Identifying Network Interface Names for Linux and Solaris OS Configurations

A P P E N D I X A

When configuring an operating system for a networked server, it is necessary to provide the logical names (assigned by the OS) and the physical name (MAC address) of each network interface.

You should begin by finding and recording the MAC addresses of all your physical ports from their labels.

This appendix explains how to obtain the needed logical information while configuring:

A SUSE Linux Enterprise Server OS during installation (see Identifying Logical and Physical Network Interface Names While Installing a SUSE Linux OS).

A Red hat Enterprise Linux OS during installation (see Identifying Logical and Physical Network Interface Names While Installing a RHEL Linux OS).

A preinstalled Solaris OS during installation (see Identifying Network Interface Names for a Pre-installed Solaris OS).

A Solaris OS during installation (see Identifying Logical and Physical Network Interface Names While Installing the Solaris OS).

Identifying Logical and Physical Network Interface Names While Installing a SUSE Linux OS

When you are configuring the SUSE Linux OS while installing it, you reach a point where you must enter the logical and physical names (MAC addresses) of the network interfaces.

This section explains how to launch a user shell during the SUSE Linux OS configuration to obtain the logical and physical network interface names that you need to continue with the configuration.

Launch User Shell and Identify Network Interfaces

1. From the SUSE installation main screen, select Rescue System and press Enter.

A screenshot of the SUSE installation screen.

The message Loading Linux Kernel appears followed by the SUSE splash screen, then the Choose a Keyboard Map screen appears.

2. In the Choose a Keyboard Map screen, select the appropriate keyboard configuration and click OK.

A screenshot of the Choose Keyboard Map screen.

The user shell launches and the Rescue Login prompt appears.

3. At the Rescue Login prompt, type root to log in, then press Enter.

A screenshot showing the rescue login prompt.

The Rescue prompt appears.

4. At the Rescue prompt (#), type the following command then press Enter to display all network interfaces.

# ifconfig -a

A screenshot showing the ifconfig command.

The output of the SUSE Linux named and physical named network interfaces appears. See the following sample output as an example.

A screenshot showing the physical named network interfaces.

If you have multiple network interfaces and the output of interfaces scrolls off the top of the screen, you can display the output per interface.

5. To view the output per network interface, type the following command at the prompt, then press Enter:

# ifconfig eth#

where # is the interface number. For example, if you type:

# ifconfig eth0

The output for eth0 appears:

A screenshot showing the Eth0.

In the sample output above:

eth0 entry in the first column refers to the SUSE Linux logical named interface. This first column in the output identifies the logical names SUSE assigned to the network interface.

HWaddr 00.14.4F.0C:A1:53 entry in second column (first row) refers to the physical MAC address of the network port.

c. Record the SUSE logical network interface name with the physical port MAC address for future reference.

You will need to refer to this record when configuring the network interfaces during the SUSE Linux OS installation.

6. When you are done, do one of the following to exit the Rescue shell.

a. From the ILOM web interface, select Remote Control ->Remote Power Control->Reset.

b. From other consoles, type reboot at the Rescue prompt (#), then press Enter.

7. Restart the SUSE Linux installation program.

Identifying Logical and Physical Network Interface Names While Installing a RHEL Linux OS

When you are configuring the RHEL Linux OS while installing it, you reach a point where you must enter the logical and physical names (MAC addresses) of the network interfaces.

This section explains how to launch a user shell during the Red Hat Linux configuration to obtain the logical and physical network interface names that you need to continue with the configuration.

Launch User Shell and Identify Network Interfaces

1. If you have not already done so, type: linux rescue at the boot prompt, then press Enter.

A screenshot showing the Red Hat splash screen.

The Choose a Language screen appears.

2. In the Choose a Language screen, select the appropriate language and click OK.

A screenshot showing the Red Hat language screen.

The Keyboard Type screen appears.

3. In the Keyboard Type screen, select the appropriate configuration then click OK.

A screenshot showing the Red Hat keyboard screen.

The Setup Network screen appears.

4. In the Setup Network screen, click No.

A screenshot showing Red Hat Setup Network screen.

The Rescue screen appears.

5. In the Rescue screen, click Skip.

A screenshot showing Red Hat Rescue screen.

The user shell appears.

6. At the command prompt (#) in the user shell, type the following command to display all network interfaces, then press Enter.

# ifconfig -a

The output of the Red Hat Linux named network interfaces appear. See the following sample output as an example.

A screenshot showing the named network interfaces.

If you have multiple network interfaces and the output of interfaces scrolls off the top of the screen, you can display the output per interface.

7. To view the output per network interface, type the following at the command prompt, then press Enter:

# ifconfig eth#

where # = the interface number. For example, if you type:

# ifconfig eth0

The output for eth0 appears,:

A screenshot showing Eth0.

In the sample output above:

eth0 entry in the first column refers to the Red Hat Linux logical named interface. This first column in the output identifies the logical names Red Hat assigned to the network interface.

HWaddr 00.14.4F.0C:A1:F2 entry in second column (first row) refers to the physical MAC address of the network port.

c. Record the Red Hat logical network interface name with the physical port MAC address for future reference. You will need to refer to this record when configuring the network interfaces during the Red Hat OS installation.

8. When you are done, do one of the following to exit the user shell.

From the ILOM, select Remote Control ->Remote Power Control->Reset.

From the ILOM Remote Console, select Ctrl Alt Delete in the Keyboard menu.

From other consoles, press Ctrl->Alt->Delete.

9. Restart the Red Hat Linux installation program.

Identifying Network Interface Names for a Pre-installed Solaris OS

The Solaris OS that might be pre-installed on your server is unconfigured. Before configuring the OS, use the procedure below to identify the network interfaces by their logical and physical names (MAC addresses). You record this information, which you need during configuration, and then return the OS to its unconfigured state before proceeding with the configuration.

Note - The procedure in this section is used for a preinstalled version of the Solaris OS. If you are installing a version of the Solaris OS, see Identifying Logical and Physical Network Interface Names While Installing the Solaris OS.

To Identify Network Interface Names for the Preinstalled Solaris OS

1. Log in to the system as root and run ifconfig -a plumb in a command shell.

The command discovers all installed network interfaces. The shell prompt (#) appears when the discovery completes.

2. To output a list of all Solaris named interfaces along with their physical MAC addresses, type this command at the prompt (#):

# ifconfig -a

An example of ifconfig-a output:

# ifconfig -a
lo0: flags=2001000849<UP,LOOPBACK,RUNNING,MULTICAST,IPv4,VIRTUAL> mtu 8232 index 1
inet 127.0.0.1 netmask ff000000
e1000g0: flags=1000802<BROADCAST,MULTICAST,IPv4> mtu 1500 index 2
inet 0.0.0.0 netmask 0
ether 0:14:4f:c:a1:ee
e1000g1: flags=1000802<BROADCAST,MULTICAST,IPv4> mtu 1500 index 3
inet 0.0.0.0 netmask 0
ether 0:14:4f:c:a1:ef
e1000g2: flags=1000802<BROADCAST,MULTICAST,IPv4> mtu 1500 index 4
inet 0.0.0.0 netmask 0
ether 0:14:4f:c:a5:d6
e1000g3: flags=1000802<BROADCAST,MULTICAST,IPv4> mtu 1500 index 5
inet 0.0.0.0 netmask 0
ether 0:14:4f:c:a5:d7
e1000g4: flags=1000802<BROADCAST,MULTICAST,IPv4> mtu 1500 index 6
inet 0.0.0.0 netmask 0
ether 0:14:4f:c:a1:4e

In the example above, the Solaris named network interfaces appear as e1000g0, e1000g1, and so on. The MAC address for each network interface appears after the word ether. For example, the MAC address associated to the Solaris named network interface e1000g0 is 0:14:4f:c:a1:ee.

3. Record the Solaris network interface name for each MAC address previously recorded in the Configuration Worksheet list.

Caution - The sys-unconfig(1M) command will halt the system

4. When you are done, enter the following command:

# sys-unconfig

This command restores the system configuration to the "as-manufactured" state.

For example:

# sys-unconfig
WARNING
 
This program will unconfigure your system.  It will cause it
to revert to a "blank" system - it will not have a name or know about other systems or networks.
This program will also halt the system.
Do you want to continue (y/n) ?

5. Reboot the system.

You will be prompted with a series of configuration questions.

6. In the Network Connection screen, select Yes.

The Configure Multiple Network Interfaces screen appears.

7. In the Configure Multiple Network Interfaces screen, consult the list of network interface names recorded in Step 3, then select the appropriate network interfaces.

8. Continue the normal Solaris configuration.

Identifying Logical and Physical Network Interface Names While Installing the Solaris OS

When you are configuring the Solaris OS while installing it, you reach a point where you must enter the logical and physical names (MAC addresses) of the network interfaces.

This section explains how to launch a user shell during the Solaris OS configuration to obtain the logical and physical network interface names that you need to continue with the configuration.

Note - Use the procedure in this section if you are installing a version of the Solaris OS. If you are configuring the preinstalled version of the Solaris OS, see Identifying Network Interface Names for a Pre-installed Solaris OS.

To Identify Logical and Physical Network Interface Names While Installing the Solaris OS

1. In the Install Type menu, select Option (6) Single User Shell and press Enter.

If a message appears about mounting an OS instance, select q. You should not mount any OS instance.

The message “Starting Shell” appears, see the following figure.

A screenshot showing the install menu.

2. At the command prompt (#), type the following command to plumb all network interfaces.

# ifconfig -a plumb

Note - The plumb process may take some time.

3. At the command prompt, type the following command to output a list of all network interfaces by their Solaris logical name and physical MAC address name.

# ifconfig -a

The output of Solaris named interfaces and MAC addresses appears. For an example, see the following sample output.

A screenshot showing the Solaris named interfaces.

In the sample output above, the:

el000g# entry in the first column refers to the Solaris logical named interface. This first column in the output identifies the logical names assigned by Solaris to the network interfaces.

ether #:#:#:#:#:# entry in second column (third row) refers to the physical MAC address name of the network port.

For example:

The physical MAC address for the Solaris named network interface e1000g0 is 0:14:4f:c:a1:ee.

4. Record the Solaris network interface name next to the physical port MAC address previously recorded (per the Configuration Worksheet).

5. When you are done, type exit at the command prompt.

The Solaris Installation program will resume where you last left off.