[gentoo] NetworkManager and conf.d files

[Frederic Detienne <fd cisco com>]

Hi,

I have been running NetworkManager and wpa_supplicant quite successfully
for a while now. I am experiencing fine tuning issues which I think are
relevant to this mailing list.

I have the gentopia overlay installed and run NM 0.6.4-r1:

* net-misc/networkmanager
     Available versions:  [M]0.6.4_pre20061028 [M]0.6.4_pre20061028-r1
[M]0.6.4[1]  [M]0.6.4-r1[1]
     Installed:           0.6.4-r1
     Homepage:            http://people.redhat.com/dcbw/NetworkManager/
     Description:         Network configuration and management in an
easy way. Desktop env independent


There are actually two issues linked to the configuration
of /etc/conf.d/net or /etc/conf.d/wireless. My understanding is that
since NetworkManager and dhcdbd will take care of the wireless part of
the configuration (association and authentication), /etc/conf.d/wireless
is mostly useless and can be disabled through a setting in conf.d/net:

modules=( "!iwconfig" "!wpa_supplicant" )


Problem 1 -- Bringing the wireless interface fully up (ipw2200)
---------

if, for some reason, the wireless interface is shut down then brought
back up, the interface radio is not brought up (radio off,
Tx-Power=off). The only way I found to bring the radio back up is to
issue a manual command:

iwconfig eth1 txpower auto

Notice that when the computer reboots, the interface radio is up.

Also notice that as long as the radio is off, no scanning is possible
(iwlist eth1 scan returns nothing).

I found a conf.d/net related parameter that should help:

iwconfig_eth1="txpower auto"

but this command never seems executed while bringing eth1 up through
"/etc/init.d/net.eth1 start" or while starting NetworkManager.

Odd. This may be a pure gentoo issue but since NetworkManager has such
strong interactions with the net config, I thought I'd mention it here.

I also believe this issue accounts for a number of scanning related
issues I have seen while googling for my problems.

Problem 2 -- null vs. dhcp
---------

I would like NetworkManager to acquire an IP address for my wireless
interface through DHCP. OTOH, I would like Gentoo net scripts to NOT do
that at all since the gentoo scripts have no idea how to associate to
the AP's I use (in particular, there is not machine authentication, just
WPA user authentication on my APs).

If I set up

config_eth1=( "dhcp" )

then gentoo tries to get a DHCP address at boot and I get:

 * Starting eth1
 *   Bringing up eth1
 *     dhcp
 *       Running dhcpcd ...
Error, timed out waiting for a valid DHCP server response         [ !! ]

Besides, dhcpcd sometimes keep running and hijacks DHCP responses that
should normally go to dhcbdb/dhclient (i.e. two dhcp client running at
the same time for the same interface).

Now if I set up

config_eth1=( "null" )

I do not get any annoying boot messages nor long delays and dhcpcd is
never launched... but NetworkManager does not launch dhclient after
wpa_supplicant either. And though the interface is properly associated,
I obviously do not get an IP address.

Now my question: what should I use for a proper configuration ?

I understand NM 0.7 may bring the ability to control interfaces
directly... in that case, it should support

1- specific interface parameters to be set (here, bringing the radio up)
2- configuration override (here, system-wide net config saying "null"
but still have NM start dhclient)

but there may already be a way to do this cleanly today. Can anyone help
me ?

thanks and regards,

	frederic detienne

P.S. and otherwise, NM is really a _great_ application. I frequently
switch wireless networks and fiddling with conf.d/wireless or
wpa_supplicant configs was NOT fun at all.