Re: how to keep eth0 etch0 and not change

[cls@truffula.sj.ca.us]

[This message has also been posted to linux.debian.user.]
In article <8VsSR-65I-15@gated-at.bofh.it>, Michael Kerwin wrote:
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> I am seeing some strange behavior on a debian etch stable computer that I
> just installed using the new debian 4.0 r1 disc.
>
>  
>
> I have the static address set in /etc/network/interfaces for eth0 but then
> when I ran ifconfig it said it was eth9 and it was using the dchp address
> from the server not my static address. So I added eth9 to the
> /etc/network/interfaces for the static address I wanted and when I rebooted
> and did an ifconfig it said it was using eth10 and the dchp address. Why is
> the Ethernet changing? What can I do so I can keep a satic address. I have
> the address I want in the host file also.

I ran into more or less the same thing.  Apparently the issue
is that a fresh Etch install will use udev to assign
the name to the network interface when it is discovered.
The udev mechanism is trying to nail the ethN name to a particular
MAC address.
It adds a line to the file /etc/udev/rules.d/z25_persistent-net.rules
each time it sees a new MAC address.

This was a test system with various hardware under test.
An Ethernet interface (motherboard or add-in card) has a
factory-assigned MAC address.  Each time I tried a new network
card it would add another line with the ethN incremented.

Edit /etc/udev/rules.d/z25_persistent-net.rules and change
the first ATTRS{address}=="00:11:5b:2f:a0:75" (or whatever)
to ATTRS{address}=="??:??:??:??:??:??:"
and see if that stabilizes it.
This will not work if you have more than one Ethernet interface.

This new behavior was documented here
http://www.debian.org/releases/etch/i386/release-notes/ch-whats-new.en.html#s-kernel-udev
The rules file(s) is documented in the udev(7) manpage
and the deamon that edits them is udevd(8).

You will have a similar but more alarming problem with
hard drive partitions.  In the Olden Days you could call them
by their /dev names in /etc/fstab.  But those names are
no longer stable.  When you create file systems and initialize
swap partitions, you should give each a unique volume label,
and call them by label in /etc/fstab.  This is a feature, not
a bug.  It lets you move your drives around without having
to edit /etc/fstab again.


Cameron