SUSE Linux Enterprise 9 eth0

[crendall]

I've installed the latest VMware Tools on my Linux VM and now when the VM boots up, eth0 in the VM is down and I have to manually assign the IP addresss again and set the default gateway again. Any ideas on how I can get this to function normally again?

[GBromage]

Hi crendall!

Is it possible that, when the virtual NIC was upgraded, the MAC address changed?

Unlike some other Linux distros, SuSE stores the IP configuration in a file /etc/sysconfig/network/ifcfg-eth-<<mac address>>

If the MAC address changes, then SuSE won't match the file (IP config) to the address. So, either rename the file, or change the VMNIC's MAC address back to what it was.

Hope that helps you,

Greg

[crendall]

I have a file called ifcfg-eth-bus-pci-0000:00:11.0. The contents in the file look correct to me. My other problem I now see is I can ping other computers but users can't connect to my Linux VM!

[GBromage]

Hi Crendall!

If you can ping outward from that machine, but outside machines can't ping in, then the problem is most likely with your routing table on the machine.

Can you please post the results of

ifconfig -a

route

so we can take a look?

Greg.

[danam]

I have a file called ifcfg-eth-bus-pci-0000:00:11.0.

Is that the actual PCI Adress of the Adapter ? Check lspci -v. If not delete config and set it up again.

Or: Call YaST and see if an interface shows "unconfigured" and a non-present interface is configured. Delete invalid config and configure the other one.

Or crude: Rename your configfile to ifcfg-eth0.

HTH

Dan

[crendall]

This is part of the output from lspci -v:

0000:00:11.0 Ethernet controller: Advanced Micro Devices \[AMD] 79c970 [PCnet32 L

ANCE] (rev 10)

Subsystem: Advanced Micro Devices \[AMD] PCnet - Fast 79C971

Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 64, IRQ 17

I/O ports at 1080 \[size=128]

I needed to get this VM back up and running ASAP so I restored the VM to before I updated VMware Tools in this VM and everything is working again. I think when I update the VMware Tools it changed the network card. Then when the VM booted it wouldn't have an IP address assigned to it. After I manually entered the IP address for the virtual NIC and set the default gateway it would again until the VM was rebooted and I would have to manually set it again. I have the same issue with an OpenSUSE 10.2 VM.

[GBromage]

Hi Crendall!

When you say:

>After I manually entered the IP address for the virtual NIC

where/how are you setting it? Are you using ifconfig to configure it, or doing it through yast or something similar?

Thanks,

Greg

[crendall]

I typed: ifconfig eth0 192.168.1.1 to set the IP manually.

[Texiwill]

Hello,

If you updated your SLES install you could have updated the kernel and the 'vmxnet' device no longer works. In this case the /etc/modprobe.conf file has a bunch of stuff for the eth0 alias. It most likely says 'vmnics'... You can change vmnics to be pcnet32. However it sounds like it works. i.e.

alias eth0 pcnet32

That way the vmxnet is not used and your network should come back up when you use. Also edit the file /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0 and remove/comment out the HWADDR line to get rid of any issues with changed mac addresses. Then run

ifdown eth0

ifup eth0

Check out http://www.vmware.com/community/thread.jspa?threadID=89383&tstart=25 for patches to make vmxnet work with newer kernels.

Best regards,

Edward

[GBromage]

Hi Crendall!

When you use ifconfig, it won't preserve the configuration change between each reboot.

Try setting it through yast -> Network Devices -> Network Cards configuration then choose "Change" the "Edit"

As well as changing the running config, it should also write the configuration to wherever SuSE needs it to be.

Regards,

Greg

[crendall]

I used YaST and it showed the correct IP address configured but it wasn't getting applied during bootup so I was using ifconfig to enable eth0 and then to assign the ip address. I then used route to configure a default gateway.

Chris

[Texiwill]

Hello,

It sounds like the HWADDR for the network interface is hardcoded into the config file as the wrong device (this value is normal, but it looks like the HWADDR \[MAC Address] has changed)

If using YAST, delete the ethernet device completely exit the network part of YaST and then reenter the network part and re-add the device.

Best regards,

Edward