netmanager

TCP/IP Configuration Manager

Syntax:

netmanager [-f file] [-p num] [-r [interface]]
           [-s] [-w [interface]]

Options:

-f file

The name of the configuration file (the default is /etc/net.cfg).

-p num

The number of times to poll while waiting for the interface to become available; netmanager polls every 2 seconds for a default of 5 times.

-r [interface]

Read from the configuration file the information on this interface (default is all) and apply it.

-s

Log to stderr. The default is to log to slogger, the system logger.

-w [interface]

Obtain the configuration information on this interface (default is all) and write it in the configuration file.

Description:

The netmanager process is used to apply the TCP/IP configuration as described in the configuration file. It's usually run by phlip, or as part of the boot sequence to configure the TCP/IP parameters. You won't generally run netmanager directly; you should use the Photon phlip application to generate the configuration file.

The netmanager is setuid root, so that it can query the interfaces and display any information. However, it doesn't apply changes unless the real user is root.

The netmanager uses dhcp.client to support a DHCP configuration. Both phlip and netmanager are compatible with the full TCP/IP stack (npm-tcpip.so) and the tiny TCP/IP stack (npm-ttcpip.so).

Instead of using phlip and netmanager to set TCP/IP parameters, you can use route and ifconfig, for the full stack, and command-line options for the tiny stack. You can also run dhcp.client from the command line.

Don't use both ways to configure your system. When applying a configuration, parameters provided by a DHCP server are used before manually configured parameters. If you need to override a configuration parameter that's supplied by the DHCP server (e.g. gateway), use manual mode.

The netmanager uses the _CS_RESOLVE configuration string instead of /etc/resolv.conf, and passes options to dhcp.client and pppd.

If there's no configuration file present, DHCP is used on unconfigured interfaces.

The netmanager can set or get TCP/IP configuration parameters related to:

• Interface Parameters:
  • manual or dynamic (DHCP)
  • ipaddress
  • netmask
  • aliases
• General Parameters:
  • routing table
  • domain
  • nameservers
  • search suffixes

Examples:

Write the information for all interfaces in a file:

netmanager -w all -f filename

If no filename is provided, the information is written in /etc/net.cfg.

Files:

/etc/net.cfg

The configuration file written by phlip and read by netmanager.

See also:

/etc/autoconnect, dhcp.client, ifconfig, npm-tcpip.so, npm-ttcpip.so, phlip, /etc/resolv.conf, route, slogger.