(instances-routed-nic-vm)= # How to add a routed NIC device to a virtual machine When adding a {ref}`routed NIC device ` to an instance, you must configure the instance to use the link-local gateway IPs as default routes. For containers, this is configured for you automatically. For virtual machines, the gateways must be configured manually or via a mechanism like `cloud-init`. To configure the gateways with `cloud-init`, firstly initialize an instance: `````{tabs} ```{group-tab} CLI lxc init ubuntu:24.04 my-vm --vm ``` ```{group-tab} API lxc query --request POST /1.0/instances --data '{ "name": "my-vm", "source": { "alias": "24.04", "protocol": "simplestreams", "server": "https://cloud-images.ubuntu.com/releases/", "type": "image" }, "type": "virtual-machine" }' ``` ````{group-tab} UI ```{figure} /images/UI/routed_nic_create_instance.png :width: 80% :alt: Create an Ubuntu 24.04 LTS VM ``` ```` ````` Then add the routed NIC device: ````{tabs} ```{group-tab} CLI lxc config device add my-vm eth0 nic nictype=routed parent=my-parent ipv4.address=192.0.2.2 ipv6.address=2001:db8::2 ``` ```{group-tab} API lxc query --request PATCH /1.0/instances/my-vm --data '{ "devices": { "eth0": { "ipv4.address": "192.0.2.2", "ipv6.address": "2001:db8::2", "nictype": "routed", "parent": "my-parent", "type": "nic" } } }' ``` ```{group-tab} UI You cannot add a routed NIC device through the UI directly. Therefore, go to the instance detail page, switch to the {guilabel}`Configuration` tab and select {guilabel}`YAML configuration`. Then click {guilabel}`Edit instance` and add the routed NIC device to the `devices` section. For example: devices: eth0: ipv4.address: 192.0.2.2 ipv6.address: 2001:db8::2 nictype: routed parent: my-parent type: nic ``` ```` In this configuration, `my-parent-network` is your parent network, and the IPv4 and IPv6 addresses are within the subnet of the parent. Next we will add some `netplan` configuration to the instance using the `cloud-init.network-config` configuration key: ````{tabs} ```{group-tab} CLI cat < cloud-init.txt < {guilabel}`Cloud-init` tab and click {guilabel}`Edit instance`. Click the {guilabel}`Create override` icon for the {guilabel}`Network config` and enter the following configuration: network: version: 2 ethernets: enp5s0: routes: - to: default via: 169.254.0.1 on-link: true - to: default via: fe80::1 on-link: true addresses: - 192.0.2.2/32 - 2001:db8::2/128 ``` ```` This `netplan` configuration adds the {ref}`static link-local next-hop addresses ` (`169.254.0.1` and `fe80::1`) that are required. For each of these routes we set `on-link` to `true`, which specifies that the route is directly connected to the interface. We also add the addresses that we configured in our routed NIC device. For more information on `netplan`, see [their documentation](https://netplan.readthedocs.io/en/latest/). ```{note} This `netplan` configuration does not include a name server. To enable DNS within the instance, you must set a valid DNS IP address. If there is a `lxdbr0` network on the host, the name server can be set to that IP instead. ``` Before you start your instance, make sure that you have {ref}`configured the parent network ` to enable proxy ARP/NDP. Then start your instance: ````{tabs} ```{group-tab} CLI lxc start my-vm ``` ```{group-tab} API lxc query --request PUT /1.0/instances/my-vm/state --data '{"action": "start"}' ``` ```{group-tab} UI Go to the instance list or the respective instance and click the {guilabel}`Start` button (▷). ``` ````