XENNET(4) (xen)

XENNET(4) | Device Drivers Manual (xen) | XENNET(4)

# NAME

`xennet` —
Xen frontend paravirtualized network interface

# SYNOPSIS

`xennet* at xenbus?`

# DESCRIPTION

The `xennet` interface forms the frontend part of the paravirtualized drivers used by Xen guest domains to have network connectivity.

When the host domain is NetBSD, the endpoint of the `xennet` interface is a xvif(4) interface. In the XenStore, `xvif` and `xennet` are identified by “vif” (virtual interface) entries.

Conceptually, frontends and backends drivers are similar to two Ethernet cards connected via a crossover cable.

`xennet` interfaces can pass VLAN tagged packets.

# DIAGNOSTICS

xennet%d: can't read mac address, err %d
  The MAC address for this interface could not be read from XenStore.
xennet%d: %s is not a valid mac address
  The MAC address specified in the configuration file of the newly created guest domain is invalid.
xennet%d: using event channel %d
  The Xen event channel (virtual interrupt) ID associated to this `xennet`.
xennet%d: using RX copy mode
  The `xennet` and its associated endpoint use copy mode for communication: packets are copied from one domain's memory to another.
xennet%d: using RX flip mode
  The `xennet` and its associated endpoint use flip mode for communication: packets are passed by remapping memory pages between domains.

# SEE ALSO

bridge(4), ifmedia(4), xenbus(4), xvif(4), ifconfig(8)

# HISTORY

The `xennet` driver first appeared in NetBSD 3.0.

# AUTHORS

The `xennet` driver was written by Manuel Bouyer <bouyer@NetBSD.org> and Christian Limpach <chris@pin.lu>.

November 20, 2015 | NetBSD 9.5