NICs That Are Missing at Boot

NICs that are not present at system boot represent a special instance of failure detection. At boot time, the startup scripts track any interfaces with /etc/hostname.interface files. Any data addresses in such an interface's /etc/hostname.interface file are automatically configured on the corresponding IPMP interface for the group. However, if the interfaces themselves cannot be plumbed because they are missing, then error messages similar to the following are displayed:

moving addresses from missing IPv4 interfaces: hme0 (moved to ipmp0)
moving addresses from missing IPv6 interfaces: hme0 (moved to ipmp0)

In this instance of failure detection, only data addresses that are explicitly specified in the missing interface's /etc/hostname.interface file are moved to the IPMP interface.

If an interface with the same name as another interface that was missing at system boot is reattached using DR, the Reconfiguration Coordination Manager (RCM) automatically plumbs the interface. Then, RCM configures the interface according to the contents of the interface's /etc/hostname.interface file. However, data addresses, which are addresses without the NOFAILOVER flag, that are in the /etc/hostname.interface file are ignored. This mechanism adheres to the rule that data addresses should be in the /etc/hostname.ipmp-interface file, and only test addresses should be in the underlying interface's /etc/hostname.interface file. Issuing the ifconfig group command causes that interface to again become part of the group. Thus, the final network configuration is identical to the configuration that would have been made if the system had been booted with the interface present.

For more information about missing interfaces, see About Missing Interfaces at System Boot.