Apple Mac OS X Server Configuring a Network Interface, Configuring Ethernet Link Aggregation

Configuring a Network Interface

You can configure a network interface for TCP/IP using ifconfig. This tool is used to bring the interface up or down and set the interface IP address and subnet mask.

To add an Ethernet interface to a bond virtual device (pseudo device):

$ ifconfig bond_interface_name bondev physical_interface

The bond_interface_name is the name of the pseudo device and the

physical_interface is the actual Ethernet interface you want to associate with the pseudo device, for example, en0. If this is the first physical interface to be associated with the bond interface, the bond interface inherits the Ethernet address from the physical interface. Physical interfaces that are added to the bond have their Ethernet address reprogrammed so that all members of the bond have the same Ethernet address. If the physical interface is subsequently removed from the bond, a new Ethernet address is chosen from the remaining interfaces, and all interfaces are reprogrammed with the new Ethernet address. If no remaining interfaces exist, the bond interface’s Ethernet address is cleared.

To remove an Ethernet interface from a bond virtual device (pseudo device):

$ ifconfig bond_interface_name -bondevphysical_interface

The link status of the bond interface depends on the state of link aggregation.

If no active partner is detected, the link status will remain inactive. To monitor the IEEE 802.3ad Link Aggregation state, use the -boption.

See the ifconfig man page for more information.

Configuring Ethernet Link Aggregation

You can also use networksetup to configure Ethernet Link Aggregation. The following commands are supported.

To display if the device can be added to a bond:

$ sudo networksetup -isBondSupported device

To create a bond and add devices to it:

$ sudo networksetup -createBond name [device1] [device2] [...]

To delete a bond:

$ sudo networksetup -deleteBond bond

To add a device to a bond:

$ sudo networksetup -addDeviceToBond device bond

To remove a device from a bond:

$ sudo networksetup -removeDeviceFromBond device bond

To list available bonds:

$ sudo networksetup -listBonds

Chapter 6 Setting Network Preferences 71