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12.5. Additional Para-virtualized Hardware Configuration

This section will explain how to add additional virtual network or storage to a guest operating system. For more details on configuring network and storage resources on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 Virtualization read the document available on Emerging Technologies, Red Hat.com

12.5.1. Virtualized Network Interfaces

Perform the following steps to configure additional network devices for your guest.
Edit your guest configuration file in /etc/xen/YourGuestName replacing YourGuestName with the name of your guest.
The original entry may look like the one below.
vif = [ "mac=00:16:3e:2e:c5:a9,bridge=xenbr0" ]
Add an additional entry to the “vif=” section of the configuration file similar to the one seen below.
vif = [ "mac=00:16:3e:2e:c5:a9,bridge=xenbr0",
    "mac=00:16:3e:2f:d5:a9,bridge=xenbr0" ]
Make sure you generate a unique MAC address for the new interface. You can use the command below.
# echo 'import virtinst.util ; print virtinst.util.randomMAC()' | python
After the guest has been rebooted perform the following step in the guest operating system. Verify the update has been added to your /etc/modules.conf in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 or /etc/modprobe.conf in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 and Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5. Add a new alias for each new interface you added.
alias eth1 xen-vnif
Now test that each new interface you added make sure it is available inside the guest.
# ifconfig eth1
The command above should display the properties of eth1, repeat the command for eth2 if you added a third interface, and so on.
Now you can configure the new network interfaces using redhat-config-network or Red Hat Enterprise Linux3 or system-config-network on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 and Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.