Subject: Should tap(4) and etherip(4) really clutter dmesg?
To: None <>
From: Nino Dehne <>
List: current-users
Date: 02/26/2007 23:23:15

I'm using 3 tap(4) instances on a system. When a tap(4) interface is
created, the following kernel messages appear:

   tap0: faking Ethernet device
   tap0: Ethernet address f2:0b:a4:91:b1:0e

Now I'm not sure I really need that information cluttering dmesg per
default, since it provides no real information. I know that an
Ethernet device is being faked by virtue of issuing the ifconfig create
command. If that were to fail, ifconfig would be telling me. So I don't
need to check the kernel messages. Also, I can query the resulting random
MAC address via sysctl.

One thing that I thought about was having these messages as a kind of
audit logging in case the log-reading admin wasn't the one creating the
interfaces. But then all interface creation should have a message logged.

Thus I really think this should be debug output. Similarly, etherip(4)
devices output the following:

   etherip0: Ethernet address f2:0b:a5:18:83:0b

It's a bit more terse, but nevertheless redundant IMHO. At the very
least, they both should be consistent.

Any opinions?

Best regards,