Fedora 17: Auto configuring wireless networks in Network Manager on first boot

[Suvayu Ali]

On Thu, Nov 15, 2012 at 04:40:03PM +0100, lee wrote:
> Suvayu Ali <fatkasuvayu+linux at gmail.com> writes:
> 
> > On Wed, Nov 14, 2012 at 02:04:09PM +0100, lee wrote:
> >> 
> >> > Here is my ifcfg-networkname file looks like
> >> 
> >> Shouldn't the file be named for the interface, like ifcfg-em1?
> >> 
> >
> > No, it is the network name.  You can have different network settings for
> > the same network device and save them with different network names.
> 
> Oh --- and how is the system supposed to know which file it is supposed
> to use when there are several?
> 

I believe it uses the last used network.  I have used this in the past
to connect work and home ethernet ports with different setups on my
laptop.  I do not remember the details since it was about a year back.

> >> Networkmanager seems to have and to use its own configuration in
> >> /etc/NetworkManager and may disagree with the ifcfg-* files, so if you
> >> want to use networkmanager, you're better off using its configuration
> >> tools rather than editing the files used by the network.service.
> >> 
> >
> > I believe what you say above is wrong.  NM respects the ifcfg-* scripts
> > as it should.  What the OP is missing is this line:
> 
> Then how come that it has emptied out my /etc/resolv.conf though
> resolving information is in the ifcfg-* files?
> 

Maybe what you think is correct resolving information is not actually
correct?  Or could be a regression bug?  There are numerous
possibilities but it has worked for me in the past.  At the moment I'm
at work and can't test, but if I have the time later today I'll try to
test and see if it still works as I described.

> >> Networkmanager also messes with /etc/resolv.conf.  Just dropping an
> >> ifcfg-* file into /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts or editing one isn't
> >> sufficient because networkmanager doesn't understand from that what you
> >> are trying to achieve.
> >> 
> >
> > I have seen several posts about this lately, and it is all because users
> > are complaining prematurely before looking.  I have setup OpenDNS in the
> > past rather easily.  You have to add the DNS server information to the
> > "Additional DNS servers" field when using DHCP or the "DNS servers"
> > field when using "DHCP for addresses only".  I do not remeber the exact
> > lines for the ifcfg scripts but it should be something like this:
> >
> >   DNS1=208.67.222.222
> >   DNS2=208.67.220.220
> >
> > Hope this helps.
> 
> Yes there are DNS entries in my ifcfg-* files and networkmanager
> nonetheless empties out resolv.conf.  So I take it that it must have
> some configuration of its own --- unless it yields random results under
> some circumstances.
> 

Could it be that there is some conflicting information that is confusing
NM?  In anycase, if I find the time to do the tests I'll report back
with my findings.

Cheers,

-- 
Suvayu

Open source is the future. It sets us free.