[NBLUG/talk] Strange ethernet issue

Steve Johnson srj at adnd.com
Tue Apr 10 09:40:31 PDT 2012


Hi Guys,

I am running 3 linux boxes all on the same network, running static 10
net addresses, each on their own IP address..  A strange thing has
started happening about a month ago, if I reboot the box when the
system comes up at the point when it tries to bring up the eth0
interface I get an error "IP Address in use by another host" and then
the interface does not come up.  Loggin in from the console as root
and running ifup eth0 gives me the same error.  The only way I can get
the interface to come up is to physically unplug the ethernet, then
run ifup eth0, that brings up the eth0 correctly, and then plug the
ethernet cable back in.. Then it runs fine until another reboot (Or if
I ifdown eth0 I will have the same problem)..

I rebooted the switch last night, incase it was a switch issue and
that did not clear it up.  My switch guys assure me that nothing has
changed on the switch.  I have verified that there are not any rogue
machines on the switch trying to steal my IP addresses.. So I am at a
loss as to what could be causing this.

It is happening on 3 Linux boxes, all three are on different hardware
(same vendor, but different models) and all 3 are on different
versions of linux

Box 1 -  RedHat Enterprise Linux 3
Box 2 -  RedHat Enterprise Linux 4 (Nahant update 5)
Box 3 -  RedHat Enterprise Linux 5.8 (Tikanga)

The RHEL3 box was end of lifed a while back, so I know there have not
been any patches in the time that this started failing.

Here's my eth0 configs for each box, incase it helps.

Box 1 :

# Intel Corp.|82557/8/9 [Ethernet Pro 100]
DEVICE=eth0
BOOTPROTO=static
BROADCAST=10.254.1.255
HWADDR=00:02:B3:CF:16:DE
IPADDR=10.254.1.58
NETMASK=255.255.255.0
NETWORK=10.254.1.0
ONBOOT=yes
TYPE=Ethernet

Box 2 :

DEVICE=eth0
TYPE=Ethernet
ONBOOT=yes
BOOTPROTO=static
HWADDR=00:18:8B:F7:1F:63
NETWORK=10.254.1.0
GATEWAY=10.254.1.1
NETMASK=255.255.255.0
IPADDR=10.254.1.60
BROADCAST=10.254.1.255

Box 3 :


# Broadcom Corporation NetXtreme II BCM5708 Gigabit Ethernet
DEVICE=eth0
BOOTPROTO=static
BROADCAST=10.254.1.255
HWADDR=00:19:B9:DD:CA:45
IPADDR=10.254.1.46
IPV6ADDR=
IPV6PREFIX=
NETMASK=255.255.255.0
NETWORK=10.254.1.0
ONBOOT=yes


Ay ideas, or clues would be greatly appreciated.. I've been trying to
trouble shoot this for over a month now with now luck.

-Steve



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