🟡 Medium   ⏱ 5–30 min  Last verified: 19 May 2026
Affected versions: SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 16

📖 ~1 min read

Table of contents
  1. Symptom & Impact
  2. Environment & Reproduction
  3. Root Cause Analysis
  4. Quick Triage
  5. Step-by-Step Diagnosis
  6. Solution – Primary Fix
  7. Solution – Alternative Approaches
  8. Verification & Acceptance Criteria
  9. Rollback Plan
  10. Prevention & Hardening
  11. Related Errors & Cross-Refs
  12. References & Further Reading

Symptom & Impact

Interfaces flap between managed states and `wicked show` and `nmcli` disagree on ownership.

Environment & Reproduction

Reproduces when both services are enabled, sometimes after a partial migration.

Root Cause Analysis

Two managers claim the same NIC, alternately tearing down and bringing it up.

Quick Triage

Check both: `systemctl is-active wickedd NetworkManager`.

Step-by-Step Diagnosis

Inspect `journalctl -u wickedd -u NetworkManager` for `take over` events.

Illustrative mockup for sles-16 — nm-wicked_conflict_terminal
Terminal diagnostics for NetworkManager and wicked race on the same interface — Illustrative mockup — Progressive Robot

Solution – Primary Fix

Disable one stack: `systemctl disable –now wicked wickedd` and let NetworkManager own NICs.

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Illustrative mockup for sles-16 — nm-wicked_conflict_logs
Logs and evidence for NetworkManager and wicked race on the same interface — Illustrative mockup — Progressive Robot

Solution – Alternative Approaches

Mark specific NICs as unmanaged by NetworkManager in `/etc/NetworkManager/conf.d/`.

Verification & Acceptance Criteria

`nmcli device status` shows expected NICs managed; `wicked show all` reports the rest.

Rollback Plan

Re-enable the legacy stack temporarily if a critical service depended on its scripting hooks.

Prevention & Hardening

Decide one network manager at OS-build time and bake it into the image.

Linked to `dhclient` collisions on the same lease.

Related tutorial: View the step-by-step tutorial for sles-16.

View all sles-16 tutorials on the Tutorials Hub →

Browse all common problems & solutions on the Tutorials Hub.

References & Further Reading

SUSE migration guide from wicked to NetworkManager.

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