From owner-freebsd-hackers Tue Nov 19 0:27:32 2002 Delivered-To: freebsd-hackers@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.FreeBSD.org (mx1.freebsd.org [216.136.204.125]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 1B2A137B401 for ; Tue, 19 Nov 2002 00:27:31 -0800 (PST) Received: from cfcl.com (cpe-24-221-172-174.ca.sprintbbd.net [24.221.172.174]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 3971243E75 for ; Tue, 19 Nov 2002 00:27:30 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from rdm@cfcl.com) Received: from [192.168.254.205] ([192.168.254.205]) by cfcl.com (8.12.6/8.11.1) with ESMTP id gAJ8Rvhe041839 for ; Tue, 19 Nov 2002 00:27:58 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from rdm@cfcl.com) Mime-Version: 1.0 Message-Id: In-Reply-To: <3DD9EA96.F4DEC169@FreeBSD.org> References: <3DD9EA96.F4DEC169@FreeBSD.org> X-Mailer: Eudora for Macintosh! Date: Tue, 19 Nov 2002 00:27:20 -0800 To: hackers@FreeBSD.ORG From: Rich Morin Subject: Re: auto-definition of a single network interface Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" ; format="flowed" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Sender: owner-freebsd-hackers@FreeBSD.ORG Precedence: bulk List-ID: List-Archive: (Web Archive) List-Help: (List Instructions) List-Subscribe: List-Unsubscribe: X-Loop: FreeBSD.ORG At 11:39 PM -0800 11/18/02, Doug Barton wrote: >Pardon me if I'm being dense, but I don't understand what your proposal >does that the existing interface config tools do not. Well, it's quite possible that I am replicating some existing feature; feel free to clue me in if this is the case. >Can you give a description (not code) of what you're trying to accomplish? A user who has only a single network interface should not have to worry about the specific FreeBSD name for the interface (it's not like vendors print "de0" on the card :-). Simply saying that there is only one network interface should be enough to let the boot code find and set it up (as, for example, my OSX box does). Here, FYI, is the explanation I posted at the start of this thread: >I had a recent experience in which my FreeBSD system would not configure >my Ethernet card because the specification in rc.conf was for a different >type of card. It seems like FreeBSD could easily handle the general case >(only one network interface) automagically, letting folks with fancier >systems add more specific configuration information. So, instead of: > > ifconfig_dc0=3D" inet 192.168.254.193 netmask 255.255.255.0" > >one could use: > > ifconfig_SGL=3D" inet 192.168.254.193 netmask 255.255.255.0" > >and the system would automagically configure a single networking interface. Ren=E9 Scharfe's version is used in almost exactly this way; it differs main= ly in the fact that it uses the network_interfaces variable: network_interfaces=3DSINGLE ifconfig_single=3D" inet 192.168.254.193 netmask 255.255.255.0" ifconfig_single_alias0=3D"inet 192.168.254.199 netmask 255.255.255.255" ... -r -- email: rdm@cfcl.com; phone: +1 650-873-7841 http://www.cfcl.com/rdm - my home page, resume, etc. http://www.cfcl.com/Meta - The FreeBSD Browser, Meta Project, etc. http://www.ptf.com/dossier - Prime Time Freeware's DOSSIER series http://www.ptf.com/tdc - Prime Time Freeware's Darwin Collection To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-hackers" in the body of the message