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Networking and Ethernet adapters

The built-in NAT gateway needs no optional build feature. For IRIX interface, DNS, NFS, and port-forward setup, see HELP.md and IRIX networking guide. The full option inventory is in FEATURES.md. This guide retains the PCAP and DaynaPort details previously in README.md.

PCAP bridged networking (--features pcap)

By default IRIS gives the guest networking through a built-in software NAT gateway (DHCP/DNS/TCP/UDP routing + port forwarding). As an alternative you can bridge the guest's raw Ethernet frames directly onto a real host interface. The guest then appears as an independent L2 host on your physical LAN and can be pinged from other machines and can use your real DHCP and DNS servers.

Library and licensing

The pcap crate links the generic wpcap import library on Windows (NOT a driver-specific one), so IRIS is not tied to any single provider. You can build/link against the BSD-licensed WinPcap Developer Pack as well as Npcap. IRIS links dynamically and never bundles the driver, so the runtime driver's license (e.g. Npcap's redistribution terms) does not attach to IRIS.

To point the linker at the WinPcap Developer Pack SDK on Windows:

set LIBPCAP_LIBDIR=C:\path\to\WpdPack\Lib\x64
cargo build --release --features pcap

On Linux/macOS you need the libpcap headers and library (e.g. libpcap-dev on Debian/Ubuntu, or the macOS system libpcap).

Enable PCAP mode

  1. Build with --features pcap:

    cargo build --release --features pcap

  2. Configure in iris.toml (or pass CLI flags):

    [network]
mode = "pcap"
pcap_interface = "1"    # 1-based index (recommended), or exact name, or omit to auto-pick

    On Windows, if you prefer the full device name (\Device\NPF_{GUID}), use a TOML single-quoted literal string (backslashes are escape characters in "double-quoted" strings):

    pcap_interface = '\Device\NPF_{8D30ACAE-AC0F-4E05-BF89-F35AD7950663}'

  3. List interfaces:

    iris --list-net-interfaces

    Or from the monitor console:

    net interfaces

Alternatively specify on the command line (the index form works here too):

./target/release/iris --net-mode pcap --pcap-interface 1
./target/release/iris --net-mode pcap --pcap-interface eth0

Caveats:

  • Works on every machine with an Ethernet: the Indy and Indigo2 (SEEQ), the O2 (MEC), the Octane (IOC3) and a DaynaPort.
  • Requires elevated privileges to open a raw capture: root or CAP_NET_RAW on Linux, root on macOS, Administrator + a WinPcap-compatible driver (WinPcap or Npcap) on Windows.
  • No NAT services (DHCP/DNS/NFS/port-forward) are provided in PCAP mode — the guest uses the real network's services. Configure IRIX networking for your LAN accordingly.
  • Wired bridges work best. Many Wi-Fi access points reject the guest's extra MAC address, so bridging onto a wireless interface may not pass traffic.
  • The guest needs a MAC address in NVRAM. IRIS writes [network] mac (default 08:00:69:12:34:56) into a blank slot before boot; give each emulated machine on the same LAN its own (see clanker/irix/networking.md).

Without --features pcap, selecting mode = "pcap" logs a warning and falls back to the NAT gateway, and --list-net-interfaces reports that the feature is missing.

Stream segment (mode = "stream")

[network] mode = "stream" plugs the Ethernet into a private segment served by another program, using the framing of QEMU's -netdev stream: each frame is a 32-bit big-endian length and then the Ethernet frame, without FCS. iris is the client and connects to stream:

[network]
mode = "stream"
stream = "tcp:127.0.0.1:7000"     # or "unix:/run/segment.sock"

Anything that speaks that framing works as the peer, for example another emulator or an install server with its own user-space TCP/IP stack. iris answers nothing on the segment itself: no DHCP, DNS, TFTP, [nfs] or [[port_forward]], and nat_subnet is unused. It needs no host privileges. The connection is retried once a second until the peer listens, so the server may start after iris, and made again if the peer goes away; frames the guest sends while disconnected are dropped. It works on every machine with an onboard Ethernet: the Indy and Indigo2 (SEEQ), the O2 (MEC) and the Octane (IOC3). A DaynaPort has its own subnet and cannot join the segment.

DaynaPort SCSI/Link

A SCSI-attached Ethernet adapter (SCSI type 3, Processor) selectable on any SCSI id — a second network path for the guest that goes over the SCSI bus instead of the onboard SEEQ. Only attached when configured, because it is only useful with a guest driver; IRIX has none in the box (see irixdayna, where it appears as dp0).

[scsi.3]
kind = "daynaport"            # default "disk"; "cdrom" / cdrom = true unchanged
mac  = "00:80:19:12:34:56"    # optional; default derived from the SCSI id
subnet = "192.168.10.0/24"    # optional; this target's own NAT subnet

Each DaynaPort runs its own NAT gateway (or PCAP bridge, in a --features pcap build) on its own subnet, so dp0 and ec0 never share a network. scsi dayna in the monitor shows its MAC, addresses and counters. Full protocol and verification notes: docs/daynaport.md.