epair0b does not exist

[balanga]

Since epair0 did not exist, I ran ifconfig epair create, which created epair3a and epair3b.

How do I go about creating an epair0?

 

[atax1a]

what are you trying to accomplish with this?

 

[balanga]

what are you trying to accomplish with this?

root@W520:~ # iocage start 8.0
No default gateway found for ipv6.
* Starting 8_0
+ Started OK
+ Using devfs_ruleset: 1005 (iocage generated default)
+ Configuring VNET FAILED
ifconfig: interface epair0b does not exist

Stopped 8_0 due to VNET failure

 

[Phishfry]

I would be very surprised if there is no jail.conf type file for IOCage.

 

[balanga]

I would be very surprised if there is no jail.conf type file for IOCage.

Why should there be?

Install iocage — iocage 1.2 documentation

 

[atax1a]

we statically configure our jails with jail.conf and have all the epairs configured in rc.conf, and have no trouble. idk how iocage complicates things, but this config works for us

cloned_interfaces="bridge1 bridge69 bridge666 epair1 epair2 epair4 epair51 bge0.1 bge0.69 bge0.666"

 

[Phishfry]

I don't think I have ever seen a development version behind the regular version.

py311-iocage-1.12              FreeBSD jail manager written in Python3
py311-iocage-devel-1.11.20250711,1 FreeBSD jail manager written in Python3

 

[balanga]

we statically configure our jails with jail.conf and have all the epairs configured in rc.conf, and have no trouble. idk how iocage complicates things, but this config works for us

cloned_interfaces="bridge1 bridge69 bridge666 epair1 epair2 epair4 epair51 bge0.1 bge0.69 bge0.666"

I don't really know how things have got into this state:-

em0: flags=1008943<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,PROMISC,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST,LOWER_UP> metric 0 mtu 1500
    options=e520bb<RXCSUM,TXCSUM,VLAN_MTU,VLAN_HWTAGGING,JUMBO_MTU,VLAN_HWCSUM,WOL_MAGIC,VLAN_HWFILTER,VLAN_HWTSO,RXCSUM_IPV6,TXCSUM_IPV6,HWSTATS>
    ether f0:de:f1:a4:d9:10
    inet 192.168.1.21 netmask 0xffffff00 broadcast 192.168.1.255
    media: Ethernet autoselect (1000baseT <full-duplex>)
    status: active
    nd6 options=29<PERFORMNUD,IFDISABLED,AUTO_LINKLOCAL>
lo0: flags=1008049<UP,LOOPBACK,RUNNING,MULTICAST,LOWER_UP> metric 0 mtu 16384
    options=680003<RXCSUM,TXCSUM,LINKSTATE,RXCSUM_IPV6,TXCSUM_IPV6>
    inet 127.0.0.1 netmask 0xff000000
    inet6 ::1 prefixlen 128
    inet6 fe80::1%lo0 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x2
    groups: lo
    nd6 options=21<PERFORMNUD,AUTO_LINKLOCAL>
wlan0: flags=8802<BROADCAST,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 1500
    options=0
    ether 24:77:03:26:51:84
    groups: wlan
    ssid "" channel 1 (2412 MHz 11b)
    regdomain FCC country US authmode OPEN privacy OFF txpower 30
    bmiss 10 scanvalid 60 wme bintval 0
    parent interface: iwn0
    media: IEEE 802.11 Wireless Ethernet autoselect (autoselect)
    status: no carrier
    nd6 options=29<PERFORMNUD,IFDISABLED,AUTO_LINKLOCAL>
bridge0: flags=1008843<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST,LOWER_UP> metric 0 mtu 1500
    options=10<VLAN_HWTAGGING>
    ether 58:9c:fc:10:16:f1
    id 00:00:00:00:00:00 priority 32768 hellotime 2 fwddelay 15
    maxage 20 holdcnt 6 proto rstp maxaddr 2000 timeout 1200
    root id 00:00:00:00:00:00 priority 32768 ifcost 0 port 0
    bridge flags=0<>
    member: epair3a flags=143<LEARNING,DISCOVER,AUTOEDGE,AUTOPTP>
            port 14 priority 128 path cost 2000 vlan protocol 802.1q
    member: vnet0.10 flags=143<LEARNING,DISCOVER,AUTOEDGE,AUTOPTP>
            port 10 priority 128 path cost 2000 vlan protocol 802.1q
    member: vnet0.8 flags=143<LEARNING,DISCOVER,AUTOEDGE,AUTOPTP>
            port 7 priority 128 path cost 2000 vlan protocol 802.1q
    member: em0 flags=143<LEARNING,DISCOVER,AUTOEDGE,AUTOPTP>
            port 1 priority 128 path cost 20000 vlan protocol 802.1q
    groups: bridge
    nd6 options=9<PERFORMNUD,IFDISABLED>
ue0: flags=8802<BROADCAST,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 1500
    options=80000<LINKSTATE>
    ether 02:80:37:ec:02:00
    media: Ethernet autoselect
    nd6 options=29<PERFORMNUD,IFDISABLED,AUTO_LINKLOCAL>
epair2a: flags=1008842<BROADCAST,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST,LOWER_UP> metric 0 mtu 1500
    options=60000b<RXCSUM,TXCSUM,VLAN_MTU,RXCSUM_IPV6,TXCSUM_IPV6>
    ether 58:9c:fc:10:02:2f
    groups: epair
    media: Ethernet 10Gbase-T (10Gbase-T <full-duplex>)
    status: active
    nd6 options=29<PERFORMNUD,IFDISABLED,AUTO_LINKLOCAL>
epair2b: flags=1008842<BROADCAST,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST,LOWER_UP> metric 0 mtu 1500
    options=60000b<RXCSUM,TXCSUM,VLAN_MTU,RXCSUM_IPV6,TXCSUM_IPV6>
    ether 58:9c:fc:10:67:8b
    groups: epair
    media: Ethernet 10Gbase-T (10Gbase-T <full-duplex>)
    status: active
    nd6 options=29<PERFORMNUD,IFDISABLED,AUTO_LINKLOCAL>
vnet0.8: flags=1008943<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,PROMISC,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST,LOWER_UP> metric 0 mtu 1500
    description: associated with jail: test as nic: epair0b
    options=60000b<RXCSUM,TXCSUM,VLAN_MTU,RXCSUM_IPV6,TXCSUM_IPV6>
    ether f2:de:f1:ae:1b:75
    hwaddr 58:9c:fc:10:d1:76
    groups: epair
    media: Ethernet 10Gbase-T (10Gbase-T <full-duplex>)
    status: active
    nd6 options=29<PERFORMNUD,IFDISABLED,AUTO_LINKLOCAL>
vnet0.10: flags=1008943<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,PROMISC,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST,LOWER_UP> metric 0 mtu 1500
    description: associated with jail: bank as nic: epair0b
    options=60000b<RXCSUM,TXCSUM,VLAN_MTU,RXCSUM_IPV6,TXCSUM_IPV6>
    ether f2:de:f1:12:52:b3
    hwaddr 58:9c:fc:10:74:97
    groups: epair
    media: Ethernet 10Gbase-T (10Gbase-T <full-duplex>)
    status: active
    nd6 options=29<PERFORMNUD,IFDISABLED,AUTO_LINKLOCAL>
epair3a: flags=1008942<BROADCAST,RUNNING,PROMISC,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST,LOWER_UP> metric 0 mtu 1500
    options=60000b<RXCSUM,TXCSUM,VLAN_MTU,RXCSUM_IPV6,TXCSUM_IPV6>
    ether 58:9c:fc:10:23:8d
    groups: epair
    media: Ethernet 10Gbase-T (10Gbase-T <full-duplex>)
    status: active
    nd6 options=29<PERFORMNUD,IFDISABLED,AUTO_LINKLOCAL>
epair3b: flags=1008842<BROADCAST,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST,LOWER_UP> metric 0 mtu 1500
    options=60000b<RXCSUM,TXCSUM,VLAN_MTU,RXCSUM_IPV6,TXCSUM_IPV6>
    ether 58:9c:fc:10:1b:f4
    groups: epair
    media: Ethernet 10Gbase-T (10Gbase-T <full-duplex>)
    status: active
    nd6 options=29<PERFORMNUD,IFDISABLED,AUTO_LINKLOCAL>

 

[atax1a]

have you mucked with the interfaces on your own? or did iocage do this after some command?

 

[balanga]

have you mucked with the interfaces on your own? or did iocage do this after some command?

After a reboot I get this:-

em0: flags=1008843<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST,LOWER_UP> metric 0 mtu 1500
    options=4e524bb<RXCSUM,TXCSUM,VLAN_MTU,VLAN_HWTAGGING,JUMBO_MTU,VLAN_HWCSUM,LRO,WOL_MAGIC,VLAN_HWFILTER,VLAN_HWTSO,RXCSUM_IPV6,TXCSUM_IPV6,HWSTATS,MEXTPG>
    ether f0:de:f1:a4:d9:10
    inet 192.168.1.21 netmask 0xffffff00 broadcast 192.168.1.255
    media: Ethernet autoselect (1000baseT <full-duplex>)
    status: active
    nd6 options=29<PERFORMNUD,IFDISABLED,AUTO_LINKLOCAL>
lo0: flags=1008049<UP,LOOPBACK,RUNNING,MULTICAST,LOWER_UP> metric 0 mtu 16384
    options=680003<RXCSUM,TXCSUM,LINKSTATE,RXCSUM_IPV6,TXCSUM_IPV6>
    inet 127.0.0.1 netmask 0xff000000
    inet6 ::1 prefixlen 128
    inet6 fe80::1%lo0 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x2
    groups: lo
    nd6 options=21<PERFORMNUD,AUTO_LINKLOCAL>
wlan0: flags=8802<BROADCAST,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 1500
    options=0
    ether 24:77:03:26:51:84
    groups: wlan
    ssid "" channel 1 (2412 MHz 11b)
    regdomain FCC country US authmode OPEN privacy OFF txpower 30
    bmiss 10 scanvalid 60 wme bintval 0
    parent interface: iwn0
    media: IEEE 802.11 Wireless Ethernet autoselect (autoselect)
    status: no carrier
    nd6 options=29<PERFORMNUD,IFDISABLED,AUTO_LINKLOCAL>
ue0: flags=8802<BROADCAST,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 1500
    options=80000<LINKSTATE>
    ether 02:80:37:ec:02:00
    media: Ethernet autoselect
    nd6 options=29<PERFORMNUD,IFDISABLED,AUTO_LINKLOCAL>
bridge0: flags=1008843<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST,LOWER_UP> metric 0 mtu 1500
    options=10<VLAN_HWTAGGING>
    ether 58:9c:fc:10:16:f1
    id 00:00:00:00:00:00 priority 32768 hellotime 2 fwddelay 15
    maxage 20 holdcnt 6 proto rstp maxaddr 2000 timeout 1200
    root id 00:00:00:00:00:00 priority 32768 ifcost 0 port 0
    bridge flags=0<>
    groups: bridge
    nd6 options=9<PERFORMNUD,IFDISABLED>

My jails don't start up automatically so I have overlooked some setting to make the iocage environment permanent.

 

[gotnull]

Did you set the variable "defaultrouter" in the host /etc/rc.conf, VNET jails need this.

I've just tested VNET jails with iocage in a VM and it works without issue.
This is what I did to create a VNET jail called j2 (I didn't bother with ipv6 settings):

root@fbsd15:~ # iocage create -n j2 -r 15.0-RELEASE 
j2 successfully created!
root@fbsd15:~ #
root@fbsd15:~ # iocage set vnet=on ip4_addr="vnet0|192.168.1.234/24" j2
vnet: 0 -> 1
ip4_addr: none -> vnet0|192.168.1.234/24
root@fbsd15:~ #
root@fbsd15:~ # iocage start j2
No default gateway found for ipv6.
* Starting j2
  + Started OK
  + Using devfs_ruleset: 1000 (iocage generated default)
  + Configuring VNET OK
  + Using IP options: vnet
  + Starting services OK
  + Executing poststart OK
root@fbsd15:~ #

Here is the config for bridge0 and an epair called vnet0.2 (it is done automatically you don't have to do anything).

root@fbsd15:~ # ifconfig bridge0
bridge0: flags=1008843<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST,LOWER_UP> metric 0 mtu 1500
        options=10<VLAN_HWTAGGING>
        ether 58:9c:fc:10:26:ba
        id 00:00:00:00:00:00 priority 32768 hellotime 2 fwddelay 15
        maxage 20 holdcnt 6 proto rstp maxaddr 2000 timeout 1200
        root id 00:00:00:00:00:00 priority 32768 ifcost 0 port 0
        bridge flags=0<>
        member: vnet0.2 flags=143<LEARNING,DISCOVER,AUTOEDGE,AUTOPTP>
                port 5 priority 128 path cost 2000 vlan protocol 802.1q
        member: vtnet0 flags=143<LEARNING,DISCOVER,AUTOEDGE,AUTOPTP>
                port 1 priority 128 path cost 2000 vlan protocol 802.1q
        groups: bridge
        nd6 options=9<PERFORMNUD,IFDISABLED>
root@fbsd15:~ # 
root@fbsd15:~ #
root@fbsd15:~ # ifconfig vnet0.2
vnet0.2: flags=1008943<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,PROMISC,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST,LOWER_UP> metric 0 mtu 1500
        description: associated with jail: j2 as nic: epair0b
        options=200009<RXCSUM,VLAN_MTU,RXCSUM_IPV6>
        ether 0a:74:c0:65:58:8b
        hwaddr 58:9c:fc:10:80:e8
        groups: epair
        media: Ethernet 10Gbase-T (10Gbase-T <full-duplex>)
        status: active
        nd6 options=29<PERFORMNUD,IFDISABLED,AUTO_LINKLOCAL>
root@fbsd15:~ #

As you can see the network is fine in the jail, host command is successful.

root@fbsd15:~ # iocage console j2
FreeBSD 15.0-RELEASE-p1 (GENERIC) releng/15.0-n280999-7bceec30b351

Welcome to FreeBSD!

Release Notes, Errata: https://www.FreeBSD.org/releases/
Security Advisories:   https://www.FreeBSD.org/security/
FreeBSD Handbook:      https://www.FreeBSD.org/handbook/
FreeBSD FAQ:           https://www.FreeBSD.org/faq/
Questions List:        https://www.FreeBSD.org/lists/questions/
FreeBSD Forums:        https://forums.FreeBSD.org/

Documents installed with the system are in the /usr/local/share/doc/freebsd/
directory, or can be installed later with:  pkg install en-freebsd-doc
For other languages, replace "en" with a language code like de or fr.

Show the version of FreeBSD installed:  freebsd-version ; uname -a
Please include that output and any error messages when posting questions.
Introduction to manual pages:  man man
FreeBSD directory layout:      man hier

To change this login announcement, see motd(5).
root@j2:~ #
root@j2:~ #
root@j2:~ # host freebsd.org
freebsd.org has address 96.47.72.84
freebsd.org has IPv6 address 2610:1c1:1:606c::50:15
freebsd.org mail is handled by 30 mx66.freebsd.org.
freebsd.org mail is handled by 10 mx1.freebsd.org.
root@j2:~ #

 

[balanga]

iocage list:-

+------+-------------+-------+--------------+------+
| JID | NAME | STATE | RELEASE | IP4 |
+======+=============+=======+==============+======+
| None | 143 | down | 13.5-RELEASE | DHCP |
+------+-------------+-------+--------------+------+
| None | 6.0 | down | 13.5-RELEASE | DHCP |
+------+-------------+-------+--------------+------+
| None | 8.0 | down | 13.5-RELEASE | DHCP |
+------+-------------+-------+--------------+------+
| None | FreeBSD-1.0 | down | 15.0-RELEASE | DHCP |
+------+-------------+-------+--------------+------+
| None | bank | down | 15.0-RELEASE | DHCP |
+------+-------------+-------+--------------+------+
| None | mailman | down | 15.0-RELEASE | DHCP |
+------+-------------+-------+--------------+------+
| None | mfsbsd | down | 15.0-RELEASE | DHCP |
+------+-------------+-------+--------------+------+
| None | test | down | 15.0-RELEASE | DHCP |
+------+-------------+-------+--------------+------+

I have had each of these apart from one up and running at one point.

To create a new one I ran iocage create -n xxx -r latest vnet=on dhcp=on

dhcp requires bpf, enabling!
xxx successfully created!

Not sure what that means.


iocage start xxx

No default gateway found for ipv6.
* Starting xxx
+ Started OK
+ Using devfs_ruleset: 1000 (iocage generated default)
+ Configuring VNET OK
+ Using IP options: vnet
+ Starting services OK
+ Executing poststart OK
+ Acquiring DHCP address: FAILED, address received: ERROR, check jail logs

Stopped xxx due to DHCP failure

I have never set defaultrouter as my dhcp server handles that.

Monitoring ifconfig while this jail is starting, I notice that vnet0.8 appears briefly but then disappears.

 

[gotnull]

Declaring the network interface seems not required, it doesn't work in my case.
In my previous example it worked strangely ... I entered vnet0 instead of vtnet0 and iocage didn't even complain(probably because this network interface doesn't exist) , started the jail like nothing happened.
I think it's a bug, because entering the right network interface vtnet0 make iocage scream, it really doesn't like that.


After few tries, in my case the way to achieve a VNET jail via iocage (ip4 only) and without DHCP:

iocage create -n jail_name -r 15.0-RELEASE  
iocage set vnet=on ip4_addr="xx.xx.xx.xx/xx" ip6_addr=none defaultrouter="xx.xx.xx.xx" defaultrouter6=none jail_name

I have never set defaultrouter as my dhcp server handles that.

These are two different things, I am not an expert but this is how I see both:
_ a DHCP gives an IP automatically when a machine needs it.
_ a gateway shows a machine where to go in order to leave a network (here a LAN) to reach another network (internet, WAN).

Did you set the variable "defaultrouter" in the host /etc/rc.conf, VNET jails need this.

You also need gateway_enable="YES" , or just put this net.inet.ip.forwarding=1 in /etc/sysctl.conf, both accomplish the same thing. Without this VNET jails won't work.

There are couple other things to do, but all I am telling you is already written into the documentation.

 

[balanga]

There are couple other things to do, but all I am telling you is already written into the documentation.

I have read the documentation over and over. I have set up jails using IOCAGE on three different systems, started the jails and logged in, but for some (so far) unfathomable reason jails don't start due to a DHCP failure

Here are the properties for one jail:-

CONFIG_VERSION:33
allow_chflags:0
allow_mlock:0
allow_mount:0
allow_mount_devfs:0
allow_mount_fdescfs:0
allow_mount_fusefs:0
allow_mount_linprocfs:0
allow_mount_linsysfs:0
allow_mount_nullfs:0
allow_mount_procfs:0
allow_mount_tmpfs:0
allow_mount_zfs:0
allow_nfsd:0
allow_quotas:0
allow_raw_sockets:0
allow_set_hostname:1
allow_socket_af:0
allow_sysvipc:0
allow_tun:0
allow_vmm:0
assign_localhost:0
available:readonly
basejail:0
boot:0
bpf:1
children_max:0
cloned_release:15.0-RELEASE
comment:none
compression:on
compressratio:readonly
coredumpsize:off
count:1
cpuset:off
cputime:off
datasize:off
dedup:off
defaultrouter:auto
defaultrouter6:auto
depends:none
devfs_ruleset:4
dhcp:1
enforce_statfs:2
exec_clean:1
exec_created:/usr/bin/true
exec_fib:0
exec_jail_user:root
exec_poststart:/usr/bin/true
exec_poststop:/usr/bin/true
exec_prestart:/usr/bin/true
exec_prestop:/usr/bin/true
exec_start:/bin/sh /etc/rc
exec_stop:/bin/sh /etc/rc.shutdown
exec_system_jail_user:0
exec_system_user:root
exec_timeout:60
host_domainname:none
host_hostname:xxx
host_hostuuid:xxx
host_time:1
hostid:7ead3701-5147-11cb-8f5c-e31f104dc22c
hostid_strict_check:0
interfaces:vnet0:bridge0
ip4:new
ip4_addr:none
ip4_saddrsel:1
ip6:new
ip6_addr:none
ip6_saddrsel:1
ip_hostname:0
jail_zfs:0
jail_zfs_dataset:iocage/jails/xxx/data
jail_zfs_mountpoint:none
last_started:none
localhost_ip:none
login_flags:-f root
mac_prefix:f2def1
maxproc:off
memorylocked:off
memoryuse:off
min_dyn_devfs_ruleset:1000
mount_devfs:1
mount_fdescfs:1
mount_linprocfs:0
mount_procfs:0
mountpoint:readonly
msgqqueued:off
msgqsize:off
nat:0
nat_backend:ipfw
nat_forwards:none
nat_interface:none
nat_prefix:172.16
nmsgq:off
notes:none
nsem:off
nsemop:off
nshm:off
nthr:off
openfiles:off
origin:readonly
owner:root
pcpu:off
plugin_name:none
plugin_repository:none
priority:99
pseudoterminals:off
quota:none
readbps:off
readiops:off
release:15.0-RELEASE
reservation:none
resolver:/etc/resolv.conf
rlimits:off
rtsold:0
securelevel:2
shmsize:off
stacksize:off
state:down
stop_timeout:30
swapuse:off
sync_state:none
sync_target:none
sync_tgt_zpool:none
sysvmsg:new
sysvsem:new
sysvshm:new
template:0
type:jail
used:readonly
vmemoryuse:off
vnet:1
vnet0_mac:f2def186b9e1 f2def186b9e2
vnet0_mtu:auto
vnet1_mac:none
vnet1_mtu:auto
vnet2_mac:none
vnet2_mtu:auto
vnet3_mac:none
vnet3_mtu:auto
vnet_default_interface:none
vnet_default_mtu:1500
vnet_interfaces:none
wallclock:off
writebps:off
writeiops:off

Here are the last few lines of /var/log/messages:-

Jan 27 11:09:22 home kernel: lo0: link state changed to UP
Jan 27 11:09:22 home kernel: em0: link state changed to DOWN
Jan 27 11:09:22 home kernel: em0: link state changed to UP
Jan 27 11:52:26 home kernel: epair0a: Ethernet address: 58:9c:fc:10:42:4c
Jan 27 11:52:26 home kernel: epair0b: Ethernet address: 58:9c:fc:10:70:3e
Jan 27 11:52:26 home kernel: epair0a: link state changed to UP
Jan 27 11:52:26 home kernel: epair0b: link state changed to UP
Jan 27 11:52:26 home kernel: epair0a: changing name to 'vnet0.1'
Jan 27 11:52:26 home kernel: bridge0: link state changed to UP
Jan 27 11:52:26 home kernel: vnet0.1: promiscuous mode enabled
Jan 27 11:52:27 home kernel: lo0: link state changed to UP
Jan 27 11:53:59 home kernel: vnet0.1: link state changed to DOWN
Jan 27 11:53:59 home kernel: epair0b: link state changed to DOWN
Jan 27 11:53:59 home kernel: bridge0: link state changed to DOWN
Jan 27 13:01:17 home kernel: epair0a: Ethernet address: 58:9c:fc:10:42:4c
Jan 27 13:01:17 home kernel: epair0b: Ethernet address: 58:9c:fc:10:70:3e
Jan 27 13:01:17 home kernel: epair0a: link state changed to UP
Jan 27 13:01:17 home kernel: epair0b: link state changed to UP
Jan 27 13:01:17 home kernel: epair0a: changing name to 'vnet0.2'
Jan 27 13:01:17 home kernel: bridge0: link state changed to UP
Jan 27 13:01:17 home kernel: vnet0.2: promiscuous mode enabled
Jan 27 13:01:17 home kernel: lo0: link state changed to UP
Jan 27 13:02:49 home kernel: vnet0.2: link state changed to DOWN
Jan 27 13:02:49 home kernel: epair0b: link state changed to DOWN
Jan 27 13:02:49 home kernel: bridge0: link state changed to DOWN

 

[gotnull]

I've done tests with DHCP instead of manually addressing IP and it worked.
At first it complained about bpf, so I've turned it on, for that I just did a quick search through the manpage.

This is how I created the jail:

iocage create -n jail_name -r 15.0-RELEASE  
iocage set vnet=on dhcp=on bpf=on ip6_addr=none defaultrouter="xx.xx.xx.xx" defaultrouter6=none jail_name

Some thoughts:
_ if it's not working via DHCP then check if it's working without it.
_ look into iocage log /var/log/iocage.log, it could contain useful info too.
_ have you tuned /etc/sysctl.conf like it is recommanded by the doc.

 

[balanga]

iocage create -n xyz -r latest

xyz successfully created!

iocage set vnet=on dhcp=on bpf=on ip6_addr=none defaultrouter="192.168.1.1" defaultrouter6=none xyz

vnet: 0 -> 1
dhcp: 0 -> 1
bpf: 0 -> 1
ip6_addr: none -> none
defaultrouter: auto -> 192.168.1.1
defaultrouter6: auto -> none

iocage start xyz

* Starting xyz
+ Started OK
+ Using devfs_ruleset: 1000 (iocage generated default)
+ Configuring VNET OK
+ Using IP options: vnet
+ Starting services OK
+ Executing poststart OK
+ Acquiring DHCP address: FAILED, address received: ERROR, check jail logs

Stopped xyz due to DHCP failure

Same old!

I never touched/etc/sysctl.conf in the past when it worked and I can't find a /var/log/iocage.log.

I liked IOCAGE initially because I found it so easy to set up and now I can't figure how I got it working.

Oops... just noticed I do have a log file.

 

[gotnull]

I never touched/etc/sysctl.conf in the past when it worked

May be, but VNET jails are a bit different than classic ones.
The said advice in the documentation is in the section VNET, there is a reason for that.

 

[balanga]

Because of a DHCP failure I'm continuing my debugging of the problem in a new thread:-

B

Solved Thread 'Checking dhcp server for requests'

Jan 27, 2026

Where do I look to find a log of systems requesting an IP address?

• balanga
• Replies: 20
• Forum: Networking

 

[gotnull]

Because of a DHCP failure I'm continuing my debugging of the problem in a new thread:-

Before doing that you really should try to apply the recommended settings:
net.inet.ip.forwarding=1 # Enable IP forwarding between interfaces
net.link.bridge.pfil_onlyip=0 # Only pass IP packets when pfil is enabled
net.link.bridge.pfil_bridge=0 # Packet filter on the bridge interface
net.link.bridge.pfil_member=0 # Packet filter on the member interface

This one is particularly important net.link.bridge.pfil_bridge=0 because with it, packets are allowed to go through the bridge without being filtered by the firewall which could be why the DHCP requests can't reach your VNET jails (that's my guess only).

Next time, start a jail with the right settings applied, and if any problem appears, then post the relevant part from iocage log.

 

[balanga]

Next time, start a jail with the right settings applied, and if any problem appears, then post the relevant part from iocage log.

The thing is that I never set that before and it worked.

So I want to know what is the cause of the failure.

 

[gotnull]

The thing is that I never set that before and it worked.

Did it work with VNET jail? and same network configuration?