IFCFG-BRIDGE(5) 					       Network configuration						   IFCFG-BRIDGE(5)

NAME

       ifcfg-bridge - ethernet bridge interface configuration

SYNOPSIS

       /etc/sysconfig/network/ifcfg-br*

CONFIGURATION

       To  setup  a  bridge interface you need a configuration file ifcfg-<interface-name> with the usual network settings. But you must add addi-
       tional variables:

       BRIDGE <yes|no>
	      This option must be set to 'yes' to identify this interface as a bridge interface.

       BRIDGE_PORTS <interface1 interface2 ... interfaceN>
	      This variable contains a space-separated list of N interfaces which take part in the bridging.

OPTIONAL VARIABLES

       BRIDGE_AGEINGTIME <time>
	      This option sets the ethernet address ageing time, in seconds. After <time> seconds of not having seen a frame coming from a certain
	      address, the bridge will delete that address from the forwarding database. Setting ageing time to zero makes all entries permanent.

       BRIDGE_FORWARDDELAY <time>
	      Forwarding  delay  time  is  the	time  in seconds spent in each of the listening and learning states before the forwarding state is
	      entered. This delay is so that when a new bridge comes onto a busy network it looks at some traffic before participating.

       BRIDGE_HELLOTIME <time>
	      Periodically, a hello packet is sent out by the root bridge and the designated bridges.	Hello  packets	are  used  to  communicate
	      information about the topology throughout the entire bridged local area network.

       BRIDGE_MAXAGE <time>
	      If  a another bridge in the spanning tree does not send out a hello packet for a long period of time, it is assumed to be dead. This
	      timeout can be set with this variable.

       BRIDGE_PATHCOSTS <costs1 costs2 ... costsN>
	      This is a space-separated list of costs corresponding to the interfaces in BRIDGE_PORTS.	Each interface in BRIDGE_PORTS could  have
	      a different speed and this value is used when deciding which link to use. Faster interfaces should have lower costs.

       BRIDGE_PORTPRIORITIES <prio1 prio2 ... prioN>
	      This  is	a  space-separated  list of priorities corresponding to the interfaces in BRIDGE_PORTS.  The priority value is an unsigned
	      8-bit quantity (a number between 0 and 255), and has no dimension. This metric is used in the designated port and root  port  selec-
	      tion algorithms.

       BRIDGE_PRIORITY <priority>
	      This  option  sets  the  bridge's  priority to <priority>. The priority value is an unsigned 16-bit quantity (a number between 0 and
	      65535), and has no dimension.  Lower priority values are 'better'. The bridge  with  the	lowest	priority  will	be  elected  'root
	      bridge'.

       BRIDGE_STP <on|off>
	      Multiple	ethernet  bridges can work together to create even larger networks of ethernets using the IEEE 802.1d spanning tree proto-
	      col. This protocol is used for finding the shortest path between	two  ethernets, and for eliminating loops from the topology.   The
	      spanning	tree  protocol	can also be turned off (for those situations where it just doesn't make sense, for example when this linux
	      box is the only bridge on the LAN, or when you know that there are no loops in the topology.)

EXAMPLE

       Minimal example for a bridge interface on eth0 and eth1, the bridge interface itself is configured via dhcp:

       ifcfg-br0
	    STARTMODE='auto'
	    BOOTPROTO='dhcp'
	    BRIDGE='yes'
	    BRIDGE_PORTS='eth0 eth1'
	    BRIDGE_PORTPRIORITIES='50 20'

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

       For additional and more general information have a look into <http://linux-net.osdl.org/index.php/Bridge>.

BUGS

       Please report bugs at <https://bugzilla.novell.com/index.cgi>

AUTHOR

       Stefan Scheler <sscheler@suse.de> -- ifup-bridge

SEE ALSO

       ifcfg(5), ifup(8), brctl(8).

sysconfig							   December 2005						   IFCFG-BRIDGE(5)