We’re excited to announce the beta for Linode Interfaces, a better way to manage networking for your compute instances.
This new approach improves the legacy configuration profile-based interface and gives you direct, visible control over your instance’s network interfaces. With Linode Interfaces, what you see in the API matches what’s actually deployed, routing is more flexible, and security is easier to manage.
Why We Built Linode Interfaces
For years, a Linode’s networking was tied to configuration profiles. While functional, that setup came with issues:
- Hidden networking rules buried in configurations
- Differences between the API state and actual deployment
- Limited control over routing.
Linode Interfaces fixes these problems by connecting network interfaces directly to the compute instances themselves – not configuration profiles.
What’s Improved with Linode Interfaces
The new Linode Interfaces system offers a more modern, flexible approach to network management. Here’s how it improves on the previous configuration profile–based setup:
- Clearer configuration display: The API now reflects your actual network setup, so there’s no need to reboot just to confirm changes.
- Better security: Built-in firewall templates protect both VPC and public interfaces. Plus, you can configure firewalls for individual interfaces instead of the entire instance.
- Smarter routing: You can set up different default routes for IPv4 and IPv6 traffic across different interfaces.
- Easier management: The interface provides a clearer network layer with better visibility into IP address assignment.
Join the Beta
Linode Interfaces is now available as a free beta available through both Cloud Manager or the API and available in all core compute regions. Your feedback during this beta period will help us make this better before general availability.
Here’s how to join:
- Sign in or sign up to Cloud Manager and go to Beta tab.
- Click on Linode Interfaces Beta and Sign Up for the Beta
- Once you sign up, you will receive the necessary information and can choose Linode interfaces as your network interfaces for your existing compute instances or when you provision a new compute instance.
- Please read our Early Adopter SLA, and if you experience any issues, please contact our Support Team.
- For existing customers, your current configuration interface setups will continue to work unchanged unless you choose to upgrade them.
Important Technical Notes
Linode Interfaces have some key differences:
- No private IP support: Linode Interfaces does not support Intra-DC Private IPv4 addresses, meaning instances using this feature cannot be used with products requiring Private IPs (like NodeBalancers or LKE)
- Power off required for changes: Most interface configuration changes require the instance to be powered off when network helper is enabled
For additional deployment and configuration instructions, read our documentation.
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