After a recent reboot it stopped working, saying “device not managed” and you won’t be able to connect to internet. This error only happened if you’re using Network Manager to manage the network connection. For most of the time, this program works flawlessly, but it is not perfect. Now, you’re facing the problem with Device not managed issue by NetworkManager
With my exprienced, it does seem happen to Wired and Wireless Network Interfaces.
If you got this problem and this guide takes you through step by step procedures on fixing “Wired / Wi-Fi Network interface Device not managed error” in almost Linux distros from Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, Arch Linux, Kali Linux and more …
By default, if an interface is listed in /etc/network/interfaces, NetworkManager will be smart enough and not touch these interfaces. Unmanaged devices means Network Manager doesn’t handle those network devices. And you will see this message when click on the Network Manage Applet Icon on the System Panel Thats like:
The first step, we’re looking for your network device information. To find your network device’s name, open Terminal then type:
$ ifconfig -a
enp2s0: flags=4099 mtu 1500
ether 40:16:7e:9d:7e:ec txqueuelen 1000 (Ethernet)
RX packets 26215 bytes 6761702 (6.4 MiB)
RX errors 1 dropped 954 overruns 0 frame 0
TX packets 2401 bytes 407949 (398.3 KiB)
TX errors 0 dropped 0 overruns 0 carrier 0 collisions 0
device interrupt 18
lo: flags=73 mtu 65536
inet 127.0.0.1 netmask 255.0.0.0
inet6 ::1 prefixlen 128 scopeid 0x10
loop txqueuelen 1 (Local Loopback)
RX packets 15035 bytes 37818600 (36.0 MiB)
RX errors 0 dropped 0 overruns 0 frame 0
TX packets 15035 bytes 37818600 (36.0 MiB)
TX errors 0 dropped 0 overruns 0 carrier 0 collisions 0
wlp3s0b1: flags=4163 mtu 1500
inet 192.168.12.1 netmask 255.255.255.0 broadcast 192.168.12.255
inet6 fe80::1e4b:d6ff:fe3d:4cf1 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x20
ether 1c:4b:d6:3d:4c:f1 txqueuelen 1000 (Ethernet)
RX packets 67988 bytes 13337456 (12.7 MiB)
RX errors 0 dropped 46 overruns 0 frame 0
TX packets 75909 bytes 78802387 (75.1 MiB)
TX errors 0 dropped 0 overruns 0 carrier 0 collisions 0
The next step, we’re check the /etc/network/interfaces file content:
[main]
plugins=keyfile
dhcp=internal
dns=default
## HTTP-based connectivity check
#[connectivity]
#uri=http://nmcheck.gnome.org/check_network_status.txt
#interval=100
[keyfile]
unmanaged-devices=interface-name:wlp3s0b1 As you see, my wireless card has been listed in unmanaged-devices section. That’s why the NetworkManager applet icon on the system tray told me that it was “device not managed”.
How to fix Wired / Wi-Fi Network Device Not Managed Issue
The solution is very simple, just comment that line or delete it from /etc/network/interfaces then restart NetworkManager service to re-enable and see it back.
On Ubuntu / Debian derivatives, you can restart NetworkManager service with the command below:
$ service network-manager restart On Arch Linux or the Linux distro that’s using systemd to manage its services:
$ sudo systemctl restart NetworkManager Depended on your Linux distro, you may find these string in /etc/network/interfaces instead your device’s name.
[ifupdown]
managed=false You will need to change the bit where you see
managed=false to
managed=true Notes: Double check the /etc/network/interfaces file before save it