Lack of NetworkManager breaks conversion

[ispcolohost]

Describe the bug
If NetworkManager is not present and enabled, the conversion fails because Alma 9 requires NetworkManager.
If the system in question uses legacy ifcfg-eth0:## style alias interface files, their presence causes a conversion failure.
If there are .bak versions of legacy interface file names, their presence causes a conversion failure; e.g. ifcfg-eth0.bak

To correct this, you must:

1. Eliminate backup files, which may not have consistent naming, but .bak and .old are of course common human-chosen extensions, and .rpmsave and .rpmnew are common package manager replacement names; e.g.

rm -f /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-e*.bak
rm -f /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-e*.old
rm -f /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-e*.rpmsave
rm -f /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-e*.rpmnew

2. Enable NetworkManager systemctl enable NetworkManager
3. If NM_CONTROLLED=no had been added to any of the interface files, that must be removed; e.g.
   sed -i '/^[[:space:]]*NM_CONTROLLED[[:space:]]*=/d' /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-e*
4. The ip addresses present in alias files, typically in the format

DEVICE=eth0:1
IPADDR=192.0.2.2
PREFIX=24

must be extracted and converted into numbered IPADDR and PREFIX lines in the primary ifcfg- file. For example, if the above was present, the ifcfg-eth0 file would need to now have:

IPADDR1=192.0.2.1
PREFIX1=24

These must be tracked and incremented with each addition, which could be hundreds of new lines, and then the prior alias files removed or moved elsewhere so NetworkManager does not fail.

[mperryment]

The easiest way to fix this is to migrate the current configuration to NetworkManager.

nmcli migrate

This should migrate all the exists network-scripts connection to be manged by Network Manager. 

[ukablan-wpc]

Can you attach feedback archive in order to evaluate how I can support network service conversion

[ispcolohost]

Further info. nmcli connection migrate is the proper command to take the current config and migrate into NetworkManager, however it will only move the base ip address info from the ifcfg-interface file (e.g. ifcfg-eth0), it will not include alias files such as ifcfg-eth0:1. We have some servers with hundreds of addresses and therefore hundreds of files.

The leapp preupgrade step will also fail if any of the alias files are left around even though NetworkManager doesn't care, so they must not only have their contents migrated, they must then be removed as well.

So, we have to work through this issue in one of two ways. Option 1 is:

1. Use ip addr or similar to catalog all active ip and ipv6 addresses on the system
2. Enable and start NetworkManager
3. nmcli connection migrate
4. Iterate through all the alias files, there will be an IPADDR line, and then either a PREFIX or NETMASK line. If NETMASK, convert to PREFIX (length) format. Issue nmcli connection modify "System eth0" +ipv4.addresses 192.0.2.2/24
5. Remove the alias files
6. Compare active address list to pre-migration address list to ensure none went missing.

Option 2, which is probably cleaner since you'll get a pass/fail result from the overall connection migration attempt, is:

1. Use ip addr or similar to catalog all active ip and ipv6 addresses on the system
2. Iterate through all the alias files, there will be an IPADDR line, and then either a PREFIX or NETMASK line. If NETMASK, convert to PREFIX (length) format. Start a counter or use the existing alias numbers. For each alias address, add it to the base ifcfg-interface (e.g. ifcfg-eth0) file as new numbered lines in the format:

IPADDR0=192.0.2.2
PREFIX0=24
IPADDR1=192.0.2.3
PREFIX1=24

3. Remove the alias files
4. Enable and start NetworkManager
5. nmcli connection migrate and if you messed up the file, it should error.
6. Compare active address list to pre-migration address list to ensure none went missing.

[ukablan-wpc]

I was able to convert when NetworkManager disabled and alias interface is defined/active at /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0:1. AlmaLinux-9 is fine after conversion:

# ./almalinux8to9 --status
Conversion process is not running.
# dnf update
Last metadata expiration check: 0:29:01 ago on Tue 09 Jun 2026 10:24:20 AM UTC.
Dependencies resolved.
Nothing to do.
Complete!
# dnf repolist
repo id                                                             repo name
PLESK_17_PHP83                                                      PHP 8.3
PLESK_17_PHP84                                                      PHP 8.4
PLESK_18_0_78-extras                                                PLESK_18_0_78 extras
appstream                                                           AlmaLinux 9 - AppStream
baseos                                                              AlmaLinux 9 - BaseOS
crb                                                                 AlmaLinux 9 - CRB
epel                                                                Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux 9 - x86_64
epel-cisco-openh264                                                 Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux 9 openh264 (From Cisco) - x86_64
extras                                                              AlmaLinux 9 - Extras
# systemctl | grep -i network
  sys-devices-pci0000:00-0000:00:03.0-virtio0-net-eth0.device                                 loaded active plugged   Virtio network device
  sys-subsystem-net-devices-eth0.device                                                       loaded active plugged   Virtio network device
  cloud-init-local.service                                                                    loaded active exited    Cloud-init: Local Stage (pre-network)
  cloud-init.service                                                                          loaded active exited    Cloud-init: Network Stage
  import-state.service                                                                        loaded active exited    Import network configuration from initramfs
  NetworkManager.service                                                                      loaded active running   Network Manager
  nis-domainname.service                                                                      loaded active exited    Read and set NIS domainname from /etc/sysconfig/network
  network-online.target                                                                       loaded active active    Network is Online
  network-pre.target                                                                          loaded active active    Preparation for Network
  network.target                                                                              loaded active active    Network
  nss-lookup.target                                                                           loaded active active    Host and Network Name Lookups
# ls /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/
ifcfg-eth0           ifcfg-eth0:1         readme-ifcfg-rh.txt  
# ip addr show eth0
2: eth0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1400 qdisc fq_codel state UP group default qlen 1000
    link/ether 52:54:00:52:e4:57 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
    altname enp0s3
    altname ens3
    inet 10.66.95.127/22 brd 10.66.95.255 scope global noprefixroute eth0
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
    inet 192.168.1.250/24 brd 192.168.1.255 scope global noprefixroute eth0:1
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
    inet6 fe80::5054:ff:fe52:e457/64 scope link 
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever

[ukablan-wpc]

Close due to no response, please submit a ticket with archive, if the issue persists.

[mperryment]

The preventing factors are:
Network configuration for unsupported device types detected:
RHEL 9 does not support the legacy network-scripts package that was deprecated in RHEL 8 in favor of NetworkManager. Files for device types that are not supported by NetworkManager are present in the system. Files with the problematic configuration:
- /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-bond0
- /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eno1
- /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eno2
2026-06-11 17:16:30,749 - DEBUG - Going to write json '/usr/local/psa/var/almalinux8to9/actions.json' with new data

almalinux8to9_feedback (1).zip

[ukablan-wpc]

Please paste /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ contents if you can (replace sensitive data probably)

[mperryment]

-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  221 Jun 11 12:50 ifcfg-bond0
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root   89 Jun 11 12:50 ifcfg-eno1
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root   89 Jun 11 12:50 ifcfg-eno2
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  254 Sep 23  2025 ifcfg-lo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 2.1K Sep 23  2025 ifdown
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  646 Sep 23  2025 ifdown-bnep
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 6.3K Sep 23  2025 ifdown-eth
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  769 Sep 23  2025 ifdown-ippp
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 4.5K Sep 23  2025 ifdown-ipv6
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root   11 Nov  4  2025 ifdown-isdn -> ifdown-ippp
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 2.1K Sep 23  2025 ifdown-post
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  870 Sep 23  2025 ifdown-routes
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 1.5K Sep 23  2025 ifdown-sit
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 1.5K Sep 23  2025 ifdown-tunnel
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 5.4K Sep 23  2025 ifup
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  12K Sep 23  2025 ifup-aliases
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  906 Sep 23  2025 ifup-bnep
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  14K Sep 23  2025 ifup-eth
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  12K Sep 23  2025 ifup-ippp
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  12K Sep 23  2025 ifup-ipv6
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root    9 Nov  4  2025 ifup-isdn -> ifup-ippp
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  643 Sep 23  2025 ifup-plip
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 1.1K Sep 23  2025 ifup-plusb
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 4.9K Sep 23  2025 ifup-post
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 2.4K Sep 23  2025 ifup-routes
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 3.3K Sep 23  2025 ifup-sit
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 2.9K Sep 23  2025 ifup-tunnel
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 1.8K Sep 23  2025 ifup-wireless
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 5.3K Sep 23  2025 init.ipv6-global
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  20K Sep 23  2025 network-functions
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  31K Sep 23  2025 network-functions-ipv6

DEVICE=bond0
BONDING_OPTS="mode=802.3ad miimon=100 lacp_rate=1"
BOOTPROTO=static
ONBOOT=yes
NM_CONTROLLED=no
USERCTL=no
IPADDR=x.x.x.x
NETMASK=255.255.252.0
DNS1=8.8.8.8
DNS2=8.8.4.4
GATEWAY=x.x.x.x

DEVICE=eno1
BOOTPROTO=none
NM_CONTROLLED=no
USERCTL=no
ONBOOT=yes
MASTER=bond0
SLAVE=yes

DEVICE=eno2
BOOTPROTO=none
NM_CONTROLLED=no
USERCTL=no
ONBOOT=yes
MASTER=bond0
SLAVE=yes

[ukablan-wpc]

I merged #39 (will be in next release)
However I am not sure if we should add full conversion like nmcli connection migrate (for now) since AlmaLinux-9 supports interpreting ifcfg-* files directly:

# head /etc/os-release
NAME="AlmaLinux"
VERSION="9.8 (Olive Jaguar)"
ID="almalinux"
ID_LIKE="rhel centos fedora"
VERSION_ID="9.8"
...
# cat /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0:1
DEVICE=eth0:1
NM_CONTROLLED=no
IPADDR=192.168.1.250
NETMASK=255.255.255.0
# ip addr show eth0
2: eth0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1400 qdisc fq_codel state UP group default qlen 1000
    link/ether 52:54:00:12:1e:23 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
    altname enp0s3
    altname ens3
    inet 10.66.95.94/22 brd 10.66.95.255 scope global noprefixroute eth0
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
    inet 192.168.1.250/24 brd 192.168.1.255 scope global noprefixroute eth0:1
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
...

I think migration to full-NM model should be done separately by asserting device addresses and behavior

[ukablan-wpc]

Please check v1.3.0 if it helps

[mperryment]

Original exception: Command '['/usr/bin/leapp', 'preupgrade']' returned non-zero exit status 1..
The preventing factors are:
Network configuration for unsupported device types detected:
RHEL 9 does not support the legacy network-scripts package that was deprecated in RHEL 8 in favor of NetworkManager. Files for device types that are not supported by NetworkManager are present in the system. Files with the problematic configuration:
- /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-bond0
- /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eno1
- /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eno2
2026-07-07 10:03:01,684 - DEBUG - Going to write json '/usr/local/psa/var/almalinux8to9/actions.json' with new data

Still failing with NetworkManager enabled on the files

Using v1.3.0

[mperryment]

Just a bit more information . if you have bonding setting up and not configured to use Network Manager the script fails, and you need to switch to using Network Manager first if using bonding - then Script is successful.

If only using ifcfg-eno1, ifcfg-eno2 then script successfully converts to Network Manager - Although doesn't fully migrate the connections to NetworkManager.