deprecate ubuntu-fan in Noble
| Affects | Status | Importance | Assigned to | Milestone | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| iproute2 (Ubuntu) |
New
|
Undecided
|
Unassigned | ||
| Noble |
New
|
Undecided
|
Unassigned | ||
Bug Description
[Impact]
In order to provide ubuntu-fan we need to maintain additional kernel SAUCE patches that are currently conflicting with upstream code, potentially breaking networking eBPF APIs.
To prevent such incompatibility the whole patch set requires a major redesign.
However, after investigations and a detailed assessment we have not found any relevant real-world use-case that still requuires ubuntu-fan, as most of its features are now available in the upstream kernel and user-space tools, using alternative solutions.
Moreover, maintaining ubuntu-fan is also slowing down / preventing the development of other packages (see for example LP: #2051672).
Therefore, we are proposing to deprecate ubuntu-fan starting with noble.
[Test case]
We have ubuntu-fan test cases in our regression testing suite. Such tests are expected to fail with the noble kernel, so we can hint/disable them in Noble.
[Fix]
Drop (do not apply) the ubuntu-fan SAUCE patch set from the Ubuntu kernel.
[Regression potential]
There are still some existing tools/systems that may still rely on ubuntu-fan, so we may experience regressions when such systems are moving to noble. However, the potential of breaking eBPF networking has a much higher impact, so we can probably workaround any potential ubuntu-fan regression using alternative upstream solutions.
| Simon Déziel (sdeziel) wrote | #1 |
LXD clusters make use of FAN networks when OVN is deemed inappropriate or not compatible with the environment.