The amazon-ec2-net-utils package provides functionality needed to configure a Linux instance for optimal performance in a VPC environment. It handles:
- Per-interface policy routing rules to accommodate VPC source/dest restrictions
- Configuration of secondary IPv4 addresses
- Configuration of ENIs upon hotplug
- Routing configuration for delegated prefixes
The version 1.x branch of the amazon-ec2-net-utils package was used in
Amazon Linux 2 and earlier releases. It has a long history and is
tightly coupled to ISC dhclient and initscripts network
configuration. Both of these components are deprecated and will not
make up the primary network configuration framework in future releases
of Amazon Linux or other distributions. The 2.x branch (released from
the main branch in git) represents a complete rewrite targeting a
more modern network management framework. The rest of this document
describes the 2.x branch.
amazon-ec2-net-utils leverages systemd-networkd for most of the actual interface configuration, and is primarily responsible for mapping configuration information available via IMDS to systemd-networkd input configuration. It provides event-based configuration via udev rules, with timer based actions in order to detect non event based changes (e.g. secondary IP address assignment). Generated configuration is stored in the /run/ ephemeral filesystem and is not persisted across instance reboots. The generated configuration is expected to be regenerated from scratch upon reboot. Customers can override the behavior of the package by creating configuration files in the local administration network directory /etc/systemd/network as described in systemd-networkd's documentation.
By utilizing a common framework in the form of systemd, the amazon-ec2-net-utils package should be able to integrate with any systemd-based distribution. This allows us to provide customers with a common baseline behavior regardless of whether they choose Amazon Linux or a third-party distribution. Testing has been performed on Debian, Fedora, and Amazon Linux 2023.
amazon-ec2-net-utils is expected to be pre-installed on Amazon Linux 2023 and future releases. In the common case, customers should not need to be aware of its operation. Configuration of network interfaces should occur following the principle of least astonishment. That is, traffic should be routed via the ENI associated with the source address. Custom configuration should be respected. New ENI attachments should be used automatically, and associated resources should be cleaned up on detachment. Manipulation of an ENI attachment should not impact the functionality of any other ENIs.
The recommended way to install amazon-ec2-net-utils is by building a package for your distribution. A spec file and debian subdirectory are provided and should be reasonably suitable for modern rpm or dpkg based distributions. Build dependencies are declared in debian/control and in amazon-ec2-net-utils.spec and can be installed using standard tools from the distributions (e.g. dpkg-checkbuilddeps and apt, or dnf builddep, etc)
The post installation scripts in the spec file and or .deb package will stop NetworkManager or ifupdown, if running, and initialize systemd-networkd and systemd-resolved. The expectation is that amazon-ec2-net-utils will take over and initialize a running system, without rebooting, such that it is indistinguishable from a system that booted with amazon-ec2-net-utils.
$ mkdir -p rpmbuild/BUILD
$ git -C amazon-ec2-net-utils/ archive main | (cd rpmbuild/BUILD/ && tar xvf -)
$ rpmbuild -bb rpmbuild/BUILD/amazon-ec2-net-utils.spec
$ sudo dnf install rpmbuild/RPMS/noarch/amazon-ec2-net-utils-2.0.0-1.al2022.noarch.rpm
$ dpkg-buildpackage -uc -us -b
$ sudo apt install ../amazon-ec2-net-utils_2.0.0-1_all.deb
$ # inspect the state of the system to verify that networkd is running:
$ networkctl # should report all physical interfaces as "routable" and "configured"
$ networkctl status eth0 # should report "/run/systemd/network/70-eth0.network" as the network conf file
$ resolvectl # show status of systemd-resolved
Example:
[ec2-user@ip-10-0-0-114 ~]$ networkctl
IDX LINK TYPE OPERATIONAL SETUP
1 lo loopback carrier unmanaged
2 eth0 ether routable configured
2 links listed.
[ec2-user@ip-10-0-0-114 ~]$ networkctl status eth0
● 2: eth0
Link File: /usr/lib/systemd/network/99-default.link
Network File: /run/systemd/network/70-eth0.network
Type: ether
State: routable (configured)
Alternative Names: enp0s5
ens5
Path: pci-0000:00:05.0
Driver: ena
Vendor: Amazon.com, Inc.
Model: Elastic Network Adapter (ENA)
HW Address: 02:c9:76:e3:18:0b
MTU: 9001 (min: 128, max: 9216)
QDisc: mq
IPv6 Address Generation Mode: eui64
Queue Length (Tx/Rx): 2/2
Address: 10.0.0.114 (DHCP4 via 10.0.0.1)
fe80::c9:76ff:fee3:180b
Gateway: 10.0.0.1
DNS: 10.0.0.2
Activation Policy: up
DHCP4 Client ID: IAID:0xed10bdb8/DUID
DHCP6 Client DUID: DUID-EN/Vendor:0000ab11a9aa54876c81082a0000
Sep 01 17:44:54 ip-10-0-0-114.us-west-2.compute.internal systemd-networkd[2042]: eth0: Link UP
Sep 01 17:44:54 ip-10-0-0-114.us-west-2.compute.internal systemd-networkd[2042]: eth0: Gained carrier
Sep 01 17:44:54 ip-10-0-0-114.us-west-2.compute.internal systemd-networkd[2042]: eth0: Gained IPv6LL
Sep 01 17:44:54 ip-10-0-0-114.us-west-2.compute.internal systemd-networkd[2042]: eth0: DHCPv4 address 10.0.0.114/24 via 10.0.0.1
Sep 01 17:44:54 ip-10-0-0-114.us-west-2.compute.internal systemd-networkd[2042]: eth0: Re-configuring with /run/systemd/network/70-eth0.net>
Sep 01 17:44:54 ip-10-0-0-114.us-west-2.compute.internal systemd-networkd[2042]: eth0: DHCP lease lost
Sep 01 17:44:54 ip-10-0-0-114.us-west-2.compute.internal systemd-networkd[2042]: eth0: DHCPv6 lease lost
Sep 01 17:44:54 ip-10-0-0-114.us-west-2.compute.internal systemd-networkd[2042]: eth0: DHCPv4 address 10.0.0.114/24 via 10.0.0.1
[ec2-user@ip-10-0-0-114 ~]$ resolvectl
Global
Protocols: LLMNR=resolve -mDNS -DNSOverTLS DNSSEC=no/unsupported
resolv.conf mode: uplink
Link 2 (eth0)
Current Scopes: DNS
Protocols: +DefaultRoute -LLMNR -mDNS -DNSOverTLS DNSSEC=no/unsupported
Current DNS Server: 10.0.0.2
DNS Servers: 10.0.0.2
If you're using amazon-ec2-net-utils as packaged by a Linux distribution, please consider using your distribution's support channels first. Your distribution may have modified the behavior of the package to facilitate better integration, and may have more specific guidance for you.
Alternatively, if you don't believe your issue is distribution specific, please feel free to open an issue on GitHub.
We are happy to review proposed changes. If you're considering introducing any major functionality or behavior changes, you may wish to consider opening an issue where we can discuss the details before you proceed with implementation. Please refer to CONTRIBUTING.md for additional expectations.