Created attachment 88850 [details]
gzipped tar of /etc/sysconfig/networking and sysconfig/network-scripts

These are the networking scripts and profiles I am using.  The files under
profiles/ have been tweaked by hand, as I could not get the
redhat-config-network to create them as I think they were intended to be
created.  Mainly, I deleted ifcfg-eth0 and ifcfg-eth1 from the non-default
profiles since when these files existed they completely overrode the
ifcfg-eth0PROFILE settings.

My actual configuration is as follows:
Dell Inspiron 8200, running RH 8.0.  Builtin ethernet.  Dell TrueMobile
(orinoco) WiFi card.

On my home LAN I am NOT running DHCP.  On my home LAN I sometimes
connect in my office using the ethernet, and sometimes in the kids
room using WiFi.  As the laptop provides various services to other
machines, I would like:

a) when wired to have the eth0 IP be 192.168.0.64
b) when wireless to have the eth1 IP be 192.168.0.64

When away from home, I am happy with both interfaces using DHCP.

So I created four profiles:
1) Common/default
2) HomeWired
     eth0 IP 192.168.0.64
     eth1 IP 192.168.0.65
3) HomeWireless
     eth0 IP 192.168.0.65
     eth1 IP 192.168.0.64
4) DHCP
     eth0 DHCP
     eth1 DHCP


For both eth0 and eth1 I copied these into three (each) additional
network devices:

eth0HomeWired, eth0HomeWireless, eth0HomeDHCP
eth1HomeWired, eth1HomeWireless, eth1HomeDHCP

And I set their parameters according to the table above.

Which of these should be activated in the common profile?

When I assign eth0 and eth1 to the common profile using the
network-config-tool, then it creates ifcfg-eth0 and ifcfg-eth1 scripts
in EVERY networking/profiles/ directory.  The existence of these files
mean that when I select that profile using the gui or using
redhat-config-network-cmd -profile that the common ifcfg-eth files are
used and not the profile specific files.


So how should I set the common/default profile?  And the other profiles?

In other profiles, how do I indicate which interfaces are activated
(ifup?) and which should be deactivated (ifdown)?

How do I easily switch between profiles?

how about:
# service network stop
# redhat-config-network --profile <that-profile>
# service network start
??

Hi Harald,

Thanks for your response.  Though it doesn't address my question about how
different profiles interact with each other, at least it tells me how I am to use

redhat-config-network

Truly, I find redhat-config-network to be very confusing in what it does or how
I am supposed to use it, esp. as it relates to what and how profiles are to be
used.  I bet I am not the only user to do so.  More fleshed out documentation
would be so useful!

I would be happy to speak with you further about this -- one of Apple's and
Microsoft's features these days are that both systems make changing network
profiles easy and useful.  I find Microsoft's "timeout to the alternate
configuration" very useful -- I specify DHCP as the primary config, and then use
my home lan static ip addrs as the alternate config and that works 95% of the
time.  I find Apple's support of many different profiles all selectable from one
command menu entry to be a very easy interface.

Thanks again,

Jerry

You can also pass profile name at boot using netprofile=PROFILE,
so you can use the GRUB menu to select a profile.

netprofile=PROFILE doesn't work because there is a bug in the script
/etc/rc.d/rc.sysinit :

# Boot time profiles. Yes, this should be somewhere else.
if grep -q "netprofile=" /proc/cmdline ; then
    cmdline=`cat /proc/cmdline`
    for arg in cmdline ; do                           
       if [ "${arg##netprofile=}" != "${arg}" ]; then
          [ -x /usr/sbin/redhat-config-network-cmd ] &&
            /usr/sbin/redhat-config-network-cmd --profile ${arg##netprofile=}
       fi
    done
fi

==> the line for arg in cmdline ; do
should be for arg in $cmdline ; do

And like Jerry I find very confusing the way it's works... when I modify a
device in a profile it is also modified in the others profiles; why ?

Yes, derrien has it right -- modify a device in one profile and it gets modified
in the other profiles too.  I just have no idea of how the different profiles
interact with one another.  

Um, have you guys tried watching intelligent people that aren't the developers
try this UI out?  Because we're not stupid, but I sure don't understand how it's
supposed to work.

in the profiles, it is only stored if a device should be used, or not. So if you
checkmark on the left, you specify the device to be used in the profile.
If you want to have different setups for one device. Make a copy of the device,
create two profiles and select only one device-config in either profile.

An errata has been issued which should help the problem described in this bug report. 
This report is therefore being closed with a resolution of ERRATA. For more information
on the solution and/or where to find the updated files, please follow the link below. You may reopen 
this bug report if the solution does not work for you.

http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHBA-2003-183.html