NetworkManager, a system service and set of tools for managing network connections adopted by most Linux distributions, has just released version 1.58, adding support for CLAT, implemented with a BPF program and managed by the new ipv4.clat property.
This feature is currently disabled by default, but it enables IPv4 connectivity over IPv6-only networks. The related ipv4.dhcp-ipv6-only-preferred option now uses an auto value to activate this behavior automatically when CLAT is enabled.
The release also adds support for GENEVE interfaces and allows the managed state of devices to be preserved across reboots through both D-Bus and nmcli. Another important change affects manually configured IP profiles whose gateways are not directly reachable, as NetworkManager now warns when such profiles are activated or modified through nmcli and nmtui.
Moreover, the new release replaces its dependency on the external ping command for gateway and IP reachability checks with an internal implementation. Connectivity checking can now be disabled for selected interfaces, and DNS lookups used by the connectivity checker are restricted to servers configured on the same link whenever possible.
Wi-Fi support receives several improvements. The connection band property now accepts 6GHz, power-saving settings work with the iwd backend, and WPA-PSK profiles respect the connection.auth-retry setting. NetworkManager also accepts 64-character hexadecimal PSKs returned by some WPS access points and now prompts users again when wpa_supplicant reports an incorrect WPA3-SAE password.
On top of that, the command-line and terminal interfaces receive several usability improvements. More specifically, nmcli can now display the Wi-Fi band of scanned access points. Plus, nmtui offers device selection when creating physical connection profiles, access to more bond options, a password visibility checkbox, and vim-style search in connection lists.
In addition, nmtui now also includes a Wi-Fi rescan button and can share wireless credentials as a QR code directly from the connection editor.
VPN handling has been improved as well. New libnm functionality lets VPN plugins verify user permissions for certificates and private keys, while manually configured DNS search domains are now merged correctly with domains supplied by a VPN connection.
For security, NetworkManager now verifies that users can access the 802.1X certificates and keys referenced by private connection profiles. An optional build setting can install a polkit rule to let administrative group members make system-wide network changes without a password. This option is disabled by default and is not recommended.
Finally, some older networking components have been removed. Wireless Extensions support is now deprecated and disabled by default, and the modify_system build option has been removed. Additionally, support for dhclient as a DHCP backend has been dropped after being deprecated since NetworkManager 1.50.
For more details, see the changelog. NetworkManager 1.58’s source code is available for download from the project’s GitLab page.
