Networking not configured after fresh installation

Hi, I’m new here :slight_smile: and also new to qubes in general.

I recently installed Qubes 4.1 alpha on my Thinkpad T430, and inter-VM networking is not configured in all VMs.
(Why 4.1 alpha as a newbie? I tried 4.0.3, but i REALLY want my cursor to change shape when i.e. hovering browser links in domU applications)
On the first boot after installation, where the user is asked which domains should be created, I did not select the fedora templateVM, just debian (as this is what I am familiar with).
It turns out that then even the sys-* VMs are debian-based. The first networking hurdle was the missing firmware files for my wifi card (the usual debian way…), which I copied from another ubuntu installation.
Now I could connect to a wifi network, but no VM except sys-net had internet access.
I investigated a bit and found that none of the vif* interfaces in sys-net & sys-firewall were configured (shown as DOWN and with no ip address).
After manually providing them with an ip address, networking works (typing this from a “personal” domain browser).
Any idea on why that might be and what a good fix would look like? I really don’t think I should hardcode the interface configuration commands somewhere…
That would not even work, as sys-firewall seems to get a new interface for each domain that boots up and is connected via sys-firewall.