Switches

Switches connect Jails and Virtual Machines to the host network. Sylve supports standard switches that it manages and manual switches that register an existing FreeBSD bridge.

Networking changes affect connectivity

Listing switches is read-only. Creating, editing, or deleting a switch can change host and guest connectivity. Review the switch type and ID carefully, especially when connected over SSH.

List switches

Inspect both switch types in one table:

doas sylve switches list

Inside the interactive console:

switches list

This real node has one standard switch and one manual switch:

ID    Name    Type        Bridge      VLAN    Ports/Details
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
1     TTT     standard    Ed0tk6FS    -       -
1     WAN     manual      bridge0     -       external

Switch IDs are scoped by type. A standard switch and a manual switch can both have ID 1, so edit and delete commands require both the type and ID.

A real Sylve 0.3.0 console session creating, listing, and deleting an isolated private standard switch.

Enter switches without a subcommand in the console to display the syntax supported by the installed version.

Standard switches

A standard switch is managed by Sylve. It can define bridge ports, a persistent bridge MAC source, MTU, VLAN, IPv4 and IPv6 addressing, gateways, DHCP, SLAAC, default-route behavior, and bridge offload settings.

A standard switch does not require a port at creation time. This is useful for private guest networks or when ports will be attached later.

Every new Standard Switch requires an explicit bridge MAC source. The source can be one selected physical port or a single-entry MAC object. For a portless switch, create a MAC object first and note its ID.

The basic direct command for a portless switch is:

doas sylve switches create \
  --type standard \
  --name guests \
  --mac-source object \
  --mac-object 12

Inside the console:

switches create standard guests --mac-source object --mac-object 12

Network and gateway options can reference reusable object IDs. Create those objects first and note their IDs. Manual CIDR and gateway values are available when an object is unnecessary.

Standard switch creation supports:

Setting	Flags
Link configuration	--mtu, --vlan, --ports
IPv4 objects	--network4, --gateway4
IPv6 objects	--network6, --gateway6
Manual addressing	--network4-manual, --gateway4-manual, --network6-manual, --gateway6-manual
Bridge MAC identity	--mac-source, plus --mac-source-port or --mac-object
Address and route behavior	--dhcp, --slaac, --disable-ipv6, --default-route, --default-route6
Isolation and hardware	--private, --disable-bridge-offloads

--ports is a comma-separated list of physical interface names. Object-backed and manual address fields represent alternative inputs; use the form appropriate to the switch configuration.

For example, create a standard switch that requests IPv4 through DHCP and IPv6 through SLAAC:

doas sylve switches create \
  --type standard \
  --name guests-auto \
  --mac-source object \
  --mac-object 12 \
  --dhcp \
  --slaac \
  --default-route \
  --default-route6

--default-route selects the one Standard Switch allowed to install the node’s IPv4 default route, including a route learned through DHCP. --default-route6 independently selects the one switch allowed to install a static IPv6 default route or accept an RA-advertised default router. DHCP and SLAAC still acquire addresses when their route-owner flag is omitted.

Only one configured owner is allowed per address family. The IPv4 and IPv6 owners may be the same switch or different switches.

Use --mac-source port --mac-source-port igb0 when igb0 is included in --ports and the bridge should use that interface’s MAC. Use --mac-source object --mac-object 12 for a stable explicit identity, including every portless switch. The MAC object must contain exactly one valid non-zero unicast address.

Manual switches

A manual switch registers an existing FreeBSD bridge:

doas sylve switches create \
  --type manual \
  --name WAN \
  --bridge bridge0

The console form is shorter:

switches create manual WAN bridge0

Sylve records the display name and bridge name, but treats the bridge as externally managed. Use this type when the host’s bridge lifecycle and configuration are maintained outside Sylve.

Edit a switch

Direct commands identify a switch with --type and --id:

doas sylve switches edit --type standard --id 1 --mtu 1400

The console uses positional identifiers:

switches edit standard 1 --mtu 1400

Edits are partial. Only supplied options are changed. Console boolean options accept either the flag itself, such as --dhcp, or an explicit value such as --dhcp=false. Standard switch edits still validate the resulting port, address, and bridge MAC configuration before applying it.

Changing the bridge MAC source is also a partial edit. Supply --mac-source together with its matching source option. If you replace the port list and the current MAC source is a port, keep that source port in the new list or change the MAC source in the same edit.

Set an object ID to 0 to clear that object reference, and supply an empty manual value to clear it. When editing --ports, provide the complete replacement list. Manual-switch edits accept only --name and --bridge.

Delete a switch

doas sylve switches delete --type standard --id 1

switches delete standard 1

A switch cannot be deleted while it is attached to a Jail or Virtual Machine.

Use JSON output

doas sylve switches list --json

switches list --json

The result contains separate standard and manual arrays. This preserves the type scope of each switch ID and exposes configuration fields that are intentionally omitted from the compact table.