diff --git a/cmd/climc/shell/networks.go b/cmd/climc/shell/networks.go
index aec9e62a33..b101d686fd 100644
--- a/cmd/climc/shell/networks.go
+++ b/cmd/climc/shell/networks.go
@@ -210,6 +210,7 @@ func init() {
 		NETMASK     int64  `help:"Length of network mask"`
 		Gateway     string `help:"Default gateway"`
 		VlanId      int64  `help:"Vlan ID" default:"1"`
+		IfnameHint  string `help:"Hint for ifname generation"`
 		AllocPolicy string `help:"Address allocation policy" choices:"none|stepdown|stepup|random"`
 		ServerType  string `help:"Server type" choices:"baremetal|guest|container|pxe|ipmi"`
 		Desc        string `help:"Description" metavar:"DESCRIPTION"`
@@ -229,6 +230,9 @@ func init() {
 		if len(args.ServerType) > 0 {
 			params.Add(jsonutils.NewString(args.ServerType), "server_type")
 		}
+		if len(args.IfnameHint) > 0 {
+			params.Add(jsonutils.NewString(args.IfnameHint), "ifname_hint")
+		}
 		if len(args.AllocPolicy) > 0 {
 			params.Add(jsonutils.NewString(args.AllocPolicy), "alloc_policy")
 		}
diff --git a/pkg/compute/models/guestnetworks.go b/pkg/compute/models/guestnetworks.go
index 2ddb7c44f6..28e5777d43 100644
--- a/pkg/compute/models/guestnetworks.go
+++ b/pkg/compute/models/guestnetworks.go
@@ -224,7 +224,7 @@ func (self *SGuestnetwork) getVirtualRand(width int, randomized bool) string {
 
 func (self *SGuestnetwork) generateIfname(network *SNetwork, virtual bool, randomized bool) string {
 	pattern := regexp.MustCompile(`\W+`)
-	nName := pattern.ReplaceAllString(network.Name, "")
+	nName := pattern.ReplaceAllString(network.IfnameHint, "")
 	if len(nName) > MAX_IFNAME_SIZE-4 {
 		nName = nName[:(MAX_IFNAME_SIZE - 4)]
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/compute/models/networks.go b/pkg/compute/models/networks.go
index e70e67d6a6..40d7548376 100644
--- a/pkg/compute/models/networks.go
+++ b/pkg/compute/models/networks.go
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@ import (
 	"yunion.io/x/onecloud/pkg/mcclient"
 	"yunion.io/x/onecloud/pkg/mcclient/auth"
 	"yunion.io/x/onecloud/pkg/util/logclient"
+	"yunion.io/x/onecloud/pkg/util/rand"
 	"yunion.io/x/onecloud/pkg/util/rbacutils"
 )
 
@@ -76,8 +77,6 @@ func init() {
 			"networks",
 		),
 	}
-	NetworkManager.NameLength = 9
-	NetworkManager.NameRequireAscii = true
 	NetworkManager.SetVirtualObject(NetworkManager)
 }
 
@@ -85,6 +84,8 @@ type SNetwork struct {
 	db.SSharableVirtualResourceBase
 	db.SExternalizedResourceBase
 
+	IfnameHint string `width:"9" charset:"ascii" nullable:"false" list:"user" create:"optional"`
+
 	GuestIpStart string `width:"16" charset:"ascii" nullable:"false" list:"user" update:"user" create:"required"` // Column(VARCHAR(16, charset='ascii'), nullable=False)
 	GuestIpEnd   string `width:"16" charset:"ascii" nullable:"false" list:"user" update:"user" create:"required"` // Column(VARCHAR(16, charset='ascii'), nullable=False)
 	GuestIpMask  int8   `nullable:"false" list:"user" update:"user" create:"required"`                            // Column(TINYINT, nullable=False)
@@ -1104,6 +1105,39 @@ func isValidMaskLen(maskLen int64) bool {
 	}
 }
 
+func (manager *SNetworkManager) newIfnameHint(hint string) (string, error) {
+	r := ""
+	// sanitize hint
+	for _, c := range hint {
+		if (c >= 'a' && c <= 'z') || (c >= 'A' && c <= 'Z') || (c >= '0' && c <= '9') || c == '-' || c == '_' {
+			r += string(c)
+		}
+	}
+	newHint := func() (string, error) {
+		for i := 0; i < 3; i++ {
+			r := rand.String(7)
+			cnt, err := manager.Query().Equals("ifname_hint", r).CountWithError()
+			if err == nil && cnt == 0 {
+				return r, nil
+			}
+		}
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("failed finding ifname hint after 3 tries")
+	}
+	if len(r) < 3 {
+		return newHint()
+	}
+	if len(r) > 9 {
+		r = r[:9]
+	}
+	if cnt, err := manager.Query().Equals("ifname_hint", r).CountWithError(); err != nil {
+		return "", err
+	} else if cnt > 0 {
+		r, err := newHint()
+		return r, err
+	}
+	return r, nil
+}
+
 func (manager *SNetworkManager) ValidateCreateData(ctx context.Context, userCred mcclient.TokenCredential, ownerId mcclient.IIdentityProvider, query jsonutils.JSONObject, data *jsonutils.JSONDict) (*jsonutils.JSONDict, error) {
 	prefixStr, _ := data.GetString("guest_ip_prefix")
 	var maskLen64 int64
@@ -1143,6 +1177,18 @@ func (manager *SNetworkManager) ValidateCreateData(ctx context.Context, userCred
 	data.Add(jsonutils.NewString(startIp.String()), "guest_ip_start")
 	data.Add(jsonutils.NewString(endIp.String()), "guest_ip_end")
 
+	{
+		hint, _ := data.GetString("ifname_hint")
+		if hint == "" {
+			hint, _ = data.GetString("name")
+		}
+		hint, err = manager.newIfnameHint(hint)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, httperrors.NewBadRequestError("cannot derive valid ifname hint: %v", err)
+		}
+		data.Set("ifname_hint", jsonutils.NewString(hint))
+	}
+
 	for _, key := range []string{"guest_gateway", "guest_dns", "guest_dhcp"} {
 		ipStr, _ := data.GetString(key)
 		if len(ipStr) > 0 && !regutils.MatchIPAddr(ipStr) {
@@ -1700,9 +1746,26 @@ func (manager *SNetworkManager) InitializeData() error {
 		return err
 	}
 	for _, n := range networks {
-		if len(n.ExternalId) == 0 && len(n.WireId) > 0 && n.Status == api.NETWORK_STATUS_INIT {
+		if n.ExternalId != "" {
+			var statusNew string
+			if n.WireId != "" && n.Status == api.NETWORK_STATUS_INIT {
+				statusNew = api.NETWORK_STATUS_AVAILABLE
+			}
 			db.Update(&n, func() error {
-				n.Status = api.NETWORK_STATUS_AVAILABLE
+				if statusNew != "" {
+					n.Status = statusNew
+				}
+				return nil
+			})
+		} else {
+			var ifnameHintNew string
+			if n.IfnameHint == "" {
+				ifnameHintNew = n.Name
+			}
+			db.Update(&n, func() error {
+				if ifnameHintNew != "" {
+					n.IfnameHint = ifnameHintNew
+				}
 				return nil
 			})
 		}