1. Release Notes for Oracle Linux 9.5
  2. Deprecated Features
  3. Networking

Networking

The following network related features and functionalities are deprecated in Oracle Linux 9.

Soft-iWarp

Soft-iWarp, which was available as a technology preview in previous releases of Oracle Linux 9, is deprecated.

Network Teams

The teamd service, and the libteam library, and support for configuring network teams are deprecated in favor of network bonds. You should use network bonds instead, which have similar functions as teams, and which would receive enhancements and updates.

dhcp-client Package

The dhcp-client package and the dhclient tool that it contained are deprecated in favor of the internal DHCP client library built into NetworkManager.

firewalld Lockdown

The lockdown feature in firewalld is deprecated because it can't prevent processes that are running as root from adding themselves to the allow list.

/etc/sysconfig/network-scripts File

Network configurations profiles used to be in ifcfg format and stored in the /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts directory. This format is deprecated. In Oracle Linux 9, new network configurations are stored in /etc/NetworkManager/system-connections in keyfile format. This format works with all the connection settings provided by NetworkManager.

However, information in the /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts remain operative, and modifications to existing profiles continue to update the older files.

iptables Framework

With the deprecation of the iptables framework, the iptables backend and the direct interface are also deprecated.

Therefore, the following packages are also deprecated:

  • iptables-devel

  • iptables-libs

  • iptables-nft

  • iptables-nft-services

  • iptables-utils

As an alternative to using direct interface, use the native features in firewalld to configure the required rules.

PF_KEYv2 Kernel API

The PF_KEYv2 API is used to configure kernel IPsec implementation. However, thie API isn't maintained upstream. Therefore, this API is deprecated. Instead, use the netlink API as a replacement.

Network Manager nmcli Language Changes

Because Oracle is fully committed to diversity and inclusion, the Network Manager connection.master, connection.slave-type, and connection.autoconnect-slaves connection property names are deprecated. They are retained for backward compatibility. However, consider using the following replacement terms instead:

  • Instead of connection.master, use connection.controller

  • Instead of connection.slave-type, use connection.port-type

  • Instead of connection.autoconnect-slaves use connection.autoconnect-ports