main configuration file for NetworkManager
Basic configuration
[main]\nplugins=ifupdown,keyfile
Set DNS mode
[main]\ndns=dnsmasq
Disable MAC randomization
[device]\nwifi.scan-rand-mac-address=no
Set hostname mode
[main]\nhostname-mode=dhcp
/etc/NetworkManager/NetworkManager.conf
[main]
Main configuration section.
plugins
System settings plugin names (keyfile is always appended).
dns
DNS processing mode (default, dnsmasq, systemd-resolved, none).
dhcp
DHCP client to use (internal, dhcpcd).
hostname-mode
How the transient hostname is managed (default, dhcp, none).
no-auto-default
Devices for which no automatic default connection is created.
[keyfile]
Keyfile plugin-specific settings.
[ifupdown]
Settings for the ifupdown plugin (Debian/Ubuntu).
managed
Whether devices listed in /etc/network/interfaces are managed by NetworkManager (true/false).
[connection]
Default values for connection properties.
[device]
Per-device persistent configuration.
[logging]
Controls logging output.
level
Log verbosity level (OFF, ERR, WARN, INFO, DEBUG, TRACE).
domains
Filter log messages by topic (PLATFORM, WIFI, DHCP4, DNS, VPN, etc.).
[connectivity]
Optional internet connectivity checking.
uri
URL to check for connectivity.
interval
Check frequency in seconds (default: 300).
[global-dns]
System-wide DNS configuration that overrides per-connection settings.
NetworkManager.conf is the main configuration file for NetworkManager. It controls DNS handling, plugins, device management, and various global settings. The file uses an ini-style key file format with sections of key-value pairs.
Additional configuration can be placed in /etc/NetworkManager/conf.d/ as drop-in files.
[main]
plugins=ifupdown,keyfile
dns=systemd-resolved
[ifupdown]
managed=false
[device]
wifi.scan-rand-mac-address=yes
[connection]
wifi.powersave=2
[logging]
level=WARNdefault - Update resolv.conf directly
dnsmasq - Run local dnsmasq instance
systemd-resolved - Use systemd-resolved
none - No DNS management
Syntax errors may prevent NetworkManager from starting. Use conf.d/ for drop-in files. Restart NetworkManager after changes with systemctl restart NetworkManager.
NetworkManager(8), nmcli(1), nmtui(1), nm-settings(5)