Oracle platforms with built-in Ethernet need to assign and IP address after replacing a system board when running Linux/OVM.

Asset ID:	1-71-1539955.1
Update Date:	2015-01-27
Keywords:

Solution Type Technical Instruction Sure

Solution 1539955.1 : Oracle platforms with built-in Ethernet need to assign and IP address after replacing a system board when running Linux/OVM.

Applies to:

Sun Fire X4270 M2 Server - Version Not Applicable to Not Applicable [Release N/A]
Linux x86

Goal

Oracle platforms with built-in Ethernet need to assign and IP address after replacing a system board when running Linux/OVM.

Solution

Customers using Linux or the virtual machine manager (OVM) on x86 machines with onboard Ethernet will in some cases be required to assign the IP address again after a system board replacement.

After the system board is replaced the MAC address will have changed causing Linux to create a new network configuration file which does not have an IP address assigned.

As OVM is based on a cut down version of Linux, it too will show this condition.

We need assign the IP address again to the new configuration file which contains our updated MAC address.

Below is the sample for "MAC was changed after replaced system board"

After system board replacement, the ".bak" file will created automatically on platform startup because the Linux environment detected the MAC address has changed.

The ".bak" file will be stored in /etc/sysconfig/network-script along with the new network configuration file:
ifcfg-eth0

ifcfg-eth0.bak

We can find the new ifcfg-eth0 detailing the new system board MAC address:

　-- ifcfg-eth0 --
    DEVICE=eth0
    BOOTPROTO=dhcp
    ONBOOT=yes
    HWADDR=00:11:22:33:44:55<----New system board MAC

The ".bak" file recorded details of the old MAC address plus the existing IP address configuration:

-- ifcfg-eth0.bak --
     DEVICE=eth0
     BOOTPROTO=static
     BROADCAST=172.16.2.63
     HWADDR=AA:BB:CC:DD:EE:FF<---- Old MAC
     IPADDR=172.16.2.14
     NETMASK=255.255.255.192
     NETWORK=172.16.2.0
     ONBOOT=yes
---END----

Based on the above file, we do not have an IP and other network parameter assigned to the new networking script ifcfg-eth0

---Sample for ifconfig-----

　# ifconfig eth0
eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:11:22:33:44:55 　
          inet6 addr: fe80::221:28ff:fef0:e214/64 Scope:Link
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
          RX packets:619646 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:60 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
          RX bytes:40191991 (38.3 MiB) TX bytes:15335 (14.9 KiB)
          memory:df460000-df488000

   # ifconfig xenbr0
   xenbr0   Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:11:22:33:44:55
               inet6 addr: fe80::221:28ff:fef0:e214/64 Scope:Link
               UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
               RX packets:121658 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
               TX packets:20 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
               collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
               RX bytes:5740015 (5.4 MiB) TX bytes:5046 (4.9 KiB)
---end------

We need modify the ifcfg-eth0 file to appropriately represent the original configuration using your favorite editor:

---log---
   -- ifcfg-eth0 --
　   DEVICE=eth0
     BOOTPROTO=static
     BROADCAST=172.16.2.63
     HWADDR=00:11:22:33:44:55　<----New system board MAC
     IPADDR=172.16.2.14
     NETMASK=255.255.255.192
     NETWORK=172.16.2.0
     ONBOOT=yes
---end----

After modifying the ifcfg-eth0 file, check other ethX files also to see if they require maintenance. They too would have a ".bak" instance listed.

NOTE: ethX the "X" represents an interface instance number such as "1","2" etc..

---log---

　# ifconfig eth0
eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:11:22:33:44:55 　
          inet6 addr: fe80::221:28ff:fef0:e214/64 Scope:Link
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
          RX packets:619646 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:60 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
          RX bytes:40191991 (38.3 MiB) TX bytes:15335 (14.9 KiB)
          memory:df460000-df488000

   # ifconfig xenbr0
   xenbr0   Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:11:22:33:44:55
               inet addr:172.16.2.14 Bcast:0.0.0.0 Mask:255.255.255.192<----IP assigned
               inet6 addr: fe80::221:28ff:fef0:e214/64 Scope:Link
               UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
               RX packets:1204 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
               TX packets:1323 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
               collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
               RX bytes:146183 (142.7 KiB) TX bytes:177626 (173.4 KiB)
---end----

Now the network service should be back with its normal configuration.

If you still find network issues exist, log a Service Request with Oracle Support.

References

<NOTE:1586190.1> - NIC MAC Address Change Is Needed On Oracle VM Server When Replacing System Board

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