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Cc: freebsd-net@freebsd.org, freebsd-questions@freebsd.org
Subject: Re: Question about NIC link state initialization
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Steve Polyack <korvus@comcast.net> wrote:

> ... An occaisional fat-finger in /etc/fstab may cause one to
> end up in single-user mode ... some of these systems have a LOM
> (lights-out management) controller which shares the system's
> on-board NICs ... when the system drops out of init(8) and into
> single-user mode, the links on the interfaces never come up,
> and therefore the LOM becomes inaccessible.
>
> ... all one has to do is run ifconfig to cause the NIC's links to
> come up ... why do we have to run ifconfig(8) to bring the links
> up on the attached interfaces?

When trying to troubleshoot a problem that was known or suspected to
involve the network or its hardware, one might not _want_ the NICs
alive.

> Short of patching init(8) (or perhaps the NIC drivers?), I don't
> see another way for me to ensure the links come up even when the
> system drops into single-user mode on boot.

Something in /root/.profile, perhaps?  That should get run when the
single-user shell starts up, if it's started as a "login" shell.