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Handbook:IA64/Installation/Networking
Automatic network detection
Maybe it just works?
If the system is plugged into an Ethernet network with a DHCP server, it is very likely that the networking configuration has already been set up automatically. If so, then the many included network-aware commands on the installation CD such as ssh, scp, ping, irssi, wget, and links, among others, will work immediately.
Determine interface names
ifconfig command
If networking has been configured, the ifconfig command should list one or more network interfaces (besides lo). In the example below eth0 shows up:
root #ifconfigeth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:50:BA:8F:61:7A
inet addr:192.168.0.2 Bcast:192.168.0.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
inet6 addr: fe80::50:ba8f:617a/10 Scope:Link
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:1498792 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:1284980 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:1984 txqueuelen:100
RX bytes:485691215 (463.1 Mb) TX bytes:123951388 (118.2 Mb)
Interrupt:11 Base address:0xe800
As a result of the shift towards predictable network interface names, the interface name on the system can be quite different from the old eth0 naming convention. Recent installation media might show regular network interfaces names like eno0, ens1, or enp5s0. Look for the interface in the ifconfig output that has an IP address related to the local network.
If no interfaces are displayed when the standard ifconfig command is used, try using the same command with the
-a option. This option forces the utility to show all network interfaces detected by the system whether they be in an up or down state. If ifconfig -a produces no results then the hardware is faulty or the driver for the interface has not been loaded into the kernel. Both situations reach beyond the scope of this Handbook. Contact #gentoo for support.ip command
As an alternative to ifconfig, the ip command can be used to determine interface names. The following example shows the output of ip addr (of another system so the information shown is different from the previous example):
root #ip addr2: eno1: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc pfifo_fast state UP group default qlen 1000
link/ether e8:40:f2:ac:25:7a brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
inet 10.0.20.77/22 brd 10.0.23.255 scope global eno1
valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
inet6 fe80::ea40:f2ff:feac:257a/64 scope link
valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
The output above may be a bit more complicated to read than alternative. The interface name in the above example directly follows the number; it is eno1.
In the remainder of this document, the handbook will assume that the operating network interface is called eth0.
Optional: Configure any proxies
If the Internet is accessed through a proxy, then it is necessary to set up proxy information during the installation. It is very easy to define a proxy: just define a variable which contains the proxy server information.
In most cases, it is sufficient to define the variables using the server hostname. As an example, we assume the proxy is called proxy.gentoo.org and the port is 8080.
To set up an HTTP proxy (for HTTP and HTTPS traffic):
root #export http_proxy="http://proxy.gentoo.org:8080"To set up an FTP proxy:
root #export ftp_proxy="ftp://proxy.gentoo.org:8080"To set up an RSYNC proxy:
root #export RSYNC_PROXY="proxy.gentoo.org:8080"If the proxy requires a username and password, use the following syntax for the variable:
http://username:password@proxy.gentoo.org:8080
Testing the network
Try pinging your ISP's DNS server (found in /etc/resolv.conf) and a web site of choice. This ensures that the network is functioning properly and that the network packets are reaching the net, DNS name resolution is working correctly, etc.
root #ping -c 3 www.gentoo.orgIf this all works, then the remainder of this chapter can be skipped to jump right to the next step of the installation instructions (Preparing the disks).
Automatic network configuration
If the network doesn't work immediately, some installation media allow the user to use net-setup (for regular or wireless networks), pppoe-setup (for ADSL users) or pptp (for PPTP users).
If the installation medium does not contain any of these tools, continue with the Manual network configuration.
- Regular Ethernet users should continue with Default: Using net-setup
- ADSL users should continue with Alternative: Using PPP
- PPTP users should continue with Alternative: Using PPTP
Default: Using net-setup
The simplest way to set up networking if it didn't get configured automatically is to run the net-setup script:
root #net-setup eth0net-setup will ask some questions about the network environment. When all is done, the network connection should work. Test the network connection as stated before. If the tests are positive, congratulations! Skip the rest of this section and continue with Preparing the disks.
If the network still doesn't work, continue with Manual network configuration.
Alternative: Using PPP
Assuming PPPoE is needed to connect to the Internet, the installation CD (any version) has made things easier by including ppp. Use the provided pppoe-setup script to configure the connection. During the setup the Ethernet device that is connected to your ADSL modem, the username and password, the IPs of the DNS servers and if a basic firewall is needed or not will be asked.
root #pppoe-setup
root #pppoe-startIf something goes wrong, double-check that the username and password are correct by looking at etc/ppp/pap-secrets or /etc/ppp/chap-secrets and make sure to use the right Ethernet device. If the Ethernet device does not exist, the appropriate network modules need to be loaded. In that case continue with Manual network configuration as it will explain how to load the appropriate network modules there.
If everything worked, continue with Preparing the disks.
Alternative: Using PPTP
If PPTP support is needed, use pptpclient which is provided by the installation CDs. But first make sure that the configuration is correct. Edit /etc/ppp/pap-secrets or /etc/ppp/chap-secrets so it contains the correct username/password combination:
root #nano -w /etc/ppp/chap-secretsThen adjust /etc/ppp/options.pptp if necessary:
root #nano -w /etc/ppp/options.pptpWhen all that is done, run pptp (along with the options that couldn't be set in options.pptp) to connect the server:
root #pptp <server ip>Now continue with Preparing the disks.
Manual network configuration
Loading the appropriate network modules
When the Installation CD boots, it tries to detect all the hardware devices and loads the appropriate kernel modules (drivers) to support the hardware. In the vast majority of cases, it does a very good job. However, in some cases, it may not auto-load the kernel modules needed.
If net-setup or pppoe-setup failed, then it is possible that the network card wasn't found immediately. This means users may have to load the appropriate kernel modules manually.
To find out what kernel modules are provided for networking, use the ls command:
root #ls /lib/modules/`uname -r`/kernel/drivers/netIf a driver is found for the network device, use modprobe to load the kernel module. For instance, to load the pcnet32 module:
root #modprobe pcnet32To check if the network card is now detected, use ifconfig. A detected network card would result in something like this (again, eth0 here is just an example):
root #ifconfig eth0eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr FE:FD:00:00:00:00
BROADCAST NOARP MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:0 (0.0 b) TX bytes:0 (0.0 b)
If however the following error is shown, the network card is not detected:
root #ifconfig eth0eth0: error fetching interface information: Device not found
The available network interface names on the system can be listed through the /sys file system:
root #ls /sys/class/netdummy0 eth0 lo sit0 tap0 wlan0
In the above example, 6 interfaces are found. The eth0 one is most likely the (wired) Ethernet adapter whereas wlan0 is the wireless one.
Assuming that the network card is now detected, retry net-setup or pppoe-setup again (which should work now), but for the hardcore people we explain how to configure the network manually as well.
Select one of the following sections based on your network setup:
- Using DHCP for automatic IP retrieval
- Preparing for wireless access if a wireless network is used
- Understanding network terminology explains the basics about networking
- Using ifconfig and route explains how to set up networking manually
Using DHCP
DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) makes it possible to automatically receive networking information (IP address, netmask, broadcast address, gateway, nameservers etc.). This only works if a DHCP server is in the network (or if the ISP provider provides a DHCP service). To have a network interface receive this information automatically, use dhcpcd:
root #dhcpcd eth0Some network administrators require that the hostname and domainname provided by the DHCP server is used by the system. In that case, use:
root #dhcpcd -HD eth0If this works (try pinging some Internet server, like Google's 8.8.8.8 or Cloudflare's 1.1.1.1), then everything is set and ready to continue. Skip the rest of this section and continue with Preparing the disks.
Preparing for wireless access
Support for the iw command might be architecture-specific. If the command is not available see if the net-wireless/iw package is available for the current architecture. The iw command will be unavailable unless the net-wireless/iw package has been installed.
When using a wireless (802.11) card, the wireless settings need to be configured before going any further. To see the current wireless settings on the card, one can use iw. Running iw might show something like:
root #iw dev wlp9s0 infoInterface wlp9s0 ifindex 3 wdev 0x1 addr 00:00:00:00:00:00 type managed wiphy 0 channel 11 (2462 MHz), width: 20 MHz (no HT), center1: 2462 MHz txpower 30.00 dBm
To check for a current connection:
root #iw dev wlp9s0 linkNot connected.
or
root #iw dev wlp9s0 linkConnected to 00:00:00:00:00:00 (on wlp9s0) SSID: GentooNode freq: 2462 RX: 3279 bytes (25 packets) TX: 1049 bytes (7 packets) signal: -23 dBm tx bitrate: 1.0 MBit/s
Some wireless cards may have a device name of wlan0 or ra0 instead of wlp9s0. Run ip link to determine the correct device name.
For most users, there are only two settings needed to connect, the ESSID (aka wireless network name) and, optionally, the WEP key.
- First, ensure the interface is active:
root #ip link set dev wlp9s0 up
- To connect to an open network with the name GentooNode:
root #iw dev wlp9s0 connect -w GentooNode
- To connect with a hex WEP key, prefix the key with
d::
root #iw dev wlp9s0 connect -w GentooNode key 0:d:1234123412341234abcd
- To connect with an ASCII WEP key:
root #iw dev wlp9s0 connect -w GentooNode key 0:some-password
If the wireless network is set up with WPA or WPA2, then wpa_supplicant needs to be used. For more information on configuring wireless networking in Gentoo Linux, please read the Wireless networking chapter in the Gentoo Handbook.
Confirm the wireless settings by using iw dev wlp9s0 link. Once wireless is working, continue configuring the IP level networking options as described in the next section (Understanding network terminology) or use the net-setup tool as described previously.
Understanding network terminology
If the IP address, broadcast address, netmask and nameservers are known, then skip this subsection and continue with Using ifconfig and route.
If all of the above fails, the network will need to be configured manually. This is not difficult at all. However, some knowledge of network terminology and basic concepts might be necessary. After reading this section, users will know what a gateway is, what a netmask serves for, how a broadcast address is formed and why systems need nameservers.
In a network, hosts are identified by their IP address (Internet Protocol address). Such an address is perceived as a combination of four numbers between 0 and 255. Well, at least when using IPv4 (IP version 4). In reality, such an IPv4 address consists of 32 bits (ones and zeros). Let's view an example:
IP Address (numbers): 192.168.0.2
IP Address (bits): 11000000 10101000 00000000 00000010
-------- -------- -------- --------
192 168 0 2The successor of IPv4, IPv6, uses 128 bits (ones and zeros). In this section, the focus is on IPv4 addresses.
Such an IP address is unique to a host as far as all accessible networks are concerned (i.e. every host that one wants to be able to reach must have a unique IP address). In order to distinguish between hosts inside and outside a network, the IP address is divided in two parts: the network part and the host part.
The separation is written down with the netmask, a collection of ones followed by a collection of zeros. The part of the IP that can be mapped on the ones is the network-part, the other one is the host-part. As usual, the netmask can be written down as an IP address.
IP address: 192 168 0 2
11000000 10101000 00000000 00000010
Netmask: 11111111 11111111 11111111 00000000
255 255 255 0
+--------------------------+--------+
Network HostIn other words, 192.168.0.14 is part of the example network, but 192.168.1.2 is not.
The broadcast address is an IP address with the same network-part as the network, but with only ones as host-part. Every host on the network listens to this IP address. It is truly meant for broadcasting packets.
IP address: 192 168 0 2
11000000 10101000 00000000 00000010
Broadcast: 11000000 10101000 00000000 11111111
192 168 0 255
+--------------------------+--------+
Network HostTo be able to surf on the Internet, each computer in the network must know which host shares the Internet connection. This host is called the gateway. Since it is a regular host, it has a regular IP address (for instance 192.168.0.1).
Previously we stated that every host has its own IP address. To be able to reach this host by a name (instead of an IP address) we need a service that translates a name (such as dev.gentoo.org) to an IP address (such as 64.5.62.82). Such a service is called a name service. To use such a service, the necessary name servers need to be defined in /etc/resolv.conf.
In some cases, the gateway also serves as a nameserver. Otherwise the nameservers provided by the ISP need to be entered in this file.
To summarize, the following information is needed before continuing:
| Network item | Example |
|---|---|
| The system IP address | 192.168.0.2 |
| Netmask | 255.255.255.0 |
| Broadcast | 192.168.0.255 |
| Gateway | 192.168.0.1 |
| Nameserver(s) | 195.130.130.5, 195.130.130.133 |
Using ifconfig and route
Setting up the network consists of three steps:
- Assign an IP address using ifconfig
- Set up routing to the gateway using route
- Finish up by placing the nameserver IPs in /etc/resolv.conf
To assign an IP address, the IP address, broadcast address and netmask are needed. Then execute the following command, substituting ${IP_ADDR} with the right IP address, ${BROADCAST} with the right broadcast address and ${NETMASK} with the right netmask:
root #ifconfig eth0 ${IP_ADDR} broadcast ${BROADCAST} netmask ${NETMASK} upSet up routing using route. Substitute ${GATEWAY} with the right gateway IP address:
root #route add default gw ${GATEWAY}Now open /etc/resolv.conf:
root #nano -w /etc/resolv.confFill in the nameserver(s) using the following as a template. Make sure to substitute ${NAMESERVER1} and ${NAMESERVER2} with the appropriate nameserver addresses:
/etc/resolv.confDefault resolv.conf templatenameserver ${NAMESERVER1}
nameserver ${NAMESERVER2}
That's it. Now test the network by pinging some Internet server (like Google's 8.8.8.8 or Cloudflare's 1.1.1.1). If this works, congratulations then. Continue with Preparing the disks.