The legacy "-net" option can be quite confusing for the users since most
people do not expect to get a "vlan" hub between their emulated guest
hardware and the host backend. But so far, we are also not able to get
rid of "-net" completely, since it is the only way to configure on-board
NICs that can not be instantiated via "-device" yet. It's also a little
bit shorter to type "-net nic -net tap" instead of "-device xyz,netdev=n1
-netdev tap,id=n1".

So what we need is a new convenience option that is shorter to type than
the full -device + -netdev stuff, and which can be used to configure the
on-board NICs that can not be handled via -device yet. Thus this patch now
provides such a new option "--nic": It adds an entry in the nd_table to
configure a on-board / default NIC, creates a host backend and connects
the two directly, without a confusing "vlan" hub inbetween.

Signed-off-by: Thomas Huth <thuth@redhat.com>
---
 include/sysemu/sysemu.h |  1 +
 net/net.c               | 78 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 qemu-options.hx         | 40 +++++++++++++++++++++----
 vl.c                    |  7 +++++
 4 files changed, 120 insertions(+), 6 deletions(-)

diff --git a/include/sysemu/sysemu.h b/include/sysemu/sysemu.h
index 77bb3da..66f0761 100644
--- a/include/sysemu/sysemu.h
+++ b/include/sysemu/sysemu.h
@@ -197,6 +197,7 @@ extern QemuOptsList bdrv_runtime_opts;
 extern QemuOptsList qemu_chardev_opts;
 extern QemuOptsList qemu_device_opts;
 extern QemuOptsList qemu_netdev_opts;
+extern QemuOptsList qemu_nic_opts;
 extern QemuOptsList qemu_net_opts;
 extern QemuOptsList qemu_global_opts;
 extern QemuOptsList qemu_mon_opts;
diff --git a/net/net.c b/net/net.c
index 2d05808..0bab269 100644
--- a/net/net.c
+++ b/net/net.c
@@ -1462,6 +1462,67 @@ static int net_init_netdev(void *dummy, QemuOpts *opts, Error **errp)
     return net_client_init(opts, true, errp);
 }
 
+/* For the convenience "--nic" parameter */
+static int net_param_nic(void *dummy, QemuOpts *opts, Error **errp)
+{
+    char *mac, *nd_id;
+    int idx, ret;
+    NICInfo *ni;
+    const char *type;
+
+    type = qemu_opt_get(opts, "type");
+    if (type && g_str_equal(type, "none")) {
+        return 0;    /* Nothing to do, default_net is cleared in vl.c */
+    }
+
+    idx = nic_get_free_idx();
+    if (idx == -1 || nb_nics >= MAX_NICS) {
+        error_setg(errp, "no more on-board/default NIC slots available");
+        return -1;
+    }
+
+    if (!type) {
+        qemu_opt_set(opts, "type", "user", &error_abort);
+    }
+
+    ni = &nd_table[idx];
+    memset(ni, 0, sizeof(*ni));
+    ni->model = qemu_opt_get_del(opts, "model");
+
+    /* Create an ID if the user did not specify one */
+    nd_id = g_strdup(qemu_opts_id(opts));
+    if (!nd_id) {
+        nd_id = g_strdup_printf("__org.qemu.nic%i\n", idx);
+        qemu_opts_set_id(opts, nd_id);
+    }
+
+    /* Handle MAC address */
+    mac = qemu_opt_get_del(opts, "mac");
+    if (mac) {
+        ret = net_parse_macaddr(ni->macaddr.a, mac);
+        g_free(mac);
+        if (ret) {
+            error_setg(errp, "invalid syntax for ethernet address");
+            return -1;
+        }
+        if (is_multicast_ether_addr(ni->macaddr.a)) {
+            error_setg(errp, "NIC cannot have multicast MAC address");
+            return -1;
+        }
+    }
+    qemu_macaddr_default_if_unset(&ni->macaddr);
+
+    ret = net_client_init(opts, true, errp);
+    if (ret == 0) {
+        ni->netdev = qemu_find_netdev(nd_id);
+        ni->used = true;
+        nb_nics++;
+    }
+
+    g_free(nd_id);
+    return ret;
+}
+
 int net_init_clients(Error **errp)
 {
     net_change_state_entry =
@@ -1474,6 +1535,10 @@ int net_init_clients(Error **errp)
         return -1;
     }
 
+    if (qemu_opts_foreach(qemu_find_opts("nic"), net_param_nic, NULL, errp)) {
+        return -1;
+    }
+
     if (qemu_opts_foreach(qemu_find_opts("net"), net_init_client, NULL, errp)) {
         return -1;
     }
@@ -1549,6 +1614,19 @@ QemuOptsList qemu_netdev_opts = {
     },
 };
 
+QemuOptsList qemu_nic_opts = {
+    .name = "nic",
+    .implied_opt_name = "type",
+    .head = QTAILQ_HEAD_INITIALIZER(qemu_nic_opts.head),
+    .desc = {
+        /*
+         * no elements => accept any params
+         * validation will happen later
+         */
+        { /* end of list */ }
+    },
+};
+
 QemuOptsList qemu_net_opts = {
     .name = "net",
     .implied_opt_name = "type",
diff --git a/qemu-options.hx b/qemu-options.hx
index a9249b6..399905e 100644
--- a/qemu-options.hx
+++ b/qemu-options.hx
@@ -2004,13 +2004,34 @@ DEF("netdev", HAS_ARG, QEMU_OPTION_netdev,
 #endif
     "-netdev hubport,id=str,hubid=n[,netdev=nd]\n"
     "                configure a hub port on QEMU VLAN 'n'\n", QEMU_ARCH_ALL)
+DEF("nic", HAS_ARG, QEMU_OPTION_nic,
+    "--nic [tap|bridge|"
+#ifdef CONFIG_SLIRP
+    "user|"
+#endif
+#ifdef __linux__
+    "l2tpv3|"
+#endif
+#ifdef CONFIG_VDE
+    "vde|"
+#endif
+#ifdef CONFIG_NETMAP
+    "netmap|"
+#endif
+#ifdef CONFIG_POSIX
+    "vhost-user|"
+#endif
+    "socket][,option][,...][mac=macaddr]\n"
+    "                initialize an on-board / default host NIC (using MAC address\n"
+    "                macaddr) and connect it to the given host network backend\n"
+    "--nic none      use it alone to have zero network devices (the default is to\n"
+    "                provided a 'user' network connection)\n",
+    QEMU_ARCH_ALL)
 DEF("net", HAS_ARG, QEMU_OPTION_net,
     "-net nic[,vlan=n][,netdev=nd][,macaddr=mac][,model=type][,name=str][,addr=str][,vectors=v]\n"
     "                configure or create an on-board (or machine default) NIC and\n"
     "                connect it either to VLAN 'n' or the netdev 'nd' (for pluggable\n"
     "                NICs please use '-device devtype,netdev=nd' instead)\n"
-    "-net none       use it alone to have zero network devices. If no -net option\n"
-    "                is provided, the default is '-net nic -net user'\n"
     "-net ["
 #ifdef CONFIG_SLIRP
     "user|"
@@ -2456,10 +2477,17 @@ qemu -m 512 -object memory-backend-file,id=mem,size=512M,mem-path=/hugetlbfs,sha
      -device virtio-net-pci,netdev=net0
 @end example
 
-@item -net none
-Indicate that no network devices should be configured. It is used to
-override the default configuration (@option{-net nic -net user}) which
-is activated if no @option{-net} options are provided.
+@item --nic [tap|bridge|user|l2tpv3|vde|netmap|vhost-user|socket][,...][,mac=macaddr]
+
+This option is a shortcut for setting both, the on-board (default) guest NIC
+hardware and the host network backend in one go. The host backend options are
+the same as with the corresponding @option{--netdev} option. The guest NIC
+hardware MAC address can be set with @option{mac=@var{macaddr}}.
+
+@item --nic none
+Indicate that no network devices should be configured. It is used to override
+the default configuration (default NIC with @option{--net user} backend) which
+is activated if no other networking options are provided.
 ETEXI
 
 STEXI
diff --git a/vl.c b/vl.c
index 698b681..59ffadb 100644
--- a/vl.c
+++ b/vl.c
@@ -3078,6 +3078,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv, char **envp)
     qemu_add_opts(&qemu_chardev_opts);
     qemu_add_opts(&qemu_device_opts);
     qemu_add_opts(&qemu_netdev_opts);
+    qemu_add_opts(&qemu_nic_opts);
     qemu_add_opts(&qemu_net_opts);
     qemu_add_opts(&qemu_rtc_opts);
     qemu_add_opts(&qemu_global_opts);
@@ -3298,6 +3299,12 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv, char **envp)
                     exit(1);
                 }
                 break;
+            case QEMU_OPTION_nic:
+                default_net = 0;
+                if (net_client_parse(qemu_find_opts("nic"), optarg) == -1) {
+                    exit(1);
+                }
+                break;
             case QEMU_OPTION_net:
                 default_net = 0;
                 if (net_client_parse(qemu_find_opts("net"), optarg) == -1) {
-- 
1.8.3.1

On 20/02/2018 18:40, Thomas Huth wrote:
> The legacy "-net" option can be quite confusing for the users since most
> people do not expect to get a "vlan" hub between their emulated guest
> hardware and the host backend. But so far, we are also not able to get
> rid of "-net" completely, since it is the only way to configure on-board
> NICs that can not be instantiated via "-device" yet. It's also a little
> bit shorter to type "-net nic -net tap" instead of "-device xyz,netdev=n1
> -netdev tap,id=n1".
> 
> So what we need is a new convenience option that is shorter to type than
> the full -device + -netdev stuff, and which can be used to configure the
> on-board NICs that can not be handled via -device yet. Thus this patch now
> provides such a new option "--nic": It adds an entry in the nd_table to
> configure a on-board / default NIC, creates a host backend and connects
> the two directly, without a confusing "vlan" hub inbetween.
> 
> Signed-off-by: Thomas Huth <thuth@redhat.com>

Yay!

Reviewed-by: Paolo Bonzini <pbonzini@redhat.com>

Paolo

> ---
>  include/sysemu/sysemu.h |  1 +
>  net/net.c               | 78 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>  qemu-options.hx         | 40 +++++++++++++++++++++----
>  vl.c                    |  7 +++++
>  4 files changed, 120 insertions(+), 6 deletions(-)
> 
> diff --git a/include/sysemu/sysemu.h b/include/sysemu/sysemu.h
> index 77bb3da..66f0761 100644
> --- a/include/sysemu/sysemu.h
> +++ b/include/sysemu/sysemu.h
> @@ -197,6 +197,7 @@ extern QemuOptsList bdrv_runtime_opts;
>  extern QemuOptsList qemu_chardev_opts;
>  extern QemuOptsList qemu_device_opts;
>  extern QemuOptsList qemu_netdev_opts;
> +extern QemuOptsList qemu_nic_opts;
>  extern QemuOptsList qemu_net_opts;
>  extern QemuOptsList qemu_global_opts;
>  extern QemuOptsList qemu_mon_opts;
> diff --git a/net/net.c b/net/net.c
> index 2d05808..0bab269 100644
> --- a/net/net.c
> +++ b/net/net.c
> @@ -1462,6 +1462,67 @@ static int net_init_netdev(void *dummy, QemuOpts *opts, Error **errp)
>      return net_client_init(opts, true, errp);
>  }
>  
> +/* For the convenience "--nic" parameter */
> +static int net_param_nic(void *dummy, QemuOpts *opts, Error **errp)
> +{
> +    char *mac, *nd_id;
> +    int idx, ret;
> +    NICInfo *ni;
> +    const char *type;
> +
> +    type = qemu_opt_get(opts, "type");
> +    if (type && g_str_equal(type, "none")) {
> +        return 0;    /* Nothing to do, default_net is cleared in vl.c */
> +    }
> +
> +    idx = nic_get_free_idx();
> +    if (idx == -1 || nb_nics >= MAX_NICS) {
> +        error_setg(errp, "no more on-board/default NIC slots available");
> +        return -1;
> +    }
> +
> +    if (!type) {
> +        qemu_opt_set(opts, "type", "user", &error_abort);
> +    }
> +
> +    ni = &nd_table[idx];
> +    memset(ni, 0, sizeof(*ni));
> +    ni->model = qemu_opt_get_del(opts, "model");
> +
> +    /* Create an ID if the user did not specify one */
> +    nd_id = g_strdup(qemu_opts_id(opts));
> +    if (!nd_id) {
> +        nd_id = g_strdup_printf("__org.qemu.nic%i\n", idx);
> +        qemu_opts_set_id(opts, nd_id);
> +    }
> +
> +    /* Handle MAC address */
> +    mac = qemu_opt_get_del(opts, "mac");
> +    if (mac) {
> +        ret = net_parse_macaddr(ni->macaddr.a, mac);
> +        g_free(mac);
> +        if (ret) {
> +            error_setg(errp, "invalid syntax for ethernet address");
> +            return -1;
> +        }
> +        if (is_multicast_ether_addr(ni->macaddr.a)) {
> +            error_setg(errp, "NIC cannot have multicast MAC address");
> +            return -1;
> +        }
> +    }
> +    qemu_macaddr_default_if_unset(&ni->macaddr);
> +
> +    ret = net_client_init(opts, true, errp);
> +    if (ret == 0) {
> +        ni->netdev = qemu_find_netdev(nd_id);
> +        ni->used = true;
> +        nb_nics++;
> +    }
> +
> +    g_free(nd_id);
> +    return ret;
> +}
> +
>  int net_init_clients(Error **errp)
>  {
>      net_change_state_entry =
> @@ -1474,6 +1535,10 @@ int net_init_clients(Error **errp)
>          return -1;
>      }
>  
> +    if (qemu_opts_foreach(qemu_find_opts("nic"), net_param_nic, NULL, errp)) {
> +        return -1;
> +    }
> +
>      if (qemu_opts_foreach(qemu_find_opts("net"), net_init_client, NULL, errp)) {
>          return -1;
>      }
> @@ -1549,6 +1614,19 @@ QemuOptsList qemu_netdev_opts = {
>      },
>  };
>  
> +QemuOptsList qemu_nic_opts = {
> +    .name = "nic",
> +    .implied_opt_name = "type",
> +    .head = QTAILQ_HEAD_INITIALIZER(qemu_nic_opts.head),
> +    .desc = {
> +        /*
> +         * no elements => accept any params
> +         * validation will happen later
> +         */
> +        { /* end of list */ }
> +    },
> +};
> +
>  QemuOptsList qemu_net_opts = {
>      .name = "net",
>      .implied_opt_name = "type",
> diff --git a/qemu-options.hx b/qemu-options.hx
> index a9249b6..399905e 100644
> --- a/qemu-options.hx
> +++ b/qemu-options.hx
> @@ -2004,13 +2004,34 @@ DEF("netdev", HAS_ARG, QEMU_OPTION_netdev,
>  #endif
>      "-netdev hubport,id=str,hubid=n[,netdev=nd]\n"
>      "                configure a hub port on QEMU VLAN 'n'\n", QEMU_ARCH_ALL)
> +DEF("nic", HAS_ARG, QEMU_OPTION_nic,
> +    "--nic [tap|bridge|"
> +#ifdef CONFIG_SLIRP
> +    "user|"
> +#endif
> +#ifdef __linux__
> +    "l2tpv3|"
> +#endif
> +#ifdef CONFIG_VDE
> +    "vde|"
> +#endif
> +#ifdef CONFIG_NETMAP
> +    "netmap|"
> +#endif
> +#ifdef CONFIG_POSIX
> +    "vhost-user|"
> +#endif
> +    "socket][,option][,...][mac=macaddr]\n"
> +    "                initialize an on-board / default host NIC (using MAC address\n"
> +    "                macaddr) and connect it to the given host network backend\n"
> +    "--nic none      use it alone to have zero network devices (the default is to\n"
> +    "                provided a 'user' network connection)\n",
> +    QEMU_ARCH_ALL)
>  DEF("net", HAS_ARG, QEMU_OPTION_net,
>      "-net nic[,vlan=n][,netdev=nd][,macaddr=mac][,model=type][,name=str][,addr=str][,vectors=v]\n"
>      "                configure or create an on-board (or machine default) NIC and\n"
>      "                connect it either to VLAN 'n' or the netdev 'nd' (for pluggable\n"
>      "                NICs please use '-device devtype,netdev=nd' instead)\n"
> -    "-net none       use it alone to have zero network devices. If no -net option\n"
> -    "                is provided, the default is '-net nic -net user'\n"
>      "-net ["
>  #ifdef CONFIG_SLIRP
>      "user|"
> @@ -2456,10 +2477,17 @@ qemu -m 512 -object memory-backend-file,id=mem,size=512M,mem-path=/hugetlbfs,sha
>       -device virtio-net-pci,netdev=net0
>  @end example
>  
> -@item -net none
> -Indicate that no network devices should be configured. It is used to
> -override the default configuration (@option{-net nic -net user}) which
> -is activated if no @option{-net} options are provided.
> +@item --nic [tap|bridge|user|l2tpv3|vde|netmap|vhost-user|socket][,...][,mac=macaddr]
> +
> +This option is a shortcut for setting both, the on-board (default) guest NIC
> +hardware and the host network backend in one go. The host backend options are
> +the same as with the corresponding @option{--netdev} option. The guest NIC
> +hardware MAC address can be set with @option{mac=@var{macaddr}}.
> +
> +@item --nic none
> +Indicate that no network devices should be configured. It is used to override
> +the default configuration (default NIC with @option{--net user} backend) which
> +is activated if no other networking options are provided.
>  ETEXI
>  
>  STEXI
> diff --git a/vl.c b/vl.c
> index 698b681..59ffadb 100644
> --- a/vl.c
> +++ b/vl.c
> @@ -3078,6 +3078,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv, char **envp)
>      qemu_add_opts(&qemu_chardev_opts);
>      qemu_add_opts(&qemu_device_opts);
>      qemu_add_opts(&qemu_netdev_opts);
> +    qemu_add_opts(&qemu_nic_opts);
>      qemu_add_opts(&qemu_net_opts);
>      qemu_add_opts(&qemu_rtc_opts);
>      qemu_add_opts(&qemu_global_opts);
> @@ -3298,6 +3299,12 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv, char **envp)
>                      exit(1);
>                  }
>                  break;
> +            case QEMU_OPTION_nic:
> +                default_net = 0;
> +                if (net_client_parse(qemu_find_opts("nic"), optarg) == -1) {
> +                    exit(1);
> +                }
> +                break;
>              case QEMU_OPTION_net:
>                  default_net = 0;
>                  if (net_client_parse(qemu_find_opts("net"), optarg) == -1) {
>