Failed to create tap/bridge devices

[Hi-Liter]

Hi, I am using release 8.0.2 and have problems creating bridges or tap devices. When I try

Code:

ifconfig tap create

or

Code:

ifconfig bridge create

I always get the following error:

ifconfig: SIOCIFCREATE2: Invalid argument

I wonder if the if_bridge/if_tap modules are missing or broken?

(Why I am doing this at all is because I would like to setup OpenVPN inside a jail)

 

[ProtoSD]

Hello Hi-Liter,

I think there are some jail related settings in /etc/sysctl.conf that lets you do that. I'm still learning about jails, but I think I saw something about it.

 

[jgreco]

Yeah, FreeNAS isn't a full FreeBSD, and it doesn't look like bridge or tap are included. Setting up OpenVPN in a jail is a cool idea but probably not possible without some twiddling about.

 

[Hi-Liter]

@protosd: The problem I'm having right now doesn't (at least not directly) have anything to do with the jail. The problem is, that since the jail does not allow creating TUN/TAP devices - which are needed by openvpn - I have to create a tap device on the host (FreeNas) and clone it. But not even creating the device on the host works, since (and that's my guess) the if_tap/if_bridge modules are missing/broken.

If you would like to know more about running openvpn inside a FreeBSD jail, I found this thread to be very helpful:
http://forums.freebsd.org/showthread.php?t=22143

To be honest, at this point the only reason I stick to FreeNAS at all is it's ZFS support and the nice web-interface. If you want to do anything other than using plain FreeNAS on your server, you are way to limited! To do anything at all, I have to create a jail on my storage disks, which is stupid in the first place, and still then I am very limited in what I can do there. This 2GB limited image approach really is annoying! Otherwise, I really like FreeNAS, but it comes with huge limitations. Running services like OpenVPN requires almost no resources and I see no reason why it should not be possible to run it on the same machine as FreeNAS.

 

[ProtoSD]

I have to create a tap device on the host (FreeNas) and clone it. But not even creating the device on the host works, since (and that's my guess) the if_tap/if_bridge modules are missing/broken.

Ok, I see what you mean.

To be honest, at this point the only reason I stick to FreeNAS at all is it's ZFS support and the nice web-interface. If you want to do anything other than using plain FreeNAS on your server, you are way to limited! To do anything at all, I have to create a jail on my storage disks, which is stupid in the first place, and still then I am very limited in what I can do there. This 2GB limited image approach really is annoying! Otherwise, I really like FreeNAS, but it comes with huge limitations. Running services like OpenVPN requires almost no resources and I see no reason why it should not be possible to run it on the same machine as FreeNAS.

I completely agree. I see the potential, but there are too many little bugs that keeps it from reaching that potential and it's frustrating to be so close. The GUI looks nice, but still needs consolidating and running off flash/ramdisk is nice but challenging in other ways. It is tempting to just run a trimmed down FreeBSD with ZFS v28. Overall at this point it meets most of my needs, and I can't say I hate it, but you either need to hack it yourself to get exactly what you want, or bite the bullet until whenever.

Maybe there's a way you can get the modules you need from a FreeBSD 8.2 system and just copy them to the appropriate place? I'd offer to help, but I'm trying to integrate controlling jails from the GUI and butting my head against the wall because the jail isn't dead when the rc.d stop script finishes and the GUI tries to restart it too soon and fails. Adding a delay doesn't help because its an indeterminate amount of time.

To do anything at all, I have to create a jail on my storage disks

I don't see this as a huge inconvenience, the jail I have is really pretty small and beats installing a whole OS on another disk, but you're right, it is limited by the hosts functionality.

 

[jgreco]

It's interesting to see this sort of thing: those of us using virtualization compartmentalize things, and so FreeNAS was something I sought out as a way of having a more specific "appliancey" device that wasn't as large or complex. You guys want to run your virtualization the other way around, making the appliance larger and more generalized. In the end, everything grows to be able to do everything. ;-)

 

[Hi-Liter]

@jgreco:
I thought about doing it the other way around, do you have any best-practice tips for me? E.g. which host OS are you using with which virtualization tool?

 

[Hi-Liter]

@jgreco or anyone else who uses FreeNAS inside a VM: What VM are you using on which host OS? I created this thread (http://forums.freenas.org/showthread.php?4482-FreeNAS-in-a-xen-domU&p=17188#post17188) asking for advices an installing FreeNAS as a xen domU, if anyone is interested. Still would be really nice knowing what others are using. E.g. Linux and VirtualBox would be another way, anyone using this?

 

[Hi-Liter]

Making it short: Virtualization with FreeBSD in general is a huge hassle and comes with major drawbacks (FreeBSD/FreeNAS would have to be the host system in order to get all ZFS benefits, but there is a very limited choice in hypervisors for FreeBSD, and they still have some problems), so I am going to switch to OpenIndiana with napp-it Web GUI (for those who are interested: http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1573272). OpenIndiana lets me run all the services I need (according to a quick google search, e.g. transmission works), provides OpenSolaris like ZFS support and can be accessed via a Web GUI. The only drawback I currently see is the more limited hardware support, but if it works on my machine, that is definitely the way to go for me. Just too many restrictions with FreeNAS.