Running RH 9 w/various network conf

Hi,

I have just got a Dell Inspiron 8600 laptop. I would like to use it with
different network configurations:

1) At work with Ethernet and NIS/YP, static IP
2) At home with WLAN and DHCP
3) Travelling using modem and DHCP
4) No network

Now all of this can be chosen manually after booting, but I'd like the
computer to figure out this itself and intialize the correct network
connection. Should be fairly easy as only one of the options 1-2 are
available at any given time. 3) and 4) are basically the same and 3) must
be started manually.

I have tried using the different profiles in the networking conf utility,
but it doesn't work as expected. Some of the problem is probably related to
the fact that I have to use NIS/YP at work.

This is working seamlessly in Windows.

I'd be grateful for any help!

Regards,
Ole Jacob

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In comp.os.linux.setup Ole Jacob Taraldset <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> I have just got a Dell Inspiron 8600 laptop. I would like to use it with
> different network configurations:

> 1) At work with Ethernet and NIS/YP, static IP
> 2) At home with WLAN and DHCP
> 3) Travelling using modem and DHCP

Easiest way is to make yourself a couple of icons on your desktop.
The details of what those items do will depend on your distro and its
way of doing things.

> 4) No network

> Now all of this can be chosen manually after booting, but I'd like the
> computer to figure out this itself and intialize the correct network

Long experience teaches me that this is more trouble than it is worth.
While one can use pings of known machines and such to establish where
one is (once one has tried all the connection modes possible :-), the
procedure is not immune to temporary or permanent changes in the
network environments, just when one least wants it.

You know where you are. You click on what you want. Simple. Guaranteed.

> connection. Should be fairly easy as only one of the options 1-2 are
> available at any given time. 3) and 4) are basically the same and 3) must
> be started manually.

> I have tried using the different profiles in the networking conf utility,

Sounds like an old RH. Don't know anything about those (and don't
want to).

Examination of the scripts that I use shows that they use the ifup and
ifdown utilities of debian, after setting a state to tell those
utilities what they should do. Here is "cable@home".

#! /bin/sh

start() {
sudo /sbin/ifdown wlan0
sudo /sbin/ifdown eth0
sudo /sbin/cardctl scheme cablehome
sudo /sbin/ifup eth0
}

stop() {
sudo /sbin/ifdown eth0
}

case $1 in
start|"") start ;;
stop) stop ;;
esac


and of course sudo is configed to allow me to use it on ifdown and ifup
without a passwd.

And I've rigged the ifup/ifdown scripts to look at
/var/run/pcmcia/sheme, or whatever it is that cardctl scheme sets.

One great difficulty is that the interfaces on my laptop are eth0 and
eth1, and I never know which is the eepro100 and which is the orinico.
What's more, depending on the driver, the orinoco can be wlan0.

So I have a practice of unloading all network drivers first and then loading
exactly one. Unloading is not that easy as routes in use tend to keep
the driver referenced. But I have a relible set of routines nowadays.
This is what the eth0 cable home entry looks like in my interfaces
file:

iface eth0-cable-HOME inet static
address xxx.xxx.139.222
netmask 255.255.255.0
broadcast xxx.xxx.139.255
gateway xxx.xxx.139.117
pre-up ifconfig eth0 down || true
pre-up route del default || true
pre-up modprobe -r orinoco_pci || true
pre-up modprobe eepro100 || true
down route del default || true
down route add default dev dummy0 || true
post-down ifconfig eth0 down || true
post-down modprobe -r eepro100


> but it doesn't work as expected. Some of the problem is probably related to

What doesn't work as expected? Automatic site detection. Gorrrrrrrrn.
Ya don't say. SO don't do it. You know where you are.

> the fact that I have to use NIS/YP at work.

> This is working seamlessly in Windows.

It can't, for the reasons outlined.

Peter