Hi, It is possible to change the station_addr for a LAN interface with "lanadmin -A" but a such change is only temporary, the old address is reset at next boot.
Is it possible to change the adress permanent ?
or
Is it possible to change the adress before booting ?
Lanadmin does not make permanent changes. To make the changes permanent edit the respective configuration file in /etc/rc.config.d and after reboot the change would be permanent.
You can also do these changes through SAM.
To change the mac address in SAM:
1. On the network and communication menu, select network interface card. 2. Select card. 3. Do ACTION configure. 4. Make the mac address changes in the Advance options portion.
It seems as no of the solutions will help me. Changing the address in the startup files, with SAM or with lanadmin will only have effect when HP-UX is up. At the boot menu, the old (default) address is back.
Maybe there is no good solution for my problem. The alternatives I have found is: - Editing the configuration files on the Ignite server before booting the new server. - Using Ignite tapes instead of Ignite server.
I don't like any of them. Editing the config files is very risky and if using tapes, I loose much of the advantages with an Ignite server.
I can't understand why HP has not added an option to set the LAN adress from the boot menu.
Have you looked at the parameter for file /etc/rc.config.d/hpetherconf.
HP_ETHER_STATION_ADDRESS[0]=
Similar parameter are there for other network conf files under /etc/rc.config.d
cd /etc/rc.config.d grep STATION_ADDRESS *
This will list the files that has this parameter. If you can identify the correct conf file that applies to the lan card for which you want to change the MAC address, you update the same over here and reboot and the MAC addess change would be permanent.
Remeber don't keep the backup copy over here, since all files in this directory are sourced.
As far as i know it is possible to alter the mac address in the interface scripts placed in /sbin/init.d/hpbtlanconf ( for btlan drivers). In those files you can set three options. The lan number, the speed/duplex combination (100FD) and a mac adress. I never tried this so i am not sure, but you can give it a shot.
Hi, Yes, I have tried setting the address in the lan interface configuration file but, a such change is not "real" permanent. The new address is set each time HP-UX is booting but when HP-UX is down (at the boot menu) the old address is back. If I look at the LanAddress in the Boot Information menu, I see the default address.
I don't think it is possible to change the MAC address on the physical card since it is assigned by the vendor and cannot be changed. IT is a unique identifier and has the vendor identifier coded in it.
You cannot change the MAC address on the lan card. You can only fool the OS into assuming another mac address for the network card by changing the configuration files.
Most lan cards have flashable roms. It would not hurt to ask the vendor if you could get a copy of the utility used make it. The most practical approach though would probably be edit the ignite image files so it thinks your new hardware is the old, and if you are doing many machines to write a script to make the edits for you for accuracy's sake. Also would not hurt to mention this to your HP rep to submit to their software enhancement list.
I am pretty sure that Jeff is right, there is tools for changing the LAN address but, maybe only for HP internal use. I will try to find if I can get some information.
It seems as the best solution for the moment is to write a script that change the Ignite configuration.
If all you're wanting to do is change the MAC address to Ignite the system, that seems the difficult way to go even if it's possible. On the Ignite server, the information for the clients installed from it are stored in directories named by the MAC address of the respective client under /var/opt/ignite/clients. Simply creating a symlink should get you where you want to go with the least amount of fuss (maybe recreating the one for the hostname also if you're wanting to keep that the same as well).
