# VIF Types

In os-vif, a VIF type refers to a particular approach for configuring the backend of a guest virtual network interface. There is a small, finite set of ways that a VIF backend can be configured for any given hypervisor and a limited amount of metadata is associated with each approach.

## VIF objects

Each distinct type of VIF configuration is represented by a versioned object, subclassing `VIFBase`.

## VIF port profile objects

Each VIF instance can optionally be associated with a port profile object. This provides a set of metadata attributes that serve to identify the guest virtual interface to the host. Different types of host connectivity will require different port profile object metadata. Each port profile type is associated with a versioned object, subclassing `VIFPortProfileBase`.

## Datapath Offload type object

Port profiles can be associated with a `datapath_offload` object. This provides a set of metadata attributes that serve to identify the datapath offload parameters of a VIF. Each different type of datapath offload is associated with a versioned object, subclassing `DatapathOffloadBase`.

## VIF network objects

Each VIF instance is associated with a set of objects which describe the logical network that the guest will be plugged into. This information is again represented by a set of versioned objects

this page last updated: 2026-07-16 15:19:59

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