> > > I've seen you use this `ifindex' term before. What is it, and
> > > what is its role in life?
> >
> > -- interface index , retrievable via SIOCGIFINDEX
> > ^ ^ ^^^^^
> > A unique identifier for a "net link". ...
>
> I see. And this index is published to external applications
> and management systems as a reliable identifier with which
> to reference this interface on this host? And so we're not
> allowed to change it across the interface lifetime?
>
> Should we attempt to make an interface's ifindex constant
> across reinstantiations of the interface (ie: driver reloads?).
Or system reboots ... shouldn't there be a firm association with
the physical hardware and the "ifindex"? For example, the
PCI slot. Or perhaps in some cases Ethernet addresses.
I'd like to see stable identifiers "published to external apps
and management systems ..." that are independent of the
order in which driver modules happen to have been loaded
or initialized this particular time. (Yes, tough for interfaces
that don't have hardware, but that's a different issue.)
- Dave
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