[systemd-devel] Static IP address on wandering Wi-Fi client

[Bruce A. Johnson]

I'm not so sure about handing the IP configuration to the service that
is managing the link level. What then do we do with Ethernet? Do we
build an iwd equivalent to set up the routes, etc. for the Ethernet
connections? What I like about what I've seen with systemd-networkd and
wpa_supplicant so far is that I can manage one set of systemd-networkd
configuration files to determine which interface (eth0 or wlan0) gets
priority, and whether or not to use the link's DNS and time services. It
all "just works" for me. I understand that iwd is going to be more
straightforward and better than wpa_supplicant, but systemd-networkd has
also been straightforward and easy for me to work with. I'd like iwd to
"just work", too.

I'm no deep thinker on the subject of networking, but here you have my
two cents' worth.

Bruce A. Johnson | Firmware Engineer
Blue Ridge Networks, Inc.
14120 Parke Long Court Suite 103 | Chantilly, VA 20151
Main: 1.800.722.1168 | Direct: 703-633-7332
http://www.blueridgenetworks.com

On 17/06/2019 10.28, Marcel Holtmann wrote:
> actually this is the wrong approach. You are not getting the full state information back from the netlink interface. You need to talk to a proper WiFi daemon like iwd that has a full understanding of the WiFi state.
>
> And frankly IP configuration needs to move into the network technology daemons like iwd for example. Doing that at the level of networkd or NetworkManager is not working out long term. Each technology has a lot of interlinking between the IP configuration and its network technology. There needs to be a split between configuring the network interface and setting up routing and other relationships. The pure IP configuration has to be done by iwd (and soon it will be).