How to Identify Logical and Physical Network Interface Names While Installing SLES

During installation and configuration of the SUSE Linux Enterprise Server OS, 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.

Before You Begin

Find and record the MAC addresses of all your physical ports from their labels.

1. If you have not already done so, select Rescue System and press Enter.

   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.

   The user shell launches and the Rescue Login prompt appears.

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

   The Rescue prompt appears.

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

   # ifconfig -a

   The output of the Linux SUSE named and physical named network interfaces appear. Each interface found will list output similar to the following example:

        eth0 Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:14:4F:0C:A1:53
             inet addr:192.168.2.103  Bcast:192.168.2.255  Mask:255.255.0.0
             UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
             RX packets:23363 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
             TX packets:21798 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
             collisions:0 txqueuelen:100
             RX bytes:13479541 (12.8 MiB)  TX bytes:20262643 (19.3 MiB)
             Interrupt:9
   
        lo   Link encap:Local Loopback 
             inet addr:127.0.0.1  Mask:255.0.0.0
             inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
             UP LOOPBACK RUNNING  MTU:16436  Metric:1
             RX packets:9814 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
             TX packets:9814 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
             collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
             RX bytes:3655065 (3.4 MiB)  TX bytes:3655065 (3.4 MiB)

   • The eth0 entry in the first column refers to the logical name of the Ethernet interface assigned by the operating system. The lo entry in the first column refers to the loopback interface.

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

   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.

   # ifconfig eth#

   where eth# is the interface number.

5. 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 Linux SUSE OS installation.

6. When you are done, do one of the following to exit the Rescue shell.
   • From the ILOM web interface, select Remote Control ->Remote Power Control->Reset.
   • From other consoles, type reboot at the Rescue prompt (#), then press Enter.
7. Restart the SLES installation program.