ArchLinuxARM-kirkwood-latest is missing ifplugd

[larrybaker]

The ArchLinuxARM-kirkwood-latest rootfs is missing ifplugd. ifplugd is used by netctl to configure network interfaces when the cable is plugged and unplugged. I encountered this problem before for the ArchLinuxARM-armv5te-latest rootfs, which was fixed (viewtopic.php?f=58&t=5927). That rootfs works out-of-the-box now -- thank you. Please make the same fix to the ArchLinuxARM-kirkwood-latest rootfs.

Thank you,

Larry Baker
US Geological Survey

[kmihelich]

It's not missing: networking is now handled by systemd-networkd, which will detect when the cable is plugged.

[larrybaker]

Ah, you beat me to retract my post!

I have just found that the network configuration architecture has changed yet again. (netcfg->netctl->systemd->???) As you say, it now uses systemd-networkd. I need to change the MAC address. I haven't figured out how to do that yet. I also will test whether one can leave out any IP address -- DHCP or static -- to use a different protocol. (That's why I need to change the MAC address.)

Thank you,

Larry Baker
US Geological Survey

[kmihelich]

Yes, we will change what is provided in the initial install root filesystems to the latest systems and configurations available that meet our targets for quality and functionality. systemd-networkd is now mature enough, and fixes many of the issues that existed with netctl, which fixed many of the issues with netcfg. We will be staying with networkd for the foreseeable future, though you're of course free to change the default network management.

[larrybaker]

To wrap up this thread, here are the steps to set the eth0 MAC address and enable ALLMULTI (allmulticast) reception for a network managed by systemd-networkd. One configuration file interacts with systemd-networkd, the other with udev, since the systemd-networkd does not have a key=value to set the link flags.

Create local systemd and udev configuration files that set the eth0 interface MAC address and enable ALLMULTI for DECnet prior to starting IP on the interface.

$this->bbcode_second_pass_code('', '# cat >/etc/systemd/network/00-eth0-decnet-mac-address.link <<EOF
# Set the eth0 MAC address for DECnet host address 54.148
[Match]
MACAddress=f0:ad:4e:01:fd:c6

[Link]
MACAddress=aa:00:04:00:94:d8
EOF
')
$this->bbcode_second_pass_code('', '# cat >/etc/udev/rules.d/85-net-set-flags.rules <<EOF
# Set ALLMULTI (flags|=0x200) for DECnet on eth0
SUBSYSTEM=="net", ACTION=="add", KERNEL=="eth*", ATTR{address}=="f0:ad:4e:01:fd:c6", ATTR{flags}="0x1203"
EOF')

I learned the hard way that the default systemd-networkd.link rule cannot be overridden with a file name that starts with an alphabetic character -- they all collate after the default rule's name, /usr/lib/systemd/network/99-default.link. I wish this were made clearer on the https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Systemd-networkd web page.

Larry Baker
US Geological Survey