Re: git: b61850c4e6f6 - main - bridge(4): default net.link.bridge.member_ifaddrs to false

On Fri, May 16, 2025 at 6:05 AM Lexi Winter <ivy@freebsd.org> wrote:
>
> Kevin Bowling:
> > On Fri, May 16, 2025 at 5:17 AM Lexi Winter <ivy@freebsd.org> wrote:
> > > is "epair0a" also in a bridge?  if so, this is intentional.
>
> > Hmm, can you clarify what you mean?  I think that is a common
> > configuration, it is mentioned in epair(4).
>
> basically there are two supported configurations:
>
> - epair, with an IP address, not in a bridge (e.g., routed access
>   configuration)
> - epair, in a bridge, without an IP address (e.g., layer 2 access
>   configuration)
>
> both of these configurations are fine and are still supported.
>
> there is also a third, secret configuration:
>
> - epair, with an IP address, in a bridge.
>
> this third configuration has never worked properly for various reasons,
> so the change in b61850c4e6f6 is to prevent people from doing it and
> ending up with a subtly broken network.  the reason it's a sysctl is
> that some people are currently using this configuration and may not be
> able to migrate immediately.  this is *not* meant to be a long-term
> solution and i intend to remove it prior to 16.0-RELEASE.
>
> the correct fix here (rather than enabling the sysctl) is to configure
> the IP addresses on the bridge instead of the epair, which is now
> documented in bridge(4).
>
> (this applies to all types of network interface that can live in
> bridges, not just epairs.)

Thank you.  This explanation was very clear.

> there's also a thread on current@ about this[0] with some additional
> discussion; i didn't notice when i replied here since i read my personal
> email first.
>
> [0] https://lists.freebsd.org/archives/freebsd-current/2025-May/007602.html