beginners CLI guide for static IP address

[mnisay]

http://vertito.blogspot.com/2007/07/...static-ip.html

[jim]

Very quick way is to run system-config-network even if you only have the shell. This still pops up a easy to use interface to make changes. No need to edit a file and possibly screw it up. Also there are other commands in other distros you can use, netconfig like in CentOS, slak etc..

[mnisay]

just incase the ssh connection is remotely without X11 forwarding and X loaded (which is my case),
that would be

# system-config-network-tui

thanks for the added info jim!

[akvino]

Good one, just a question

when configuring static address in the ifcfg-eth0 file what does
NETWORK= stand for

and in network file is it appsolutly necesary to put GATEWAY

I had a problem where I had put gateway address in ifcfg-eth0 file under
NETWORK="gatewayaddress"
and afterwards was cut out of the internet/network

[mnisay]

Inside the ifcfg-eth0, the "NETWORK" stands for the network broadcast IP address or network class address. This is with relation with IP subnetting (NETMASK) and network broadcaset as well. Usually for full class network class address, the IP address to specify with NETWORK is your IP address but removing the last octet number and replacing it with zero (0).

Basically, if your IP address is 192.168.1.10 and your netmask is 255.255.255.0 for example , you may put 192.168.1.0 for your full NETWORK class address or broadcast.

The "GATEWAY" from /etc/sysconfig/network is optional and case to case basis depending on your box setup. Some boxes are being setup as multihomed linux box, some are for desktop usage only. You can specify your gateway IP address using GATEWAY=yourgatewayip like so

GATEWAY=192.168.1.1

Moreover you can put this from /etc/sysconfig/network or /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0 without any excess character.

Hope this helps.

[akvino]

mnisay - THANK you a lot - I was able to resolve the problem last week thanks to your post, and your explanation helped me undertand some of the critical settings. Thanks.

[mnisay]

everybody's welcome here, no need to enter thru window$ , the doors are always open for linux ethusiasts like you,