You are prompted for the following information:
This is the name of the machine. The machine may have several, but one name is more important (or more official). The name may be composed of letters and numbers. The case is not important. It also contains the domain name. It is not recommended to start the name with a digit. Some programs may naively interpret a name starting with a number as an IP number.
The machine is part of a set of machines under a common administration. This domain name is generally used for e-mail. If you don't know what to write there, then use the domain name of your Internet Service Provider (ISP). Put only a single word (the name without domain) if you have no idea.
ex: pcjack.mydomain.com
The machine may have nicknames for different purposes. You can specify several nicknames on the line, separated by spaces. Linuxconf will automatically add the "loghost" alias. This means that every Linuxconf managed machine may be referenced locally as "loghost". This is useful when creating various generic procedures.
If your machine is on a network (probably an Ethernet), you must enter its IP number. If there is no IP network currently installed on your LAN, you can leave this empty.
You can set the IP address of the first Ethernet adapter to 127.0.0.1. Linuxconf will prompt you about this anyway, if you left this field blank.
Choosing this number will allow you to operate normally with full networking, even if you don't have any Ethernet adapters. You may want to do this for the following reasons:
PPP or SLIP networking.
You can set up your network with the same IP number used by the PCMCIA Ethernet adapter. You simply select the dummy0 (first dummy device) instead of eth0 as the net device. This allows you to have a permanent IP number even when you are not connected to the net (the PCMCIA device is unplugged).
If you are setting up a new isolated LAN (not connected to the Internet), the IP network 192.168.1.0 is a good choice. This is a network number specifically allocated for private networks. If your network gets hooked up to the Internet later (through a firewall for example), your network number won't clash with an existing network. Also, the gateway won't be confused.
Pick an IP number for your machine between 192.168.1.1 and 192.168.1.254. The Network address will be 192.168.1.0.
Your IP number may be parsed into two components: the network part and the station ID. For example, a station having the IP number 192.168.1.10 belongs to the network 192.168.1.0 and has the ID 10. It is common practice to express a network address using four numbers, where the one corresponding to the station ID is 0.
This field is optional (like the netmask) below (unless subnets are used on your LAN).
Linuxconf computes most of the network parameters from the IP number you entered. On some networks (using subnets), you must provide more information. Generally, only the netmask is needed. Here is a table showing what Linuxconf can compute.
Unless you are doing some subnetting, you can leave this field empty. Your administrator will provide a magic sequence like 255.255.255.192 if subnets exist on your LAN.
A help list is available for this field, which lists the most widely used netmasks. This is useful in case you are not sure of the exact netmask you should use (you were told about it over the phone by the admin but you didn't write it down...).
Here is a table showing a network and network configuration. This is shown for a network x.y.z. This table is produced by the command "/usr/lib/linuxconf/lib/calcmask x.y.z"
Netmask Networkadr Start Stop
255.255.255.128 x.y.z.0 x.y.z.1 x.y.z.126
x.y.z.128 x.y.z.129 x.y.z.254
255.255.255.192 x.y.z.0 x.y.z.1 x.y.z.62
x.y.z.64 x.y.z.65 x.y.z.126
x.y.z.128 x.y.z.129 x.y.z.190
x.y.z.192 x.y.z.193 x.y.z.254
255.255.255.224 x.y.z.0 x.y.z.1 x.y.z.30
x.y.z.32 x.y.z.33 x.y.z.62
x.y.z.64 x.y.z.65 x.y.z.94
x.y.z.96 x.y.z.97 x.y.z.126
x.y.z.128 x.y.z.129 x.y.z.158
x.y.z.160 x.y.z.161 x.y.z.190
x.y.z.192 x.y.z.193 x.y.z.222
x.y.z.224 x.y.z.225 x.y.z.254
255.255.255.240 x.y.z.0 x.y.z.1 x.y.z.14
x.y.z.16 x.y.z.17 x.y.z.30
x.y.z.32 x.y.z.33 x.y.z.46
x.y.z.48 x.y.z.49 x.y.z.62
x.y.z.64 x.y.z.65 x.y.z.78
x.y.z.80 x.y.z.81 x.y.z.94
x.y.z.96 x.y.z.97 x.y.z.110
x.y.z.112 x.y.z.113 x.y.z.126
x.y.z.128 x.y.z.129 x.y.z.142
x.y.z.144 x.y.z.145 x.y.z.158
x.y.z.160 x.y.z.161 x.y.z.174
x.y.z.176 x.y.z.177 x.y.z.190
x.y.z.192 x.y.z.193 x.y.z.206
x.y.z.208 x.y.z.209 x.y.z.222
x.y.z.224 x.y.z.225 x.y.z.238
x.y.z.240 x.y.z.241 x.y.z.254
255.255.255.248 x.y.z.0 x.y.z.1 x.y.z.6
x.y.z.8 x.y.z.9 x.y.z.14
x.y.z.16 x.y.z.17 x.y.z.22
x.y.z.24 x.y.z.25 x.y.z.30
x.y.z.32 x.y.z.33 x.y.z.38
x.y.z.40 x.y.z.41 x.y.z.46
x.y.z.48 x.y.z.49 x.y.z.54
x.y.z.56 x.y.z.57 x.y.z.62
x.y.z.64 x.y.z.65 x.y.z.70
x.y.z.72 x.y.z.73 x.y.z.78
x.y.z.80 x.y.z.81 x.y.z.86
x.y.z.88 x.y.z.89 x.y.z.94
x.y.z.96 x.y.z.97 x.y.z.102
x.y.z.104 x.y.z.105 x.y.z.110
x.y.z.112 x.y.z.113 x.y.z.118
x.y.z.120 x.y.z.121 x.y.z.126
x.y.z.128 x.y.z.129 x.y.z.134
x.y.z.136 x.y.z.137 x.y.z.142
x.y.z.144 x.y.z.145 x.y.z.150
x.y.z.152 x.y.z.153 x.y.z.158
x.y.z.160 x.y.z.161 x.y.z.166
x.y.z.168 x.y.z.169 x.y.z.174
x.y.z.176 x.y.z.177 x.y.z.182
x.y.z.184 x.y.z.185 x.y.z.190
x.y.z.192 x.y.z.193 x.y.z.198
x.y.z.200 x.y.z.201 x.y.z.206
x.y.z.208 x.y.z.209 x.y.z.214
x.y.z.216 x.y.z.217 x.y.z.222
x.y.z.224 x.y.z.225 x.y.z.230
x.y.z.232 x.y.z.233 x.y.z.238
x.y.z.240 x.y.z.241 x.y.z.246
x.y.z.248 x.y.z.249 x.y.z.254
255.255.255.252 x.y.z.0 x.y.z.1 x.y.z.2
x.y.z.4 x.y.z.5 x.y.z.6
x.y.z.8 x.y.z.9 x.y.z.10
x.y.z.12 x.y.z.13 x.y.z.14
x.y.z.16 x.y.z.17 x.y.z.18
x.y.z.20 x.y.z.21 x.y.z.22
x.y.z.24 x.y.z.25 x.y.z.26
x.y.z.28 x.y.z.29 x.y.z.30
x.y.z.32 x.y.z.33 x.y.z.34
x.y.z.36 x.y.z.37 x.y.z.38
x.y.z.40 x.y.z.41 x.y.z.42
x.y.z.44 x.y.z.45 x.y.z.46
x.y.z.48 x.y.z.49 x.y.z.50
x.y.z.52 x.y.z.53 x.y.z.54
x.y.z.56 x.y.z.57 x.y.z.58
x.y.z.60 x.y.z.61 x.y.z.62
x.y.z.64 x.y.z.65 x.y.z.66
x.y.z.68 x.y.z.69 x.y.z.70
x.y.z.72 x.y.z.73 x.y.z.74
x.y.z.76 x.y.z.77 x.y.z.78
x.y.z.80 x.y.z.81 x.y.z.82
x.y.z.84 x.y.z.85 x.y.z.86
x.y.z.88 x.y.z.89 x.y.z.90
x.y.z.92 x.y.z.93 x.y.z.94
x.y.z.96 x.y.z.97 x.y.z.98
x.y.z.100 x.y.z.101 x.y.z.102
x.y.z.104 x.y.z.105 x.y.z.106
x.y.z.108 x.y.z.109 x.y.z.110
x.y.z.112 x.y.z.113 x.y.z.114
x.y.z.116 x.y.z.117 x.y.z.118
x.y.z.120 x.y.z.121 x.y.z.122
x.y.z.124 x.y.z.125 x.y.z.126
x.y.z.128 x.y.z.129 x.y.z.130
x.y.z.132 x.y.z.133 x.y.z.134
x.y.z.136 x.y.z.137 x.y.z.138
x.y.z.140 x.y.z.141 x.y.z.142
x.y.z.144 x.y.z.145 x.y.z.146
x.y.z.148 x.y.z.149 x.y.z.150
x.y.z.152 x.y.z.153 x.y.z.154
x.y.z.156 x.y.z.157 x.y.z.158
x.y.z.160 x.y.z.161 x.y.z.162
x.y.z.164 x.y.z.165 x.y.z.166
x.y.z.168 x.y.z.169 x.y.z.170
x.y.z.172 x.y.z.173 x.y.z.174
x.y.z.176 x.y.z.177 x.y.z.178
x.y.z.180 x.y.z.181 x.y.z.182
x.y.z.184 x.y.z.185 x.y.z.186
x.y.z.188 x.y.z.189 x.y.z.190
x.y.z.192 x.y.z.193 x.y.z.194
x.y.z.196 x.y.z.197 x.y.z.198
x.y.z.200 x.y.z.201 x.y.z.202
x.y.z.204 x.y.z.205 x.y.z.206
x.y.z.208 x.y.z.209 x.y.z.210
x.y.z.212 x.y.z.213 x.y.z.214
x.y.z.216 x.y.z.217 x.y.z.218
x.y.z.220 x.y.z.221 x.y.z.222
x.y.z.224 x.y.z.225 x.y.z.226
x.y.z.228 x.y.z.229 x.y.z.230
x.y.z.232 x.y.z.233 x.y.z.234
x.y.z.236 x.y.z.237 x.y.z.238
x.y.z.240 x.y.z.241 x.y.z.242
x.y.z.244 x.y.z.245 x.y.z.246
x.y.z.248 x.y.z.249 x.y.z.250
x.y.z.252 x.y.z.253 x.y.z.254
You may enter the network address directly. Linuxconf will compute it correctly from the netmask. For special setups (do you have an example of one?) you may want to override the default behavior of Linuxconf.
The broadcast address is also computed from the netmask. On some networks, the broadcast address is configured differently so you will have to enter it manually.
Each adapter configuration is associated with a specific network device in the kernel. For example, eth0 corresponds to the first ethernet adapter and eth1 to the second. On a token ring network, tr0 corresponds to the first Token Ring adapter. This field lets you pick the proper device. A help list is provided to show which ones are available.
You can control which driver will be loaded for each adapter.
Each network device is associated with a kernel module. This module is either built in the kernel or must be loaded at run time. Linuxconf will take care of loading it, if needed, but you have to tell it which type of network adapter you have. Use the help list to find out the name of the various kernel modules. The list shows available kernel modules for Linux. Modules with the "(inst)" prefix are currently installed on your workstation. If you need one which is not installed, you must recompile the kernel and select (using "make menuconfig") the appropriate kernel module.
Most kernel modules have the ability to auto-probe their configuration (especially PCI modules). Some require that you provide them with the basic configuration (I/O address and the IRQ/interrupt number). This is especially true for Ne2000 adapters (since Linux 2.0, PCI Ne2000 adapters are auto-probed; prior to 2.0.30, you were forced to enter the I/O and IRQ even for Ne2000 PCI adapters).
You enter the I/O using the following 0xNNN format, where NNN is an hexadecimal number, as presented by the adapter configuration utility.
Like the I/O, you occasionally need to enter the value for the IRQ, because the driver is unable to probe for it (especially for the Ne2000). You can use the help list to find out which IRQs are already allocated to associated devices on your workstation.
When you have several network adapters of the same type in the machine, you must provide the I/O port and IRQ information for all the adapters in one shot, in the configuration of the first network adapter. Type in the I/O ports and IRQ on the same line, using commas to separate them.
I/O port (opt) : 0x300,0x320
Irq (opt) : 10,11