NetworkManager applet enabled in Whonix VMs

[marmarek]

Qubes OS version (e.g., R3.2):

4.0

Affected TemplateVMs (e.g., fedora-23, if applicable):

whonix-gw, whonix-ws

---

Expected behavior:

NetworkManager applet hidden.

Actual behavior:

NetworkManager applet visible, but unusable (NetworkManager service not running).

Steps to reproduce the behavior:

Install default configuration of Whonix VMs, either choose so during installation, or later:

sudo qubesctl state.sls qvm.sys-whonix

General notes:

Normally NetworkManager applet is hidden when NetworkManager itself is disabled. This is done by /usr/lib/qubes/show-hide-nm-applet.sh script, which is part of qubes-core-agent-network-manager. This package is not installed in Whonix VMs.

Possible solutions:

1. Include qubes-core-agent-network-manager package (it does not pull any more dependencies).
2. Do not install network-manager-gnome package (currently qubes-whonix-shared-packages-recommended depends on it). And maybe the same about network-manger.
3. Ship a script similar to /usr/lib/qubes/show-hide-nm-applet.sh in some Whonix-specific package. Or maybe not a script, but a static file defining default value for org.gnome.nm-applet show-applet gsetting.

Option 1 is the easiest one. Option 2 IMO is cleaner (unless there is some usage of NetworkManager in Qubes-Whonix).

Cc: @adrelanos

---

Related issues:

#2954
#1954

[adrelanos]

1. Include `qubes-core-agent-network-manager` package (it does not

pull any more dependencies). Sounds good. We should install that by default in Qubes-Whonix anyhow. Beginning from Whonix 14. Any reason against it?

2. Do not install `network-manager-gnome` package

Yes. - There is no dependency on network-manager / network-manager-gnome in Qubes-Whonix 14 development version. However, I wonder why it's installed there then. - We can consider this a Whonix 13 bug. - Shall I do a qubes-whonix 13 package stable upgrade to get rid of it?

[adrelanos]

1. Include `qubes-core-agent-network-manager` package (it does not

pull any more dependencies). Sounds good. We should install that by default in Qubes-Whonix anyhow. Beginning from Whonix 14. Any reason against it?

2. Do not install `network-manager-gnome` package

Yes. - There is no dependency on network-manager / network-manager-gnome in Qubes-Whonix 14 development version. However, I wonder why it's installed there then. - We can consider this a Whonix 13 bug. - Shall I do a qubes-whonix 13 package stable upgrade to get rid of it?

[marmarek]

1. Include qubes-core-agent-network-manager package (it does not pull any more dependencies).

Sounds good. We should install that by default in Qubes-Whonix anyhow.
Beginning from Whonix 14. Any reason against it?

Disk space(*), memory usage. Is NetworkManager used in Whonix 14?

• There is no dependency on network-manager / network-manager-gnome in Qubes-Whonix 14 development version. However, I wonder why it's installed there then.

Try to remove and see what depends on it...

• We can consider this a Whonix 13 bug. - Shall I do a qubes-whonix 13 package stable upgrade to get rid of it?

Since NetworkManager service is disabled anyway, I think yes. Just drop the dependency (should not remove the package for existing users, so risk is low). Whonix/qubes-whonix#6

(*) For example current development built of Qubes 4.0 installation image is 100MB too big for DVD...

[marmarek]

1. Include qubes-core-agent-network-manager package (it does not pull any more dependencies).

Sounds good. We should install that by default in Qubes-Whonix anyhow.
Beginning from Whonix 14. Any reason against it?

Disk space(*), memory usage. Is NetworkManager used in Whonix 14?

• There is no dependency on network-manager / network-manager-gnome in Qubes-Whonix 14 development version. However, I wonder why it's installed there then.

Try to remove and see what depends on it...

• We can consider this a Whonix 13 bug. - Shall I do a qubes-whonix 13 package stable upgrade to get rid of it?

Since NetworkManager service is disabled anyway, I think yes. Just drop the dependency (should not remove the package for existing users, so risk is low). Whonix/qubes-whonix#6

(*) For example current development built of Qubes 4.0 installation image is 100MB too big for DVD...

[adrelanos]

Marek Marczykowski-Górecki:

> 1. Include `qubes-core-agent-network-manager` package (it does not > pull any more dependencies). > > Sounds good. We should install that by default in Qubes-Whonix > anyhow. Beginning from Whonix 14. Any reason against it? Disk space(*), memory usage.

Word.

Is NetworkManager used in Whonix 14?

No. The only convenience to have it installed by default is to ease VPN use cases. But since we're on low space (*), let's forget about this minority use case.

> - There is no dependency on network-manager / network-manager-gnome > in Qubes-Whonix 14 development version. However, I wonder why it's > installed there then. Try to remove and see what depends on it...

It's already removed. Nothing depends on it.

> - We can consider this a Whonix 13 bug. - Shall I do a qubes-whonix > 13 package stable upgrade to get rid of it? Since NetworkManager service is disabled anyway, I think yes. Just drop the dependency (should not remove the package for existing users, so risk is low). Whonix/qubes-whonix#6

Your pull request is merged, updated package uploaded to jessie-proposed-updates.

…

(*) For example current development built of Qubes 4.0 installation image is 100MB too big for DVD...

[adrelanos]

Marek Marczykowski-Górecki:

> 1. Include `qubes-core-agent-network-manager` package (it does not > pull any more dependencies). > > Sounds good. We should install that by default in Qubes-Whonix > anyhow. Beginning from Whonix 14. Any reason against it? Disk space(*), memory usage.

Word.

Is NetworkManager used in Whonix 14?

No. The only convenience to have it installed by default is to ease VPN use cases. But since we're on low space (*), let's forget about this minority use case.

> - There is no dependency on network-manager / network-manager-gnome > in Qubes-Whonix 14 development version. However, I wonder why it's > installed there then. Try to remove and see what depends on it...

It's already removed. Nothing depends on it.

> - We can consider this a Whonix 13 bug. - Shall I do a qubes-whonix > 13 package stable upgrade to get rid of it? Since NetworkManager service is disabled anyway, I think yes. Just drop the dependency (should not remove the package for existing users, so risk is low). Whonix/qubes-whonix#6

Your pull request is merged, updated package uploaded to jessie-proposed-updates.

…

(*) For example current development built of Qubes 4.0 installation image is 100MB too big for DVD...

[adrelanos]

Anything left to do here?

I don't see this happening.

[adrelanos]

Anything left to do here?

I don't see this happening.