>
    Strata Copilot
    Use the VM-Series CLI to Swap the Management Interface on KVM
    Focus
    Download PDF
    Focus
    1. Home
    2. VM-Series
    3. VM-Series Firewall on KVM
    4. Install the VM-Series Firewall on KVM
    5. Use the VM-Series CLI to Swap the Management Interface on KVM
    Download PDF
    VM-Series

    Use the VM-Series CLI to Swap the Management Interface on KVM

    Table of Contents

    Use the VM-Series CLI to Swap the Management Interface on KVM

    Learn how to use the VM-Series CLI to swap management interfaces on KVM.
    Where Can I Use This?What Do I Need?
    • KVM
    • VM-Series Firewall License (BYOL)
    • Panorama
    • VM-Series plugin
    By default, the VM-Series firewall assigns the first interface (eth0) as the management interface. However, in some deployments, the first interface must be pre-mapped to a public IP address. Therefore, the management interface must be assigned to a different interface. Assigning a public IP address to the management interface is a security risk.
    Alternatively, you can enable management interface swap as part of the init-cfg.txt File when bootstrapping.
    1. Log in to the VM-Series firewall CLI and enter the following command:
      set system setting mgmt-interface-swap enable yes
    2. Confirm that you want to swap the interface and use the eth1 dataplane interface as the management interface.
    3. Reboot the firewall for the swap to take effect. Use the following command:
      request restart system
    4. Verify that the interfaces have been swapped. Use the following command:
      debug show vm-series interfaces all 
Phoenix_interface   Base-OS_port   Base-OS_MAC        PCI-ID         Driver 
mgt(interface-swap) eth0   0e:53:96:91:ef:29   0000:00:04.0   ixgbevf 
Ethernet1/1           eth1    0e:4d:84:5f:7f:4d       0000:00:03.0   ixgbevf

    © 2026 Palo Alto Networks, Inc. All rights reserved.