Networking doesn't work after remote install

All,

I'm attempting to install Debian on a server that I don't have physical
access to. The server is currently running a version of Red Hat. I'm
following the directions at
http://trilldev.sourceforge.net/files/remotedeb.html.

I've gotten to the point where the core Debian files/kernel are installed,
but when I restart into Debian, the network won't come up. Each time that
happens, I'm forced to use my server-provider's "recovery tool," a Web
interface that lets me hard-reboot the machine into a ramdisk environment,
from which I can manually mount and chroot either the Red Hat or Debian
partitions.

The Red Hat partition -- which came with the box, still exists and is
accessible via SSH when I boot into it -- uses DHCP to connect to the
network. But I cannot get networking to work on the Debian partition with
DHCP. I've tried the dhcp-client, dhcp3-client and pump packages.

So it seems there's something special I need to configure for the DHCP
client. But I don't know what/where it is. On the Red Hat partition,
there's a file called /etc/dhclient-eth0.conf that contains the following:

request subnet-mask, broadcast-address, time-offset, routers,
static-routes,
domain-name, domain-name-servers, host-name;

I've copied-and-pasted that into the files /etc/dhclient.conf and
/etc/dhcp3/dhclient.conf on the Debian partition, but the box remains
unpingable when I boot into Debian.

Debian *does* appear to assign eth0 properly. I've modified the init
scripts to save the output of "ifconfig" and "route -n" to a file, and the
ifconfig output includes eth0 with the proper IP address, etc. But the
routing tables are empty.

I have also tried configuring the IP statically, but I'm not sure what the
correct values for the gateway, etc., are. I've called the server provider
(1and1) three times to get this information, but I've gotten different
numbers each time. I've tried about a dozen of different combinations, but
not one has worked.

It's particularly frustrating because each time I attempt a different
network configuration, I have to boot into Debian, wait 5 or 10 minutes to
see whether the thing is pingable, then inevitably hard-reboot the box
into recovery mode.

What else can I try to get the networking to work? I have a feeling the
server provider has some sort of strange network setup, but I don't know
how to configure Debian to use it.

I'm grateful for any help.

Adrian


Adrian Holovaty

Adrian Holovaty <(E-Mail Removed)> writes:

]All,

]I'm attempting to install Debian on a server that I don't have physical
]access to. The server is currently running a version of Red Hat. I'm
]following the directions at
]http://trilldev.sourceforge.net/files/remotedeb.html.

]I've gotten to the point where the core Debian files/kernel are installed,
]but when I restart into Debian, the network won't come up. Each time that
]happens, I'm forced to use my server-provider's "recovery tool," a Web
]interface that lets me hard-reboot the machine into a ramdisk environment,
]from which I can manually mount and chroot either the Red Hat or Debian
]partitions.

]The Red Hat partition -- which came with the box, still exists and is
]accessible via SSH when I boot into it -- uses DHCP to connect to the
]network. But I cannot get networking to work on the Debian partition with
]DHCP. I've tried the dhcp-client, dhcp3-client and pump packages.

]So it seems there's something special I need to configure for the DHCP
]client. But I don't know what/where it is. On the Red Hat partition,
]there's a file called /etc/dhclient-eth0.conf that contains the following:

]request subnet-mask, broadcast-address, time-offset, routers,
]static-routes,
] domain-name, domain-name-servers, host-name;

]I've copied-and-pasted that into the files /etc/dhclient.conf and
]/etc/dhcp3/dhclient.conf on the Debian partition, but the box remains
]unpingable when I boot into Debian.

]Debian *does* appear to assign eth0 properly. I've modified the init
]scripts to save the output of "ifconfig" and "route -n" to a file, and the
]ifconfig output includes eth0 with the proper IP address, etc. But the
]routing tables are empty.

]I have also tried configuring the IP statically, but I'm not sure what the
]correct values for the gateway, etc., are. I've called the server provider
](1and1) three times to get this information, but I've gotten different
]numbers each time. I've tried about a dozen of different combinations, but
]not one has worked.

]It's particularly frustrating because each time I attempt a different
]network configuration, I have to boot into Debian, wait 5 or 10 minutes to
]see whether the thing is pingable, then inevitably hard-reboot the box
]into recovery mode.

]What else can I try to get the networking to work? I have a feeling the
]server provider has some sort of strange network setup, but I don't know
]how to configure Debian to use it.

As a kludge, you can always get the routing info from Redhat when it is up,
and put that into a routing table for Debian.

( route add -net 111.222.333.0 netmask 255.255.255.0 eth1
route add default gw 111.222.333.254 eth1)
and see if that works.

What is redhat using for its dhcp client?

I use dhcpcd

On Tue, 06 Jul 2004 00:04:14 +0000, Bill Unruh wrote:
> As a kludge, you can always get the routing info from Redhat when it is up,
> and put that into a routing table for Debian.
>
> ( route add -net 111.222.333.0 netmask 255.255.255.0 eth1
> route add default gw 111.222.333.254 eth1)
> and see if that works.
>
> What is redhat using for its dhcp client?
>
> I use dhcpcd

The Redhat here is also using dhcpcd.

The problem I've encountered with manually creating the routing table for
Debian is that I can't seem to get the correct network information. I've
tried manually setting the static IP with several different combinations
of gateways, networks, etc., but none worked.

Adrian

Adrian Holovaty <(E-Mail Removed)> writes:

]On Tue, 06 Jul 2004 00:04:14 +0000, Bill Unruh wrote:
]> As a kludge, you can always get the routing info from Redhat when it is up,
]> and put that into a routing table for Debian.
]>
]> ( route add -net 111.222.333.0 netmask 255.255.255.0 eth1
]> route add default gw 111.222.333.254 eth1)
]> and see if that works.
]>
]> What is redhat using for its dhcp client?
]>
]> I use dhcpcd

]The Redhat here is also using dhcpcd.

]The problem I've encountered with manually creating the routing table for
]Debian is that I can't seem to get the correct network information. I've
]tried manually setting the static IP with several different combinations
]of gateways, networks, etc., but none worked.

Static IP? I thought you used a dynamic IP from dhcp.

Anyway, why not use dhcpcd under Debian as well-- makes comparisons easier.

On Tue, 06 Jul 2004 01:32:08 +0000, Bill Unruh wrote:
> Static IP? I thought you used a dynamic IP from dhcp.
>
> Anyway, why not use dhcpcd under Debian as well-- makes comparisons
> easier.

I've tried both DHCP and static, and neither works. (I tried manually
setting route tables with a static IP configuration when I found DHCP
wasn't working.)

Adrian

On Mon, 05 Jul 2004 17:32:40 -0500, Adrian Holovaty wrote:

> All,
>
> I'm attempting to install Debian on a server that I don't have physical
> access to. The server is currently running a version of Red Hat. I'm
> following the directions at
> http://trilldev.sourceforge.net/files/remotedeb.html.
<snip>
>
> What else can I try to get the networking to work? I have a feeling the
> server provider has some sort of strange network setup, but I don't know
> how to configure Debian to use it.
>
> I'm grateful for any help.
>
> Adrian

Please don't hit on me if you think this is a stupid question.. Does the
module of your NIC load in the deb environnement?

Frank

On Tue, 06 Jul 2004 08:48:10 +0200, Frank Harenberg wrote:
> Please don't hit on me if you think this is a stupid question.. Does the
> module of your NIC load in the deb environnement?

I'm pretty sure it's loaded, because eth0 comes up in ifconfig and
/var/log/messages has a few lines about the ethernet module that don't
look like errors. Anywhere else I should look? I'd be happy to post
snippets of log files.

Adrian

Adrian Holovaty <(E-Mail Removed)> writes:

]On Tue, 06 Jul 2004 08:48:10 +0200, Frank Harenberg wrote:
]> Please don't hit on me if you think this is a stupid question.. Does the
]> module of your NIC load in the deb environnement?

]I'm pretty sure it's loaded, because eth0 comes up in ifconfig and
]/var/log/messages has a few lines about the ethernet module that don't
]look like errors. Anywhere else I should look? I'd be happy to post
]snippets of log files.

So, the output of ifconfig. the output of route -n. The result of running
route add -net xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx netmask 255.255.255.0 eth0
The result of doing
route add default gw yyy.yyy.yyy.yyy eth0
where yyy is the addr of the gateway on the net as seen in the Redhat
bootup and xxx is the network as seen in the redhat route command.

The output of the route command after the above is done.


The output of ping -c 1 -w 3 yyy.yyy.yyy.yyy once the above is set up.
The output of ping -c 1 -w 3 192.48.96.9

The contents of /etc/resolv.conf

Adrian Holovaty ((E-Mail Removed)) wrote:
: On Tue, 06 Jul 2004 08:48:10 +0200, Frank Harenberg wrote:
: > Please don't hit on me if you think this is a stupid question.. Does the
: > module of your NIC load in the deb environnement?

: I'm pretty sure it's loaded, because eth0 comes up in ifconfig and
: /var/log/messages has a few lines about the ethernet module that don't
: look like errors. Anywhere else I should look? I'd be happy to post
: snippets of log files.

: Adrian

Did you use ip address or hostname when you ping the machine with
Debian booted? What version of dhcp-client is installed in your
machine? My Debian installation uses dhcp-client 2.0pl5-11. This
version does not update DNS 100% of the time or immediately. I ended
up using pump 0.8.11-5 in order to have DNS working.

On Tue, 06 Jul 2004 18:45:04 +0000, Bill Unruh wrote:
> So, the output of ifconfig. the output of route -n. The result of running
> route add -net xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx netmask 255.255.255.0 eth0
> The result of doing
> route add default gw yyy.yyy.yyy.yyy eth0
> where yyy is the addr of the gateway on the net as seen in the Redhat
> bootup and xxx is the network as seen in the redhat route command.

I put those two "route add" lines in my startup scripts, and the problem
was solved. Thanks very much, Bill!

Adrian