i have a couple of installations with gentoo diskless workstations booting off network server (NFS). They work correctly as long as net.eth0 is not executed during boot-up process. They got their IPs and details from DHCP, load and execute kernel, the init scripts are started and then once /etc/init.d/net.eth0 script (link to net.lo) is executed (with empty config so it shall get details from DHCP), the boot up process breaks - claiming the machine can't access various files. I guess the init script for net screws up the config of the network interface so really the system can't access its root filesystem anymore. If i just delete /etc/init.d/net.eth0 everything works fine and the system boots - but with every upgrade of baselayout it puts net.eth0 back there so i end up needing to find a self-booting machine, log in to the server, remove the file before i can use any workstation. Its a bit frustrating. Reproducible: Always Steps to Reproduce: there are some other issues with shutting down of diskless machine - looks like the setup unmounts the root filesystem when unmounting network filesystems - which of course ends in a lot of mess, but more on this later on. the bootup issue is much more annoying
you neglected to post `emerge info` like the bug report page told you to so i'm going to assume you're using an outdated version of baselayout because last time i checked, this worked in 1.11.x
Sorry, i didn't add the info because i have seen this problem for like half a year now so i assumed its not really related to any specific version anyway, here is one of these i'm using (removed dirs and USE flags): Portage 2.0.51.19 (default-linux/amd64/2004.3, gcc-3.4.3-20050110, glibc-2.3.4.20050125-r1, 2.6.11.2 x86_64) ================================================================= System uname: 2.6.11.2 x86_64 AMD Athlon(tm) 64 Processor 2800+ Gentoo Base System version 1.6.10 Python: dev-lang/python-2.3.5 [2.3.5 (#1, Feb 20 2005, 20:52:47)] dev-lang/python: 2.3.5 sys-devel/autoconf: 2.59-r6, 2.13 sys-devel/automake: 1.7.9-r1, 1.8.5-r3, 1.5, 1.4_p6, 1.6.3, 1.9.5 sys-devel/binutils: 2.15.92.0.2-r8 sys-devel/libtool: 1.5.14 virtual/os-headers: 2.6.11 ACCEPT_KEYWORDS="amd64 ~amd64" AUTOCLEAN="yes" CFLAGS="-march=athlon64 -O2 -msse -msse2 -mmmx -m3dnow -mfpmath=sse -pipe -funroll-loops -fomit-frame-pointer -frerun-loop-opt -falign-functions=8 -feliminate-unused-debug-types" CHOST="x86_64-pc-linux-gnu" CONFIG_PROTECT="/etc /usr/kde/2/share/config /usr/kde/3.4/env /usr/kde/3.4/share/config /usr/kde/3.4/shutdown /usr/kde/3/share/config /usr/lib/X11/xkb /usr/share/config /var/qmail/control" CONFIG_PROTECT_MASK="/etc/gconf /etc/terminfo /etc/env.d" CXXFLAGS="-march=athlon64 -O2 -msse -msse2 -mmmx -m3dnow -mfpmath=sse -pipe -funroll-loops -fomit-frame-pointer -frerun-loop-opt -falign-functions=8 -feliminate-unused-debug-types" DISTDIR="/var/ext/portage/distfiles" FEATURES="autoaddcvs autoconfig ccache distlocks sandbox"
inspired by 'worksforme', just checked and the setup works - but only if i explicitly specify the IP address of the interface in /etc/conf.d/net - then booting up goes without problems. However leaving this config file empty, which is supposed to use dhcp results in 'network unreachable'. My dhcp server is configured to assign 'static' IPs per MAC address. And the workstation definitely gets the info from it, otherwise it wouldn't be able to load the kernel.
if you put 'config_eth0=( "null" )' does it work ?
it works when i put config_eth0=( "noop" "10.0.0.7/24" ) - during boot up it says "keeping current configuration for eth0". i'll try the "null" too if you wish during next boot up.
nope, config_eth0=( "null" ) doesn't work. result exactly the same as with no config ("network unreachable")
config_eth0=( "noop" "dhcp" ) How about that?
well, of course config_eth0=( "noop" "dhcp" ) works, as in this case it just sticks to the "noop", keeping the config it got during first stage (PXE). It newer gets to the dhcp stage. However, config_eth0=( "dhcp" ) doesn't work - when i put it like this, the boot-up breaks (network unreachable) Strange thing is, when DHCP takes place during PXE (bootprom), the server logs the following: Apr 19 08:26:32 gondolin dhcpd: DHCPDISCOVER from 00:0f:ea:3f:33:ff via eth0 Apr 19 08:26:32 gondolin dhcpd: DHCPOFFER on 10.0.0.7 to 00:0f:ea:3f:33:ff via eth0 Apr 19 08:26:32 gondolin dhcpd: DHCPREQUEST for 10.0.0.7 (10.0.0.251) from 00:0f:ea:3f:33:ff via eth0 Apr 19 08:26:32 gondolin dhcpd: DHCPACK on 10.0.0.7 to 00:0f:ea:3f:33:ff via eth0 however during the dhcp in /etc/init.d/net.eth0, the whole request is limited to REQUEST/ACK only Apr 19 08:30:05 gondolin dhcpd: DHCPREQUEST for 10.0.0.7 from 00:0f:ea:3f:33:ff via eth0 Apr 19 08:30:05 gondolin dhcpd: DHCPACK on 10.0.0.7 to 00:0f:ea:3f:33:ff via eth0 dunno if this is any hint however.
Closing this as this is behaviour by design. When you start a network script, it drops existing IP and route information before it loads the dhcp client. This means that in an NFS environment when / is NFS mounted the network script cannot be started or stopped. config_eth0=( "noop" "dhcp" ) is the correct setting for / on NFS when using DHCP. noop means "No operation if the interface is UP and has an IPv4 address" which is required for / on NFS
well, i can't argue whether it is a behaviuor by design, but it is definitely not a logical solution from the user point of view. The real question is if the gentoo is aimed to be a reliable and user friendly distribution or something that 'WORKSFORME'? This is something to ponder for the maintainers. Some users will always find a way to patch a broken distribution, but some will give up. I'd suggest at least include some info in the sample config file if you can't make it work properly.
