28. Creating an Ubuntu KVM Networked Bridge Interface
By default, the KVM virtualization environment on Ubuntu creates a virtual network to which virtual machines may connect. It is also possible to configure a direct connection using a MacVTap driver, though as outlined in the chapter entitled “An Overview of Virtualization Techniques”, this approach does not allow the host and guest systems to communicate.
The goal of this chapter is to cover the steps involved in creating a network bridge on Ubuntu enabling guest systems to share one or more of the host system’s physical network connections while still allowing the guest and host systems to communicate with each other.
In the remainder of this chapter we will explain how to configure an Ubuntu network bridge for use by KVM-based guest operating systems.