Latest revision as of 08:56, 31 May 2024

Removing network-scripts package

This is a proposed Change for Fedora Linux.
This document represents a proposed Change. As part of the Changes process, proposals are publicly announced in order to receive community feedback. This proposal will only be implemented if approved by the Fedora Engineering Steering Committee.

Summary

network-scripts package will be removed in Fedora 41. By removing the package, we also remove support for legacy ifup/ifdown network scripts that have been deprecated since 2018.

Owner

Name: Jan Macku
Name: Lukáš Nykrýn

Email: jamacku@redhat.com
Email: lnykryn@redhat.com

Current status

Targeted release: Fedora Linux 41
Last updated: 2024-05-31
Announced
Discussion thread
FESCo issue: <will be assigned by the Wrangler>
Tracker bug: <will be assigned by the Wrangler>
Release notes tracker: <will be assigned by the Wrangler>

Detailed Description

network-scripts will be removed in Fedora 41. It provides legacy ifup/ifdown scripts as well as network.service.

The network-scripts were deprecated in 2018, and since then, upstream has provided only limited support.

The main reason for removing network-scripts is that ISC dhcp has not been maintained upstream since the end of 2022. There is plan to remove it upcoming Fedora release. Network scripts heavily depend on the DHCP client, and since Network Scripts are no longer developed, there is no chance of updating them to use an alternative client.

Feedback

Benefit to Fedora

We don't deliver software that has been deprecated for many years, unmaintained upstream, and for which we don't have resources to maintain downstream. Additionally, it simplifies networking tasks for users and administrators because NetworkManager will be used more uniformly across Fedora environments.

Scope

Proposal owners: Removing of network-scripts rpm package.

Other developers: Make sure that dependency on network-scripts package is removed (see #Dependencies).

Release engineering: N/A (not needed for this Change)

Policies and guidelines: N/A (not needed for this Change)

Trademark approval: N/A (not needed for this Change)

Alignment with Community Initiatives: N/A (not needed for this Change)

Upgrade/compatibility impact

ifup/ifdown command are no longer available. Use nmcli connection up/down or networkctl up/down instead.

Old ifcfg network configuration should still work thanks to NetworkManager-initscripts-ifcfg-rh package. No migration is needed, but it is recommended to migrate from ifcfg to keyfiles configuration.

You can use one of the following articles on how to migrate:

How To Test

Networking should work as before the removal of network-scripts package.

User Experience

Dependencies

RPM packages that depends in some form on network-scripts:

libteam - https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2262986
NetworkManager - https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2275295
openvswitch - https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2262982
ppp - https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2262981

Note that this will also affect all users with local custom network-scripts that require functionality from network-scripts package.

Contingency Plan

Contingency mechanism: Since dhcp client is no longer maintained and is going to be deprecated in Fedora, there is currently no contingency mechanism.
Contingency deadline: beta freeze
Blocks release: No

Documentation

Upstream Deprecation notice - https://github.com/fedora-sysv/initscripts/commit/b748244cf9905696baf1bc16e0432f85093414c2

Release Notes

@@ Line 5: / Line 5: @@
 == Summary ==
-<code>network-scripts</code> package will be removed in Fedora 41. By removing the package, we also remove support for legacy network scripts that have been deprecated since 2018.
+<code>network-scripts</code> package will be removed in Fedora 41. By removing the package, we also remove support for legacy <code>ifup/ifdown</code> network scripts that have been deprecated since 2018.
 == Owner ==
@@ Line 16: / Line 16: @@
 == Current status ==
-[[Category:ChangePageIncomplete]]
+[[Category:ChangeAnnounced]]
 <!-- When your change proposal page is completed and ready for review and announcement -->
 <!-- remove Category:ChangePageIncomplete and change it to Category:ChangeReadyForWrangler -->
@@ Line 23: / Line 23: @@
 <!-- Select proper category, default is Self Contained Change -->
-[[Category:SelfContainedChange]]
+<!-- [[Category:SelfContainedChange]] -->
-<!-- [[Category:SystemWideChange]] -->
+[[Category:SystemWideChange]]
 * Targeted release: [https://docs.fedoraproject.org/en-US/releases/f41/ Fedora Linux 41]
 * Last updated: {{REVISIONYEAR}}-{{REVISIONMONTH}}-{{REVISIONDAY2}}
-* [<will be assigned by the Wrangler> devel thread]
+* [https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/devel-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/thread/4DDBIE5SBLV4DNBDT5GU5SL4ZYSPGGFR/ Announced]
+* [https://discussion.fedoraproject.org/t/f41-change-proposal-removing-network-scripts-package-system-wide/118553 Discussion thread]
 * FESCo issue: <will be assigned by the Wrangler>
 * Tracker bug: <will be assigned by the Wrangler>
@@ Line 46: / Line 47: @@
 == Benefit to Fedora ==
-Removing the old <code>network-scripts</code> package in Fedora streamlines the system, ensuring that users have a unified and modern network management experience with NetworkManager. This change reduces maintenance overhead and enhances security by eliminating outdated components. Additionally, it simplifies networking tasks for users and administrators, providing a consistent and robust set of tools across Fedora environments.
+We don't deliver software that has been deprecated for many years, unmaintained upstream, and for which we don't have resources to maintain downstream. Additionally, it simplifies networking tasks for users and administrators because NetworkManager will be used more uniformly across Fedora environments.
 == Scope ==
-* Proposal owners:
+* Proposal owners: Removing of <code>network-scripts</code> rpm package.
 <!-- What work do the feature owners have to accomplish to complete the feature in time for release?  Is it a large change affecting many parts of the distribution or is it a very isolated change? What are those changes?-->
-* Other developers: <!-- REQUIRED FOR SYSTEM WIDE CHANGES -->
+* Other developers: Make sure that dependency on <code>network-scripts</code> package is removed (see [[Changes/NetworkScriptsRemoval#Dependencies| #Dependencies]]).
 <!-- What work do other developers have to accomplish to complete the feature in time for release?  Is it a large change affecting many parts of the distribution or is it a very isolated change? What are those changes?-->
-* Release engineering: [https://pagure.io/releng/issues #Releng issue number] <!-- REQUIRED FOR SYSTEM WIDE CHANGES -->
+* Release engineering: N/A (not needed for this Change)
 <!-- Does this feature require coordination with release engineering (e.g. changes to installer image generation or update package delivery)?  Is a mass rebuild required?  include a link to the releng issue.
 The issue is required to be filed prior to feature submission, to ensure that someone is on board to do any process development work and testing and that all changes make it into the pipeline; a bullet point in a change is not sufficient communication -->
@@ Line 63: / Line 65: @@
 * Trademark approval: N/A (not needed for this Change)
-* Alignment with Community Initiatives:
+* Alignment with Community Initiatives: N/A (not needed for this Change)
 == Upgrade/compatibility impact ==
+<code>ifup/ifdown</code> command are no longer available. Use <code>nmcli connection up/down</code> or <code>networkctl up/down</code> instead.
 Old <code>ifcfg</code> network configuration should still work thanks to <code>NetworkManager-initscripts-ifcfg-rh</code> package. No migration is needed, but it is recommended to migrate from <code>ifcfg</code> to <code>keyfiles</code> configuration.
@@ Line 75: / Line 79: @@
 == How To Test ==
-<!-- This does not need to be a full-fledged document. Describe the dimensions of tests that this change implementation is expected to pass when it is done.  If it needs to be tested with different hardware or software configurations, indicate them.  The more specific you can be, the better the community testing can be.
-Remember that you are writing this how to for interested testers to use to check out your change implementation - documenting what you do for testing is OK, but it's much better to document what *I* can do to test your change.
-A good "how to test" should answer these four questions:
-. What special hardware / data / etc. is needed (if any)?
-. How do I prepare my system to test this change? What packages
-need to be installed, config files edited, etc.?
-. What specific actions do I perform to check that the change is
-working like it's supposed to?
-. What are the expected results of those actions?
--->
-<!-- REQUIRED FOR SYSTEM WIDE CHANGES -->
+Networking should work as before the removal of <code>network-scripts</code> package.
 == User Experience ==
@@ Line 126: / Line 116: @@
 == Release Notes ==
 <!-- The Fedora Release Notes inform end-users about what is new in the release.  Examples of past release notes are at https://docs.fedoraproject.org/en-US/fedora/latest/release-notes/ -->
 <!-- The release notes also help users know how to deal with platform changes such as ABIs/APIs, configuration or data file formats, or upgrade concerns.  If there are any such changes involved in this change, indicate them here.  A link to upstream documentation will often satisfy this need.  This information forms the basis of the release notes edited by the documentation team and shipped with the release.

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