netmanager

TCP/IP Configuration Manager

Syntax:

netmanager [-f file] [-p num] [-r [interface]]
           [-s] [-w [interface]]

Runs on:

Neutrino

Options:

-f file

The name of the configuration file (the default is /etc/net.cfg).

-p num

The number of times to poll while waiting for the interface to become available; netmanager polls every 2 seconds for a default of 5 times.

-r [interface]

Read from the configuration file the information on this interface (default is all) and apply it.

-s

Log to stderr. The default is to log to slogger, the system logger.

-w [interface]

Obtain the configuration information on this interface (default is all) and write it in the configuration file.

Description:

The netmanager process is used to apply the TCP/IP configuration as described in the configuration file. It's usually run by phlip, or as part of the boot sequence (e.g. during device enumeration on systems that use diskboot — see the Controlling How Neutrino Starts chapter of the Neutrino User's Guide). You won't generally run netmanager directly; you should use the Photon phlip application to generate the configuration file.

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The netmanager is setuid root, so that it can query the interfaces and display any information. However, it doesn't apply changes unless the real user is root.

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The netmanager uses dhcp.client to support a DHCP configuration.

Instead of using phlip and netmanager to set TCP/IP parameters, you can use route and ifconfig, for the full stack, and command-line options for the tiny stack. You can also run dhcp.client from the command line.

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Don't use both ways to configure your system. When applying a configuration, parameters provided by a DHCP server are used before manually configured parameters. If you need to override a configuration parameter that's supplied by the DHCP server (e.g. gateway), use manual mode.

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The netmanager uses the _CS_RESOLVE configuration string instead of /etc/resolv.conf, and passes options to dhcp.client and pppd.

If there's no configuration file present, DHCP is used on unconfigured interfaces.

The netmanager can set or get TCP/IP configuration parameters related to:

• Interface Parameters:
  • manual or dynamic (DHCP)
  • ipaddress
  • netmask
  • aliases
• General Parameters:
  • routing table
  • domain
  • nameservers
  • search suffixes

Examples:

Write the information for all interfaces in a file:

netmanager -w all -f filename

If no filename is provided, the information is written in /etc/net.cfg.

Files:

/etc/net.cfg

The configuration file written by phlip and read by netmanager.

See also:

/etc/autoconnect, dhcp.client, diskboot, ifconfig, io-pkt*, phlip, /etc/resolv.conf, route, slogger

Controlling How Neutrino Starts chapter of the Neutrino User's Guide