Change NNI manager IP detection method and remove netifaces dependency

dependencies/required.txt

@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 astor
 hyperopt == 0.1.2
 json_tricks
-netifaces
 psutil
 pyyaml
 requests

nni/tools/nnictl/config_schema.py

@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@
 import logging
 import os
 
-import netifaces
 from schema import And, Optional, Or, Regex, Schema, SchemaError
 from nni.tools.package_utils import (
     create_validator_instance,
@@ -493,7 +492,6 @@ def validate_extras(self, experiment_config):
         self.validate_tuner_adivosr_assessor(experiment_config)
         self.validate_pai_trial_conifg(experiment_config)
         self.validate_kubeflow_operators(experiment_config)
-        self.validate_eth0_device(experiment_config)
         self.validate_hybrid_platforms(experiment_config)
         self.validate_frameworkcontroller_trial_config(experiment_config)
 
@@ -599,13 +597,6 @@ def validate_pai_trial_conifg(self, experiment_config):
                 print_warning(warning_information.format('outputDir'))
             self.validate_pai_config_path(experiment_config)
 
-    def validate_eth0_device(self, experiment_config):
-        '''validate whether the machine has eth0 device'''
-        if experiment_config.get('trainingServicePlatform') not in ['local'] \
-                and not experiment_config.get('nniManagerIp') \
-                and 'eth0' not in netifaces.interfaces():
-            raise SchemaError('This machine does not contain eth0 network device, please set nniManagerIp in config file!')
-
     def validate_hybrid_platforms(self, experiment_config):
         required_config_name_map = {
             'remote': 'machineList',

ts/nni_manager/common/utils.ts

@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import { randomBytes } from 'crypto';
 import * as cpp from 'child-process-promise';
 import * as cp from 'child_process';
 import { ChildProcess, spawn, StdioOptions } from 'child_process';
+import * as dgram from 'dgram';
 import * as fs from 'fs';
 import * as net from 'net';
 import * as os from 'os';
@@ -217,28 +218,24 @@ function cleanupUnitTest(): void {
     setExperimentStartupInfo(true, 'unittest', 8080, 'unittest', undefined, logLevel);
 }
 
-let cachedipv4Address: string = '';
+let cachedIpv4Address: string | null = null;
+
 /**
- * Get IPv4 address of current machine
+ * Get IPv4 address of current machine.
  */
 function getIPV4Address(): string {
-    if (cachedipv4Address && cachedipv4Address.length > 0) {
-        return cachedipv4Address;
+    if (cachedIpv4Address !== null) {
+        return cachedIpv4Address;
     }
 
-    const networkInterfaces = os.networkInterfaces();
-    if (networkInterfaces.eth0) {
-        for (const item of networkInterfaces.eth0) {
-            if (item.family === 'IPv4') {
-                cachedipv4Address = item.address;
-                return cachedipv4Address;
-            }
-        }
-    } else {
-        throw Error(`getIPV4Address() failed because os.networkInterfaces().eth0 is undefined. Please specify NNI manager IP in config.`);
-    }
+    // creates "udp connection" to a non-exist target, and get local address of the connection.
+    // since udp is connectionless, this does not send actual packets.
+    const socket = dgram.createSocket('udp4');
+    socket.connect(1, '192.0.2.0');
+    cachedIpv4Address = socket.address().address;
+    socket.close();
 
-    throw Error('getIPV4Address() failed because no valid IPv4 address found.')
+    return cachedIpv4Address;
 }
 
 /**