How to customise MAAS networks

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Network discovery

Network discovery scans your environment to identify all connected devices, including non-deployable devices such as routers and switches.

UI

  1. In MAAS 3.4++ UI:

    • Navigate to Networking > Network discovery > Configuration.
    • In the Network discovery drop-down, choose “Enabled” or “Disabled”.
    • Save your changes.

  2. All other versions:

    • Navigate to Canonical MAAS > Configuration.
    • In the Network discovery drop-down, choose “Enabled” or “Disabled”.
    • Save your changes.

CLI

To enable network discovery via CLI:

maas $PROFILE maas set-config name=network_discovery value="enabled"

Static routes

Static routes allow traffic between different subnets or through specific gateways.

UI

  1. In MAAS 3.4++ UI:

    • Navigate to Networking > Subnets > Subnet summary > Add static route.
    • Enter Gateway IP address, Destination subnet, and routing Metric.
    • Save your changes.

  2. For older versions:

    • Navigate to Subnets > Add static route.
    • Enter the Gateway IP address, Destination subnet, and routing Metric.
    • Click Add to save the route.

CLI

To create a static route via CLI:

maas admin static-routes create source=$SOURCE_SUBNET destination=$DEST_SUBNET gateway_ip=$GATEWAY_IP

Configure loopback

Configuring the loopback interface (lo) is essential for advanced networking tasks such as Free Range Routing (FRR) and BGP.

  1. Manually add the loopback interface:

    • After commissioning a node, manually add the loopback interface in MAAS.
    • You may use a placeholder MAC address (e.g., 00:00:00:00:00:00) for the loopback interface.

  2. Use post-deployment scripts:

    • If needed, use tools like cloud-init to configure the loopback interface after deployment.

Bridging

Bridges enable multiple network interfaces to act as one.

UI

  1. In MAAS UI:
    • Navigate to Machines > machine > Network > Create bridge.
    • Configure details and save the interface.

CLI

  1. Create a bridge via CLI:
    INTERFACE_ID=$(maas $PROFILE machine read $SYSTEM_ID | jq .boot_interface.id)
BRIDGE_ID=$(maas $PROFILE interfaces create-bridge $SYSTEM_ID name=br0 parent=$INTERFACE_ID | jq .id)
SUBNET_ID=$(maas $PROFILE subnets read | jq -r '.[] | select(.cidr == "10.0.0.0/24" and .managed == true).id')
maas $PROFILE interface link-subnet $SYSTEM_ID $BRIDGE_ID subnet=$SUBNET_ID mode="STATIC" ip_address="10.0.0.101"

Bridging with Netplan

Netplan configurations can be used to set up bridges outside of MAAS.

  1. Open the Netplan config file (/etc/netplan/50-cloud-init.yaml or similar).
  2. Modify the file to add a bridge:
    network:
    bridges:
        br0:
            addresses:
            - 10.0.0.101/24
            gateway4: 10.0.0.1
            interfaces:
            - enp1s0
            macaddress: 52:54:00:39:9d:f9
  3. Apply the new configuration:
    sudo netplan apply

Configure two NICs on one machine

To set up a machine with two NICs—one for a private subnet and one for the public internet—follow these steps.

UI

  1. Detect both NICs:

    • Ensure MAAS detects both network interfaces (e.g., ens18 and ens19).

  2. Private NIC (ens18):

    • Set to DHCP on the private subnet (e.g., 192.168.10.0/24).

  3. Public NIC (ens19):

    • Manually configure or use DHCP for the public subnet (e.g., 192.168.1.0/24).

Netplan Example

network:
    version: 2
    ethernets:
        ens18:
            addresses:
            - 192.168.10.5/24
            gateway4: 192.168.10.1
        ens19:
            addresses:
            - 192.168.1.10/24
            gateway4: 192.168.1.1
            nameservers:
                addresses:
                - 8.8.8.8
                - 8.8.4.4

VLANs

Create VLANs (CLI)

To create a VLAN:

maas admin vlans create $FABRIC_ID name=$VLAN_NAME vid=$VLAN_ID

Assign VLAN to an interface (CLI)

To assign a VLAN to an interface:

maas admin interfaces create-vlan $SYSTEM_ID vlan=$VLAN_ID parent=$INTERFACE_ID

Delete VLANs (CLI)

To delete a VLAN:

maas $PROFILE vlan delete $FABRIC_ID $VLAN_ID

Set the default gateway

CLI

To set the default gateway for a subnet:

maas $PROFILE subnet update $SUBNET_CIDR gateway_ip=$MY_GATEWAY

Set up DNS

CLI

To configure DNS servers:

maas $PROFILE subnet update $SUBNET_CIDR dns_servers=$MY_DNS_SERVER

Create bonds

Bonds allow multiple network interfaces to act together for redundancy or performance.

UI

  1. Select multiple interfaces and choose Create bond.
  2. Choose a bond mode such as:
    • balance-rr: Round-robin transmission.
    • active-backup: Only one active follower; failover to another upon failure.
    • balance-xor: Transmit based on hash policy.

CLI

To create a bond via CLI:

maas $PROFILE interfaces create-bond $SYSTEM_ID name=$BOND_NAME parents=$IFACE1_ID,$IFACE2_ID bond_mode=$BOND_MODE

Managing NTP

Use external NTP

  1. UI:

    • Go to Settings > Network services > NTP.
    • Select External Only and enter your desired NTP server.

  2. CLI:

    maas $PROFILE maas set-config name=ntp_servers value=$NTP_IP_ADDRESS
maas $PROFILE maas set-config name=ntp_external_only value=true

Netplan static IP configuration

To configure a static IP with Netplan:

  1. Open the Netplan configuration file:

    sudo nano /etc/netplan/50-cloud-init.yaml

  2. Modify the configuration:

    network:
    version: 2
    ethernets:
        ens160:
            addresses:
            - 192.168.0.100/24
            gateway4: 192.168.0.1
            nameservers:
                addresses:
                - 8.8.8.8
                - 8.8.4.4
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This topic was automatically closed 365 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.

3

I’m not sure if this is the right place to ask for this. Would it be possible to have some documentation on managing network spaces in terms of VLANs and subnets, primarily with the web UI? In particular, how to set up multi-subnet spaces. Thank you!