| SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop Documentation Chapter 30. Basic Networking / 30.5. Managing Network Connections with NetworkManager | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | 30.4. Configuring a Network Connection with YaST | 30.6. Configuring a Network Connection Manually |  | |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop Documentation Chapter 30. Basic Networking / 30.5. Managing Network Connections with NetworkManager | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30.4. Configuring a Network Connection with YaST | 30.6. Configuring a Network Connection Manually | | |
NetworkManager is the ideal solution for a mobile workstation. With NetworkManager, you do not need to worry about reconfiguring network interfaces and switching between networks when your location changes. NetworkManager can automatically connect to known WLAN networks. If you have two or more connection possibilities, it can connect to the faster one.
NetworkManager is not a suitable solution in the following cases:
You want to use more than one provider for dial-up for one interface.
Your computer is a router for your network.
Your computer provides network services for other computers in your network, for example, it is a DHCP or DNS server.
Your computer is a Xen server or your system is a virtual system inside Xen.
You want to use SCPM for network configuration management. To use SCPM and NetworkManager at the same time, SCPM cannot control network resources. See Section 27.5.1, “SCPM and NetworkManager”.
You want to use more than one active network connection simultaneously.
To enable or disable NetworkManager during the installation, click or in of . To enable or disable NetworkManager on an installed system, follow these steps:
Open YaST.
Choose +.
On the first screen, set the option to to use NetworkManager. To disable NetworkManager, set the option to .
After choosing the method, set up your network card using automatic configuration via DHCP or a static IP address or configure your modem. Find a detailed description of the network configuration with YaST in Section 30.4, “Configuring a Network Connection with YaST” and Section 29.1, “Wireless LAN”. Configure supported wireless cards directly in NetworkManager.
To configure NetworkManager, use NetworkManager applets. KDE and GNOME each have their own applets for NetworkManager. For details, refer to KDE User Guide and GNOME User Guide. An appropriate applet should start automatically with the desktop environment. The applet is then shown as an icon in the system tray. The functions of the applets are similar, but their interfaces are a little different. They can also be used in other graphical environments with standard system tray support.
If you use NetworkManager for network setup, you can easily switch, stop, or start
your network connection at any time from within your desktop environment
using an applet. NetworkManager also makes it possible to change and configure
wireless card connections without requiring root privileges.
For this reason, NetworkManager is the ideal solution for a mobile workstation.
Traditional configuration with ifup also provides some ways to switch, stop,
or start the connection with or without user intervention, like user-managed
devices,
but it always requires root privileges to change or configure a network
device. This is often a problem for mobile computing, where is not possible
to preconfigure all connection possibilities.
Both traditional configuration and NetworkManager can handle network connections with a wireless network (with WEP, WPA-PSK, and WPA-Enterprise access), dial-up, and wired networks both using DHCP and static configuration. They also support connection through VPN.
NetworkManager tries to keep your computer connected at all times using the best connection available. If available, it uses the fastest wired connection. If the network cable is accidentally disconnected, it tries to reconnect. It can find a network with the best signal strength from the list of your wireless connections and automatically use it to connect. To get the same functionality with ifup, a great deal of configuration effort is required.
Find more information about NetworkManager on the following Web sites and directories:
http://www.gnome.org/projects/NetworkManager/—NetworkManager project page
http://en.opensuse.org/Projects/KNetworkManager—NetworkManager KNetworkManager project page
