🟡 Medium   ⏱ 5–30 min  Last verified: 19 May 2026
Affected versions: SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15

📖 ~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

Network connectivity flaps because both wicked and NetworkManager attempt to manage interfaces.

Environment & Reproduction

Seen after platform migrations or partial conversion to NetworkManager on SLES 15 SP3+.

Root Cause Analysis

Conflicting service ownership causes interface configuration to be overwritten on every boot.

Quick Triage

Confirm which service is enabled with `systemctl status wicked NetworkManager`.

Step-by-Step Diagnosis

Inspect `/etc/sysconfig/network/config` for `NETWORKMANAGER=` and review `journalctl -u wicked`.

Illustrative mockup for sles-15 — network_wicked-vs-nm-conflict_terminal
Terminal diagnostics for Mixed wicked and NetworkManager break interfaces on SLES 15 — Illustrative mockup — Progressive Robot

Solution – Primary Fix

Disable one stack with `systemctl disable –now`, set `NETWORKMANAGER=yes` or `no`, and reload config.

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Illustrative mockup for sles-15 — network_wicked-vs-nm-conflict_logs
Logs and evidence for Mixed wicked and NetworkManager break interfaces on SLES 15 — Illustrative mockup — Progressive Robot

Solution – Alternative Approaches

Use yast2 lan to enforce a single backend and migrate configs cleanly.

Verification & Acceptance Criteria

All interfaces remain up after reboot and `ip -br link` reports expected state.

Rollback Plan

Re-enable the previous backend if migration breaks routing, then plan staged migration.

Prevention & Hardening

Standardise on one network stack across the estate via configuration management.

Often paired with NetworkManager `failed to bring up device` entries.

Related tutorial: View the step-by-step tutorial for sles-15.

View all sles-15 tutorials on the Tutorials Hub →

Browse all common problems & solutions on the Tutorials Hub.

References & Further Reading

SUSE wicked and NetworkManager migration TIDs.

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