Re: Re: RHEL9 and "ifcfg" network config

Just as reference and inspiration, there is ansible playbook for this 
(build.cfengine.con had a module to run ansible playbooks)
  * https://galaxy.ansible.com/linux-system-roles/network

On 17/09/2023 21:36, Aleksey Tsalolikhin wrote:
> Hi David,
> 
> Are you using the Enterprise version of RHEL?  As in, with tech support?
> 
> I asked Shell-GPT about how nmcli stores the settings -- to sum, it can 
> vary based on distro and version -- so my idea was, you could ask tech 
> support about it, see how far down this rabbit hole goes (i.e., identify 
> the underlying files, if you haven't already). (You could also identify 
> them with "strace" or similar.)  If it were me, I'd manage using the 
> underlying text config files as long as I could (as long as I could do 
> so reliably).
> 
>  >>> where is the nmcli backend database stored?
> The `nmcli` tool does not have its own backend database. Instead, it 
> interacts with NetworkManager, which is responsible for managing network 
> connections and storing network-related information.
> 
> NetworkManager stores its configuration and connection details in 
> various files and directories on the system. The specific location of 
> these files can vary depending on the Linux distribution and version you 
> are using. However, in most cases, the configuration files for 
> NetworkManager are stored in the `/etc/NetworkManager/` directory.
> 
> Some of the important files related to NetworkManager's configuration 
> include:
> 
> - `/etc/NetworkManager/NetworkManager.conf`: This file contains the main 
> configuration settings for NetworkManager.
> - `/etc/NetworkManager/system-connections/`: This directory contains 
> individual connection profiles for different network connections. Each 
> connection profile is stored as a separate file within this directory.
> 
> It's worth noting that the backend storage for NetworkManager can also 
> be influenced by additional plugins or modules that are installed on the 
> system. These plugins can provide alternative storage mechanisms, such 
> as using a database backend like SQLite or storing connection details in 
> other formats.
> 
> To get more specific information about the backend database or storage 
> being used by NetworkManager on your system, you can refer to the 
> NetworkManager documentation or consult the documentation specific to 
> your Linux distribution.
>  >>>
> 
> Best,
> Aleksey
> 
> 
> On Thu, Sep 14, 2023 at 2:39 PM [email protected] 
> <mailto:[email protected]> <[email protected] 
> <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
> 
>     Update:
> 
>     The "module" idea has hit a further snag, because of what seems to
>     be a bug: https://groups.google.com/g/help-cfengine/c/70qc5E83BMA
>     <https://groups.google.com/g/help-cfengine/c/70qc5E83BMA>
> 
>     All the Red Hat documentation about interface configuration seems to
>     be about using the "nmcli" command rather than about managing the
>     file.  It seems they want to steer away from directly touching those
>     files.  But how is one supposed to manage/promise an interface
>     attribute using nmcli?   (I suppose one could run a command to try
>     to dig out the attribute, edit the output to obtain it;
>     conditionally set a class then (conditionally) apply the corrective
>     command.  But that seems rather more tortuous (and thus more fragile
>     or error-prone) that the CFE file-line bundles such as
>     "set_variable_values_ini".)
> 
>     So there seems no clear way forward, unless I've missed something
>     obvious.
> 
>     -- David Lee
> 
>     On Thursday, 7 September 2023 at 18:21:52 UTC+1
>     [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> wrote:
> 
>         Nick,
> 
>         Many thanks for your summary.  It's far better than would have
>         been any attempt of mine to summarise!
> 
>         I think that gives me a decent way to explore forward.  Our
>         existing data is close to "redhat_8" (and earlier, because it's
>         good old-fashioned "ifcfg").   As I begin to consider the
>         practicalities, then because of fair amount of data munging
>         involved, using an external module looks (at this stage at
>         least) to be the way to attempt.
> 
>         Thanks for the note, including references, about the bugs when
>         editing the last section of an INI file.  Based on a sample size
>         so far of just a single RHEL9 machine (we're right at the start
>         of this RHEL9 journey), the last section doesn't seem to come
>         into play.  Naturally, I realise that full file replacement
>         (templates) is generally better than editing.  But these
>         particular files are usually initialised at installation time
>         with several lines of data, not least a UUID, so that is why we
>         have generally handled this instance with editing.
> 
>         -- David Lee
> 
>         On Thursday, 7 September 2023 at 17:37:46 UTC+1
>         [email protected] wrote:
> 
>                 (Nick Anderson had a brief email chat, which was
>                 accidentally not on this list, but haven't yet come to
>                 any significant conclusions.)
> 
>             The gist of what I said was to map the source data structure
>             to the target data structures. Meaning one of:
> 
>               * Create a generic data structure, munge the data as
>                 necessary for |redhat_8| or |redhat_9| so that the keys
>                 and values are convenient for rendering the file content
>               * Model on the structure needed for |redhat_8|, munge for
>                 |redhat_9| so that the keys and values are convenient
>                 for rendering the file content
>               * Model on the structure needed for |redhat_9|, munge for
>                 |redhat_8| so that the keys and values are convenient
>                 for rendering the file content
> 
>             This munging may be achievable directly in policy, or it
>             might make sense to hand the source data off to a module and
>             do the necessary munging using a higher level language.
> 
>             With respect to the INI format, I believe that there still
>             exists an issue with respect to being able to select the
>             /last/ section using |edit_line| (should have been resolved
>             with https://northerntech.atlassian.net/browse/CFE-452
>             <https://northerntech.atlassian.net/browse/CFE-452>, but
>             some issue remains
>             https://northerntech.atlassian.net/browse/CFE-3428
>             <https://northerntech.atlassian.net/browse/CFE-3428>,
>             https://northerntech.atlassian.net/browse/CFE-2663
>             <https://northerntech.atlassian.net/browse/CFE-2663>) so
>             that will complicate doing partial file management, but if
>             you are managing the full file content and know everything
>             you want, then you should be able to render the INI via
>             mustache.
> 
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