Package: debian-installer Severity: wishlist X-Debbugs-CC: debian-devel@lists.debian.org
With VirtualBox dropping out of testing[1], more people will be using KVM and libvirt/virt-manager[2] for desktop virtualization. With VirtualBox, it was possible for people to bridge their physical network interfaces with their VM guest systems using the GUI / setup wizard. With libvirt, that is possible using macvtap but it is unreliable and doesn't allow[3] communication between the guest and the host, only between the guest and other hosts on the subnet. The solution is for people to configure a bridge or Open vSwitch (OVS) in /etc/network/interfaces. (Notice OVS can be configured[4] in the interfaces file). Maybe it would be useful to offer one or both of these options at install time, or even configure a standard (non-OVS) bridge by default in case the user decides to try KVM in future? Are there other use cases apart from KVM that would benefit from this? Are there things that would break badly if Debian offered this in future? It is probably too late in the stretch release cycle for a change like this. Regards, Daniel 1. https://packages.qa.debian.org/v/virtualbox.html 2. https://packages.qa.debian.org/v/virt-manager.html 3. https://libvirt.org/formatnetwork.html#examplesDirect 4. https://sources.debian.net/src/openvswitch/2.6.2~pre%2Bgit20161223-3/debian/openvswitch-switch.README.Debian/
