Xenial: impossible to rename an interface with a .link file

[Francois Lafont]

Hi,

Impossible to rename an interface with a .link file in a updated Ubuntu Xenial. It's a fresh and basic install without GUI, just a ssh server (it's a VirtualBox VM).

Here is my environment:

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root@xenial-clean:~# lsb_release -a
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description: Ubuntu 16.04 LTS
Release: 16.04
Codename: xenial
-------------------------------------------

According to the manpage "systemd.link" (example 2), I can rename an interface with a .link file like this:

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root@xenial-clean:~# ll /etc/systemd/network/10-eth0.link
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 57 May 10 02:07 /etc/systemd/network/10-eth0.link

root@xenial-clean:~# cat /etc/systemd/network/10-eth0.link
[Match]
MACAddress=08:00:27:be:14:c2

[Link]
Name=eth0
-------------------------------------------

Currently the interface name is enp0s3 because the OS is not yet rebooted:

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root@xenial-clean:~# ip link
1: lo: <LOOPBACK,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 65536 qdisc noqueue state UNKNOWN mode DEFAULT group default qlen 1
    link/loopback 00:00:00:00:00:00 brd 00:00:00:00:00:00
2: enp0s3: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc pfifo_fast state UP mode DEFAULT group default qlen 1000
    link/ether 08:00:27:be:14:c2 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
-------------------------------------------

And now I reboot the OS. But, after the reboot, the interface name is still enp0s3:

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root@xenial-clean:~# ip link
1: lo: <LOOPBACK,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 65536 qdisc noqueue state UNKNOWN mode DEFAULT group default qlen 1
    link/loopback 00:00:00:00:00:00 brd 00:00:00:00:00:00
2: enp0s3: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc pfifo_fast state UP mode DEFAULT group default qlen 1000
    link/ether 08:00:27:be:14:c2 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
-------------------------------------------

Just for information:

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root@xenial-clean:~# cat /proc/cmdline
BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-4.4.0-22-generic root=UUID=03363c3a-58b5-4398-82a8-6997ec1a00e5 ro quiet splash

root@xenial-clean:~# apt-cache policy systemd
systemd:
  Installed: 229-4ubuntu4
  Candidate: 229-4ubuntu4
  Version table:
 *** 229-4ubuntu4 500
        500 http://fr.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial/main amd64 Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
-------------------------------------------

Note: the .link file is taken into account _only_ if I set the "net.ifnames=0" kernel boot parameter. But, according to the manpage "man systemd.link", this is normally not necessary.

Regards.

[Francois Lafont (francois-lafont)]

Sorry impossible to attach my "apport" file. If I try, the "Submit" button works no longer.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

[Francois Lafont (francois-lafont)]

Just for information, I have retried the test with a Xenial 16.04.1 (instead of 16.04) in a fresh install of a VM and the problem still exists.

Regards.