[PROPOSAL] New Network Startup Procedure

[Carlo Robazza <e4k3l9lb@umail.corel.com>]

Hi everyone,

I have been working on a new network startup scheme that I would like to
impliment in Corel Linux. I have included my proposal in order to get
feedback. Please take a look and see what you think.

Thanks,

Carlo Robazza.
Corel

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Corel Linux Network Startup Proposal
=============================

Current Network Startup Procedure
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Static IP
----------
? rcS.d contains a symbolic link to /etc/init.d/network that contains
the static IP address, gateway address, etc.
? this script runs ifconfig and route to start up the loopback network
(127.0.0.1) as well as the regular network with the static IP address,
etc

Dynamic IP
--------------
? as always, network from rcS.d is run during boot up
? rc2.d contains a symbolic link to /etc/init.d/dhcpcd which starts the
dhcpc daemon to request an IP address from the dhcp server
? this IP address and other networking parameters override the static
info started in rcs.d

In order to switch between static and dynamic, I add / remove the
symbolic link to /etc/init.d/dhcpcd.


The New Plan
+++++++++++

The new plan provides a much cleaner procedure for starting up the
network. Essentially there are two scripts. One symbolically linked to
rcS.d called local_network which simply initializes the loopback
networking (127.0.0.1) and a slightly more complicated script,
network_init, that would be symbolically linked to the separate run
level directories, which will perform any other networking
initialization as required. The main advantage of this new method is
that neither of these scripts need be touched. All networking
configuration changes are made in a configuration file that is parsed by
network_init using Corel?s etcdev program. This configuration file /
network_init combination also facilitates the use of multiple network
cards and the combination of dynamic / static configurations. It also
lets the user select which network interface they wish to use and which
method of selecting IP address they prefer.

Network Configuration File
--------------------------------

[network.<1..n>]
    device = <name> # i.e. eth0, eth1, etc
    type = <type>  # i.e. dynamic or static
    status = <net status> # i.e. up or down
    ipaddr = <xxx.yyy.zzz.nnn>
    netmask = <xxx.yyy.zzz.nnn>
    broadcast = <xxx.yyy.zzz.nnn>
    gateway = <xxx.yyy.zzz.nnn>

Each network card will have its own [network.n] configuration block


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