Networking loses gateway setting on re-boot

[Derrick Martin_1]

This seems like a simple problem, but, I can't seem to find a solution. I'm running HP-UX 11i and after a reboot, my networking settings seem to lose the gateway and dns... I.e. I can get to everything on the local subnet, but anything beyond the gateway is unreachable, same for dns lookups. To get things working, I run set_parms addl_netwrk, I don't change anything, just accept the stored values, as they are correct. Once I exit set_parms, everything works fine... until I reboot... Any ideas would be greatl appreciated.

[Dave Hutton]

Does your /etc/rc.config.d/netconf file show a default gateway entry?
Should be something like:
ROUTE_GATEWAY[0]="xxx.xxx.xxx.1"
ROUTE_COUNT[0]="1"
ROUTE_DESTINATION[0]="default"

[Derrick Martin_1]

yep, all of those settings are in the file... I know it must be a setting somewhere as I'm getting this same exact issue on 2 new servers...

[A. Clay Stephenson]

I suspect that you have some sort of minor error in /etc/rc.config.d/netconf.

Check to make sure that there are no array indices skipped. For example,
A section that relates to INTERFACE_NAME[0] should have all the entries realated to [0]. If, for example, you have a [2] section there MUST BE a [1] between [0] and [2].

The default gateway is set in the section
ROUTE_DESTINATION[0]=default
ROUTE_MASK[0]=""
ROUTE_GATEWAY=10.1.0.1
ROUTE_COUNT[0]=1
ROUTE_ARGS[0]=""

Look over these entries very carefully for things like ROUTE_ARG[0] (wrong) instread of ROUTE_ARGS[0].

[Derrick Martin_1]

One thing I notice, that looks like its leftover from my initial try at setting things up. There is a [2] record for a card that is not being used. The [0] and [1] are correct, and the [2] has an INTERFACE_STATE[2]=down, but since it has the same ip address as [1] I thought this might cause an issue. Also, the ROUTE_* stuff is at the bottom of the file, since it goes with [0] should I move it up before the [1] interface information?

[Derrick Martin_1]

Here is the full text of my netconf:


# netconf: configuration values for core networking subsystems
#
# @(#)B.11.11_LR $Revision: 1.6.119.6 $ $Date: 97/09/10 15:56:01 $
#
# HOSTNAME: Name of your system for uname -S and hostname
#
# OPERATING_SYSTEM: Name of operating system returned by uname -s
# ---- DO NOT CHANGE THIS VALUE ----
#
# LOOPBACK_ADDRESS: Loopback address
# ---- DO NOT CHANGE THIS VALUE ----
#
# IMPORTANT: for 9.x-to-10.0 transition, do not put blank lines between
# the next set of statements

HOSTNAME="tsfweb"
OPERATING_SYSTEM=HP-UX
LOOPBACK_ADDRESS=127.0.0.1

# Internet configuration parameters. See ifconfig(1m), autopush(1m)
#
# INTERFACE_NAME: Network interface name (see lanscan(1m))
#
# IP_ADDRESS: Hostname (in /etc/hosts) or IP address in decimal-dot
# notation (e.g., 192.1.2.3)
#
# SUBNET_MASK: Subnetwork mask in decimal-dot notation, if different
# from default
#
# BROADCAST_ADDRESS: Broadcast address in decimal-dot notation, if
# different from default
#
# INTERFACE_STATE: Desired interface state at boot time.
# either up or down, default is up.
#
# DHCP_ENABLE Determines whether or not DHCP client functionality
# will be enabled on the network interface (see
# auto_parms(1M), dhcpclient(1M)). DHCP clients get
# their IP address assignments from DHCP servers.
# 1 enables DHCP client functionality; 0 disables it.
#
# For each additional network interfaces, add a set of variable assignments
# like the ones below, changing the index to "[1]", "[2]" et cetera.
#
# IMPORTANT: for 9.x-to-10.0 transition, do not put blank lines between
# the next set of statements

INTERFACE_NAME[0]=lan0
IP_ADDRESS[0]=143.91.13.91
SUBNET_MASK[0]=255.255.255.0
BROADCAST_ADDRESS[0]=""
INTERFACE_STATE[0]=up
DHCP_ENABLE[0]=0

# Internet routing configuration. See route(1m), routing(7)
#
# ROUTE_DESTINATION: Destination hostname (in /etc/hosts) or host or network
# IP address in decimal-dot notation, preceded by the word
# "host" or "net"; or simply the word "default".
#
# ROUTE_MASK: Subnetwork mask in decimal-dot notation, or C language
# hexadecimal notation. This is an optional field.
# A IP address, subnet mask pair uniquely identifies
# a subnet to be reached. If a subnet mask is not given,
# then the system will assign the longest subnet mask
# of the configured network interfaces to this route.
# If there is no matching subnet mask, then the system
# will assign the default network mask as the route's
# subnet mask.
#
# ROUTE_GATEWAY: Gateway hostname (in /etc/hosts) or IP address in
# decimal-dot notation. If local interface, must use the
# same form as used for IP_ADDRESS above (hostname or
# decimal-dot notation). If loopback interface, i.e.,
# 127.0.0.1, the ROUTE_COUNT must be set to zero.
#
# ROUTE_COUNT: An integer that indicates whether the gateway is a
# remote interface (one) or the local interface (zero)
# or loopback interface (e.g., 127.*).
#
# ROUTE_ARGS: Route command arguments and options. This variable
# may contain a combination of the following arguments:
# "-f", "-n" and "-p pmtu".
#
# For each additional route, add a set of variable assignments like the ones
# below, changing the index to "[1]", "[2]" et cetera.
#
# IMPORTANT: for 9.x-to-10.0 transition, do not put blank lines between
# the next set of statements

ROUTE_MASK[0]=""
ROUTE_ARGS[0]=""

# Dynamic routing daemon configuration. See gated(1m)
#
# GATED: Set to 1 to start gated daemon.
# GATED_ARGS: Arguments to the gated daemon.

GATED=0
GATED_ARGS=""

#
# Router Discover Protocol daemon configuration. See rdpd(1m)
#
# RDPD: Set to 1 to start rdpd daemon
#

RDPD=0

#
# Reverse ARP daemon configuration. See rarpd(1m)
#
# RARP: Set to 1 to start rarpd daemon
#

RARP=0

IP_ADDRESS[1]=143.91.13.92
SUBNET_MASK[1]=255.255.255.0
INTERFACE_NAME[1]=lan1
BROADCAST_ADDRESS[1]=143.91.13.255
INTERFACE_STATE[1]=up
IP_ADDRESS[2]=143.91.13.92
SUBNET_MASK[2]=255.255.255.0
INTERFACE_NAME[2]=lan2
BROADCAST_ADDRESS[2]=143.91.13.255
INTERFACE_STATE[2]=down
ROUTE_DESTINATION[0]=default
ROUTE_GATEWAY[0]=143.91.13.254
ROUTE_COUNT[0]=1
#

[Dave Hutton]

The bracketed number like you suggest is an instance type identifier if you have more then 1 card in your machine that is configured.

They should be the same [#] for each entry for the same card.

[A. Clay Stephenson]

Note that your IP_ADDRESS[0] and IP_ADDRESS[1] are in the same subnet. This is one of those things that almost works well in HP-UX. Two interfaces are not allowed to be in the same subnet although again it will almost work well - the very worst kind of problem.

I would also edit this file to get all the related sections adjacent to one another. It's much easier to examine that way.

[Derrick Martin_1]

So you are saying that the reason I'm seeing this problem is because IP_ADDRESS[0] and [1] are on the same subnet? I don't have control over the LAN and basically have 2 lines into 2 different switches for failover, but, both switches are on the same subnet. Is there any way for this to work?

[A. Clay Stephenson]

Yep, that's your problem. HP's way to deal with this is either APA (Auto-Port Aggregation) but that allows multiple NIC's to combine to a single switch. APA results in higher bandwidth and redunancy but again, to a single supported switch. Plan B is to use MC/Service Guard which can have multiple LAN connections in standby (and using any number of switches).

The maddening thing about your setup is that it almost works well but it is an accident waiting to happen.

[Dave Hutton]

You would have to have 2 different IP addresses. 1 for each subnet. If you want failover or better availablity you could use this: (http://www.hp.com/products1/serverconnectivity/adapters/apa_overview.html)

Even then I *think* they have to be on the same subnet.

[Derrick Martin_1]

Could I safely use the ndd ip_strong_es_model and set it to 1, then setup a default gateway for both [0] and [1]...

[Derrick Martin_1]

Well it looks like the ip_strong_es_model setting did the trick. Please let me know if this will cause issues elsewhere...

[David Libby_4]

Derrick... how did you setup the default gateway per interface.... I've configured the ip_strong_es_model=1, but I'm not sure how to have more that one default route in /etc/rc.config.d/netconf?

Regards,
David