Renaming interfaces using *.link file does not work

[Ven Huroo]

Dear Ubuntu team,

I wanted to use "systemd-networkd" intead of "udev" to rename network interface like this:

(replace MAC by real one)

########################################
echo '[Match]
MACAddress=12:34:56:78:90:11

[Link]
Name=myname123' | sudo tee '/etc/systemd/network/myname123.link'
########################################

(and reboot)

But it does not work. And it should work based on the systemd documentation. I googled the issue but I didn't find anything interesting instead that I should run "update-initramfs -u" but that didn't help.

I tested that this doesn't work both on Ubuntu Desktop 20.04 and Ubuntu Server 20.04.

Thank you,

Kind regards,
Ven

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 20.04
Package: systemd 245.4-4ubuntu3
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 5.4.0-29.33-generic 5.4.30
Uname: Linux 5.4.0-29-generic x86_64
ApportVersion: 2.20.11-0ubuntu27
Architecture: amd64
CasperMD5CheckResult: skip
CurrentDesktop: KDE
Date: Wed May 20 14:35:21 2020
InstallationDate: Installed on 2020-05-17 (3 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Kubuntu 20.04 LTS "Focal Fossa" - Release amd64 (20200423)
Lsusb:
 Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
 Bus 001 Device 002: ID 0627:0001 Adomax Technology Co., Ltd QEMU USB Tablet
 Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Lsusb-t:
 /: Bus 02.Port 1: Dev 1, Class=root_hub, Driver=xhci_hcd/4p, 5000M
 /: Bus 01.Port 1: Dev 1, Class=root_hub, Driver=xhci_hcd/4p, 480M
     |__ Port 1: Dev 2, If 0, Class=Human Interface Device, Driver=usbhid, 480M
MachineType: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009)
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/vmlinuz-5.4.0-29-generic root=UUID=fd983ca3-a36f-4d8a-b881-164590fe35e2 ro rootflags=subvol=@ quiet splash vt.handoff=7
SourcePackage: systemd
SystemdDelta:
 [EXTENDED] /usr/lib/systemd/system/rc-local.service → /usr/lib/systemd/system/rc-local.service.d/debian.conf
 [EXTENDED] /usr/lib/systemd/system/user@.service → /usr/lib/systemd/system/user@.service.d/timeout.conf

 2 overridden configuration files found.
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
dmi.bios.date: 04/01/2014
dmi.bios.vendor: SeaBIOS
dmi.bios.version: 1.12.0-1
dmi.chassis.type: 1
dmi.chassis.vendor: QEMU
dmi.chassis.version: pc-q35-3.1
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnSeaBIOS:bvr1.12.0-1:bd04/01/2014:svnQEMU:pnStandardPC(Q35+ICH9,2009):pvrpc-q35-3.1:cvnQEMU:ct1:cvrpc-q35-3.1:
dmi.product.name: Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009)
dmi.product.version: pc-q35-3.1
dmi.sys.vendor: QEMU

[Dan Streetman (ddstreet)]

What's the output of:

$ networkctl status enp3s0

specifically, what's the 'Link File'. Change the name of the interface if needed, of course.

I am guessing it's "/lib/systemd/network/99-default.link". That's because your link file is named "myname123.link", and "m" is after "9", so 99-default.link matches first (because it matches "OriginalName=*"). If this is the case, try renaming your link file so it's lower (alphabetically) than 99-, e.g. "50-myname123.link".

Alternately, if networkctl shows your interface link file is "/run/systemd/network/10-netplan-enp3s0.link", it's because you have it configured using netplan, which also creates a link file for some operations (like setting interface name). Check your /etc/netplan/ dir for *.yaml files.

[Markus Rexhepi-Lindberg (k-markus)]

I experiencing the same problem. My two Ethernet interfaces does not get renamed. I want to accomplish the following.

eth0 => eth1
eth1 => eth0

Basically switching names between the Ethernet interfaces.

I had the same exact setup on 18.04 which worked.

You can find some information about my system below. Please let me know if I should provide more information.

== networkctl(1) ==

# networkctl status eth0
WARNING: systemd-networkd is not running, output will be incomplete.

Failed to query link bit rates: Unit dbus-org.freedesktop.network1.service not found.
● 2: eth0
             Link File: n/a
          Network File: n/a
                  Type: ether
                 State: n/a (unmanaged)
            HW Address: e0:d5:5e:43:7e:52 (GIGA-BYTE TECHNOLOGY CO.,LTD.)
                   MTU: 1500 (min: 68, max: 9000)
  Queue Length (Tx/Rx): 1/1
      Auto negotiation: yes
                 Speed: 1Gbps
                Duplex: full
                  Port: tp
               Address: 10.88.130.28
                        fe80::e2d5:5eff:fe43:7e52
               Gateway: 10.88.0.1 (Hewlett Packard)

May 28 16:23:44 lnxjohansy systemd-udevd[503]: eth0: Failed to rename network interface 2 from 'eth0' to 'eth1': File exists
May 28 16:23:44 lnxjohansy systemd-udevd[503]: eth0: Failed to process device, ignoring: File exists

# networkctl status eth1
WARNING: systemd-networkd is not running, output will be incomplete.

Failed to query link bit rates: Unit dbus-org.freedesktop.network1.service not found.
● 3: eth1
             Link File: n/a
          Network File: n/a
                  Type: ether
                 State: n/a (unmanaged)
            HW Address: 68:05:ca:75:3d:65 (Intel Corporate)
                   MTU: 1500 (min: 68, max: 9212)
  Queue Length (Tx/Rx): 1/1
      Auto negotiation: yes
                 Speed: n/a
                  Port: tp

May 28 16:23:44 lnxjohansy systemd-udevd[503]: eth1: Failed to rename network interface 3 from 'eth1' to 'eth0': File exists
May 28 16:23:44 lnxjohansy systemd-udevd[503]: eth1: Failed to process device, ignoring: File exists

== systemd.link(5) ==

# ls -l /etc/systemd/network
total 8
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 55 May 28 14:23 70-eth0.link
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 55 May 28 14:23 70-eth1.link

# cat /etc/systemd/network/70-eth0.link
[Match]
MACAddres...

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

[Expired for systemd (Ubuntu) because there has been no activity for 60 days.]