I am looking at using a debian-12-minimal template. I read that these templates are so barebones that they do not have pre-configured networking and any VMs based on the template will require setup. What network management software does this template come with (if any at all - think Network Manager, ifup/down etc etc)?
The docs are vague, maybe because no one is tracking what exactly is present in those templates?
As for Network Manager you need to install some packages. There is a guide to minimize minimal templates where you can find some of the already present packages (like ifupdown):
Do you mean use a qube for networking with NIC, or use within qubes
network ? In either case you will need to add some packages to get
networking up or you will have no external interfaces.
I never presume to speak for the Qubes team.
When I comment in the Forum I speak for myself.