1 # SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0
3 menu "UML Network Devices"
8 bool "Virtual network device"
10 While the User-Mode port cannot directly talk to any physical
11 hardware devices, this choice and the following transport options
12 provide one or more virtual network devices through which the UML
13 kernels can talk to each other, the host, and with the host's help,
14 machines on the outside world.
16 For more information, including explanations of the networking and
17 sample configurations, see
18 <http://user-mode-linux.sourceforge.net/old/networking.html>.
20 If you'd like to be able to enable networking in the User-Mode
21 linux environment, say Y; otherwise say N. Note that you must
22 enable at least one of the following transport options to actually
23 make use of UML networking.
25 config UML_NET_ETHERTAP
26 bool "Ethertap transport"
29 The Ethertap User-Mode Linux network transport allows a single
30 running UML to exchange packets with its host over one of the
31 host's Ethertap devices, such as /dev/tap0. Additional running
32 UMLs can use additional Ethertap devices, one per running UML.
33 While the UML believes it's on a (multi-device, broadcast) virtual
34 Ethernet network, it's in fact communicating over a point-to-point
37 To use this, your host kernel must have support for Ethertap
38 devices. Also, if your host kernel is 2.4.x, it must have
39 CONFIG_NETLINK_DEV configured as Y or M.
41 For more information, see
42 <http://user-mode-linux.sourceforge.net/old/networking.html> That site
43 has examples of the UML command line to use to enable Ethertap
46 If you'd like to set up an IP network with the host and/or the
47 outside world, say Y to this, the Daemon Transport and/or the
48 Slip Transport. You'll need at least one of them, but may choose
49 more than one without conflict. If you don't need UML networking,
53 bool "TUN/TAP transport"
56 The UML TUN/TAP network transport allows a UML instance to exchange
57 packets with the host over a TUN/TAP device. This option will only
58 work with a 2.4 host, unless you've applied the TUN/TAP patch to
61 To use this transport, your host kernel must have support for TUN/TAP
62 devices, either built-in or as a module.
68 The slip User-Mode Linux network transport allows a running UML to
69 network with its host over a point-to-point link. Unlike Ethertap,
70 which can carry any Ethernet frame (and hence even non-IP packets),
71 the slip transport can only carry IP packets.
73 To use this, your host must support slip devices.
75 For more information, see
76 <http://user-mode-linux.sourceforge.net/old/networking.html>.
77 has examples of the UML command line to use to enable slip
78 networking, and details of a few quirks with it.
80 The Ethertap Transport is preferred over slip because of its
81 limitations. If you prefer slip, however, say Y here. Otherwise
82 choose the Multicast transport (to network multiple UMLs on
83 multiple hosts), Ethertap (to network with the host and the
84 outside world), and/or the Daemon transport (to network multiple
85 UMLs on a single host). You may choose more than one without
86 conflict. If you don't need UML networking, say N.
89 bool "Daemon transport"
92 This User-Mode Linux network transport allows one or more running
93 UMLs on a single host to communicate with each other, but not to
96 To use this form of networking, you'll need to run the UML
97 networking daemon on the host.
99 For more information, see
100 <http://user-mode-linux.sourceforge.net/old/networking.html> That site
101 has examples of the UML command line to use to enable Daemon
104 If you'd like to set up a network with other UMLs on a single host,
105 say Y. If you need a network between UMLs on multiple physical
106 hosts, choose the Multicast Transport. To set up a network with
107 the host and/or other IP machines, say Y to the Ethertap or Slip
108 transports. You'll need at least one of them, but may choose
109 more than one without conflict. If you don't need UML networking,
112 config UML_NET_VECTOR
113 bool "Vector I/O high performance network devices"
116 This User-Mode Linux network driver uses multi-message send
117 and receive functions. The host running the UML guest must have
118 a linux kernel version above 3.0 and a libc version > 2.13.
119 This driver provides tap, raw, gre and l2tpv3 network transports
120 with up to 4 times higher network throughput than the UML network
127 This User-Mode Linux network transport allows one or more running
128 UMLs on a single host to communicate with each other and also
129 with the rest of the world using Virtual Distributed Ethernet,
130 an improved fork of uml_switch.
132 You must have libvdeplug installed in order to build the vde
135 To use this form of networking, you will need to run vde_switch
138 For more information, see <http://wiki.virtualsquare.org/>
139 That site has a good overview of what VDE is and also examples
140 of the UML command line to use to enable VDE networking.
142 If you need UML networking with VDE,
146 bool "Multicast transport"
149 This Multicast User-Mode Linux network transport allows multiple
150 UMLs (even ones running on different host machines!) to talk to
151 each other over a virtual ethernet network. However, it requires
152 at least one UML with one of the other transports to act as a
153 bridge if any of them need to be able to talk to their hosts or any
156 To use this, your host kernel(s) must support IP Multicasting.
158 For more information, see
159 <http://user-mode-linux.sourceforge.net/old/networking.html> That site
160 has examples of the UML command line to use to enable Multicast
161 networking, and notes about the security of this approach.
163 If you need UMLs on multiple physical hosts to communicate as if
164 they shared an Ethernet network, say Y. If you need to communicate
165 with other IP machines, make sure you select one of the other
166 transports (possibly in addition to Multicast; they're not
167 exclusive). If you don't need to network UMLs say N to each of
171 bool "pcap transport"
174 The pcap transport makes a pcap packet stream on the host look
175 like an ethernet device inside UML. This is useful for making
176 UML act as a network monitor for the host. You must have libcap
177 installed in order to build the pcap transport into UML.
179 For more information, see
180 <http://user-mode-linux.sourceforge.net/old/networking.html> That site
181 has examples of the UML command line to use to enable this option.
183 If you intend to use UML as a network monitor for the host, say
184 Y here. Otherwise, say N.
187 bool "SLiRP transport"
190 The SLiRP User-Mode Linux network transport allows a running UML
191 to network by invoking a program that can handle SLIP encapsulated
192 packets. This is commonly (but not limited to) the application
193 known as SLiRP, a program that can re-socket IP packets back onto
194 the host on which it is run. Only IP packets are supported,
195 unlike other network transports that can handle all Ethernet
196 frames. In general, slirp allows the UML the same IP connectivity
197 to the outside world that the host user is permitted, and unlike
198 other transports, SLiRP works without the need of root level
199 privleges, setuid binaries, or SLIP devices on the host. This
200 also means not every type of connection is possible, but most
201 situations can be accommodated with carefully crafted slirp
202 commands that can be passed along as part of the network device's
203 setup string. The effect of this transport on the UML is similar
204 that of a host behind a firewall that masquerades all network
205 connections passing through it (but is less secure).
207 To use this you should first have slirp compiled somewhere
208 accessible on the host, and have read its documentation. If you
209 don't need UML networking, say N.
211 Startup example: "eth0=slirp,FE:FD:01:02:03:04,/usr/local/bin/slirp"