network manager always deconfigure the ethernet interface when network link is down

[Luc Deschenaux <luc deschenaux mta sunrise ch>]

Hi !

This behaviour is extremely annoying when you connect directly some
machine with a crossover cable for netbooting (eg to install a system on
a machine without cdrom player, to scan for viruses, backuping, resizing
partitions, or whatever)

Or when ethernet interface is connected to a Powered Over Ethernet (POE)
device directly through a POE power supply and that you need to reboot
it.

The link is lost each time you connect the ethernet cable on another
machine and each time you reboot the connected machine. And each time
you need to activate the needed configuration again.
 
Trying to flash the firmware of a handfull of POE devices will quickly
make you hate the network manager... especially if you have to
reconfigure some routes manually also.

It would be nice to be able to declare an ethernet configuration as
being "sticky" so that the interface would not deconfigure itself when
the link is down, and not try to reconfigure itself automatically when
the link is up again.

Thanks in advance !

Regards,

L:üc: