Bug 423940

Summary: Unable to bring up the lower interfaces in a bond
Product: [Plasma] plasmashell Reporter: Thiago Macieira <thiago>
Component: Networking in generalAssignee: Jan Grulich <jgrulich>
Status: CONFIRMED ---    
Severity: normal CC: jgrulich, kdedev, nate
Priority: NOR    
Version First Reported In: 5.19.2   
Target Milestone: 1.0   
Platform: Other   
OS: Linux   
Latest Commit: Version Fixed/Implemented In:
Sentry Crash Report:
Attachments: Patch to fix this issue

Description Thiago Macieira 2020-07-06 16:53:53 UTC
SUMMARY
I have created a bonded group of interfaces, with my WiFi and Ethernet (source: https://fedoramagazine.org/bond-wifi-and-ethernet-for-easier-networking-mobility/). I see no way to bring up the two lower interfaces with the plasma-nm applet; I have to do it with nmcli c up.

STEPS TO REPRODUCE
1. Click the plasma-nm applet icon in plasma

OBSERVED RESULT
None of the lower bonded connections are displayed.

EXPECTED RESULT
There should be a way to bring up the lower connections.

SOFTWARE/OS VERSIONS
Linux/KDE Plasma: Linux 5.7.5, openSUSE Tumbleweed 20200701
KDE Plasma Version: 5.19.2
KDE Frameworks Version: 5.71.0
Qt Version: 5.15.0

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
# tail -n50 Docked@Home*
==> Docked@Home WiFi.nmconnection <==
[connection]
id=Docked@Home WiFi
uuid=cf70e61d-b8a1-4085-b426-50138f9263a5
type=wifi
master=7da92a4c-032d-42be-b5f2-ec173a90d1ee
permissions=
slave-type=bond
timestamp=1593991638

[wifi]
mac-address-blacklist=
mode=infrastructure
ssid=REDACTED

[wifi-security]
key-mgmt=wpa-psk
psk=REDACTED

==> Docked@Home Wired.nmconnection <==
[connection]
id=Docked@Home Wired
uuid=6224ea40-801a-4932-846c-0fb909025965
type=ethernet
interface-name=enp57s3
master=7da92a4c-032d-42be-b5f2-ec173a90d1ee
permissions=
slave-type=bond
timestamp=1593701652

[ethernet]
mac-address-blacklist=

==> Docked@Home.nmconnection <==
[connection]
id=Docked@Home
uuid=7da92a4c-032d-42be-b5f2-ec173a90d1ee
type=bond
interface-name=bond0
permissions=

[ethernet]
cloned-mac-address=REDACTED
mac-address-blacklist=

[bond]
mode=active-backup
primary=enp57s3

[ipv4]
dns-search=
method=auto

[ipv6]
addr-gen-mode=stable-privacy
dns-search=
method=auto

[proxy]
Comment 1 Jan Grulich 2020-07-06 17:41:55 UTC
Have you tried opening the KCM, going into configuration and check "Show virtual connections?
Comment 2 Thiago Macieira 2020-07-06 18:44:27 UTC
(In reply to Jan Grulich from comment #1)
> Have you tried opening the KCM, going into configuration and check "Show
> virtual connections?

Yes, that is how I added the upper connection in the first place. The bonded (lower) connections do show up in the editor dialog on the right side (in the Bond tab), but not on the left. That means I can't right-click to activate them.
Comment 3 Jan Grulich 2020-07-07 06:37:37 UTC
Created attachment 129955 [details]
Patch to fix this issue

We are filtering out the slaves in the model. To be honest I don't know much about bond, bridge or team connections, I assumed they will be always managed by their master connection. 

Does the patch make sense to you? It should not filter slaves in case virtual connections are allowed to be shown. And most importantly, does it work?
Comment 4 Thiago Macieira 2020-07-07 16:48:52 UTC
(In reply to Jan Grulich from comment #3)
> Created attachment 129955 [details]
> Patch to fix this issue
> 
> We are filtering out the slaves in the model. To be honest I don't know much
> about bond, bridge or team connections, I assumed they will be always
> managed by their master connection. 
> 
> Does the patch make sense to you? It should not filter slaves in case
> virtual connections are allowed to be shown. And most importantly, does it
> work?

That's a good question, I don't know how they should be properly managed in a well-designed UX. I would indeed expect that bringing the controlling layer up enabled the controlled interfaces too, but that's not how NM seems to be behaving. You need to bring each one up.

Maybe we do that filtering: if any of the lower interfaces can be enabled, the bond or bridge can be enabled and that's what shows up in the menu. Once you do turn that on, then the other interfaces show up in the menu so you can select which of them you want to turn on (if they're automatic connection, then they get turned on automatically).

The patch looks correct for a simple solution to my problem, not what I described.
Comment 5 Ben Cooksley 2024-12-23 18:23:41 UTC
Bulk transfer as requested in T17796
Comment 6 TraceyC 2025-10-06 17:34:37 UTC
Thanks for the bug report. I'm sorry we weren't able to get to this yet. There have been many fixes and improvements since this was reported, and this issue may have been fixed.

Can you please re-test on your system with Plasma 6.4.5 or later and let us know if you can still reproduce the problem? If you can, please set this report back to REPORTED. Thanks!
Comment 7 Thiago Macieira 2025-10-06 17:56:41 UTC
It's still there.