-ng: The name of the interface is not stable between reboots. The issue is described and discussed here: https://discussions.citrix.com/topic/379716-usb-nic-with-xenserver-7/ People have devised manual workarounds, which most likely will not survive updates/upgrades. Still they can be useful as a starting point: https://ericeikrem.com/index.php/en/how-tos/455-xenserver-lab-setup-usb-nic-gb
Hey @stormi, do you have an idea if this is in the roadmap to get implemented? I have 3 dell optiplex 7060 micro computers that I run in a cluster, but those only have 1 NIC, so I have no other option that to use USB NICs. Inside of these micro servers I virtualize OPNsense, which needs at least 2 interfaces (WAN and LAN). I'm able to run this just fine in vsphere because they have the "USB Network Native Driver for ESXi", and I'm planning on migrating from vsphere to open source, but because of this, I cannot make the move yet. I installed xcp-ng and XOA in one of the micro servers to run tests and I love everything, but now I have to decide if I will continue to use it or will go back. Any update would be greatly appreciated 🙇
At least for CH there's an SDK to compile drivers on your own. That's not super comfy but could be an option. Also: can't you just use VLANs?
@chrisjosuearzu It's not on the roadmap at the moment and there has not been a lot of traction on this issue for now. From what I understand it's not just a matter of driver support, but also of adding support for that kind of setup in the XAPI's network support.
At least for CH there's an SDK to compile drivers on your own. That's not super comfy but could be an option. Also: can't you just use VLANs?
Although I don't think the issue here is about compiling kernel drivers, let's mention that we also have a build environment that is usable by any user at https://github.com/xcp-ng/xcp-ng-build-env and a RPM driver template at https://github.com/xcp-ng-rpms/kernel-driver-template/tree/master/SPECS
Thanks for sharing an update @stormi. I'll stick around and use VLANs as @nagilum99 kindly recommended. Been watching Lawrence systems videos and reading through your docs, so I think I got the hang of it. Will be deploying 2 OPNsense firewalls (1 on each xcp-ng host) to run them on HA. We'll see how it goes 🤞
Once you know how VLANs work, you don't want to miss them in more complex environments. ;-) It can also save a lot of cablings - as long as the bandwith isn't a problem. VLAN handling with XCP-ng also is pretty easy - if the NIC driver doesn't bitch (which doesn't happen that often - even cheap Realtek onboard stuff usually works).
Thanks for the reply. Bandwidth is the only thing I'm concerned about, as those NICs are 1Gbps and my NAS will be running in openmediavault inside of xcp-ng. I was thinking of maybe rate limiting the bandwidth to that OMV VM. What are your thoughts on that, have you had any issues or experiences in such situations? @nagilum99
I never used any limiting. But there's an easy trick for Firewalls: Your lines are full duplex and often traffic mainly goes one direction - which means using VLANs: You just use duplex capacity aka: 1 Gig up and 1 Gig down on the same port. That doesn't make any trouble. Also I doubt that machines are what you want, if you have traffic going above that.
I will test things out and see how everything goes. I don't think I'll have any issues, but we'll see. Thanks!