Ran into a strange issue with XEN on CentOS that I think is specific to CentOS, which is why I'm starting by posting to this list first, I'll post on the XEN list depending on responses. My sense is this issue has something to do with how CentOS handles network setup on first boot of the XEN kernel. - Installed a brand new CentOS 5.3 server with minimal packages. - Installed XEN, modified grub.conf to boot off of the XEN kernel and rebooted. - After reboot, network connectivity was lost. - Investigation concluded the issue was that the HWaddr address of the physical NIC matched the fabricated HWaddr that XEN uses for most of its adapters: FE:FF:FF:FF:FF:FF. - Temporary resolution, I re-enabled the motherboard's NIC, rebooted, all seems to be working. I would like to get the NIC in question working as it is a GigaBit NIC, but it still has the HWaddr: FE:FF:FF:FF:FF:FF which conflicts with XEN. My understanding of the HWaddr is that the first portion is manufacturer assigned for uniqueness, I cannot image this NIC originally had this HWaddr, but I don't know what it originally was. Does anyone know if this value is read from the NIC on each boot, or is it stored in a file after the first boot? Is there someway to undo this change so the NIC returns to its original value or atleast a non-conflicting value? Has anyone else seen this behavior? Thank you in advance, Brett
Am Dienstag, den 04.08.2009, 14:43 +0200 schrieb Brett Serkez:> Ran into a strange issue with XEN on CentOS that I think is specific > to CentOS, which is why I'm starting by posting to this list first, > I'll post on the XEN list depending on responses. My sense is this > issue has something to do with how CentOS handles network setup on > first boot of the XEN kernel. > > - Installed a brand new CentOS 5.3 server with minimal packages. > > - Installed XEN, modified grub.conf to boot off of the XEN kernel and rebooted. > > - After reboot, network connectivity was lost. > > - Investigation concluded the issue was that the HWaddr address of the > physical NIC matched the fabricated HWaddr that XEN uses for most of > its adapters: FE:FF:FF:FF:FF:FF.When Xen starts does some trickery with your interfaces. You should see FE:FF:FF:FF:FF:FF on device peth0 and the real MAC-address on device eth0. All Xen vif devices will show also MAC FE:FF:FF:FF:FF:FF. That is totally normal. Chris financial.com AG Munich head office/Hauptsitz M?nchen: Maria-Probst-Str. 19 | 80939 M?nchen | Germany Frankfurt branch office/Niederlassung Frankfurt: Messeturm | Friedrich-Ebert-Anlage 49 | 60327 Frankfurt | Germany Management board/Vorstand: Dr. Steffen Boehnert (CEO/Vorsitzender) | Dr. Alexis Eisenhofer | Dr. Yann Samson | Matthias Wiederwach Supervisory board/Aufsichtsrat: Dr. Dr. Ernst zur Linden (chairman/Vorsitzender) Register court/Handelsregister: Munich ? HRB 128 972 | Sales tax ID number/St.Nr.: DE205 370 553
Hi, This commonly happens when you using Xen in the bridged mode (when you reboot your system the first time, this is default Xen configuration). You have to change your configuration to routed mode if you want to prevent that in future. You can get more info about network in Xen going by links below - http://wiki.xensource.com/xenwiki/XenNetworking#head-d5446face7e308f577e5aee1c72cf9d156903722 P.S. my first experience with Xen starting from the same issue like your (is was a problem for me, because I have dedicated server and support stuff from hosting company every time when the NIC address was changed want to kick me)... :) On Tue, Aug 4, 2009 at 4:43 PM, Brett Serkez<bserkez at gmail.com> wrote:> Ran into a strange issue with XEN on CentOS that I think is specific > to CentOS, which is why I'm starting by posting to this list first, > I'll post on the XEN list depending on responses. My sense is this > issue has something to do with how CentOS handles network setup on > first boot of the XEN kernel. > > - Installed a brand new CentOS 5.3 server with minimal packages. > > - Installed XEN, modified grub.conf to boot off of the XEN kernel and rebooted. > > - After reboot, network connectivity was lost. > > - Investigation concluded the issue was that the HWaddr address of the > physical NIC matched the fabricated HWaddr that XEN uses for most of > its adapters: FE:FF:FF:FF:FF:FF. > > - Temporary resolution, I re-enabled the motherboard's NIC, rebooted, > all seems to be working. > > I would like to get the NIC in question working as it is a GigaBit > NIC, but it still has the HWaddr: FE:FF:FF:FF:FF:FF which conflicts > with XEN. > > My understanding of the HWaddr is that the first portion is > manufacturer assigned for uniqueness, I cannot image this NIC > originally had this HWaddr, but I don't know what it originally was. > > Does anyone know if this value is read from the NIC on each boot, or > is it stored in a file after the first boot? Is there someway to undo > this change so the NIC returns to its original value or atleast a > non-conflicting value? > > Has anyone else seen this behavior? > > Thank you in advance, > > Brett > _______________________________________________ > CentOS mailing list > CentOS at centos.org > http://lists.centos.org/mailman/listinfo/centos >-- Sergey Smirnov Moscow, Russia GMT+3 cell phone: +7 919 104 8963 email/xmpp: Sergey.A.Smirnov at Gmail.com
Brett Serkez wrote on Tue, 4 Aug 2009 08:43:28 -0400:> My understanding of the HWaddr is that the first portion is > manufacturer assigned for uniqueness, I cannot image this NIC > originally had this HWaddr, but I don't know what it originally was.Indeed, AFAIK all hardware adapters start with 00. This must have been set in the BIOS or with a boot option or in the network config. Kai -- Kai Sch?tzl, Berlin, Germany Get your web at Conactive Internet Services: http://www.conactive.com
Brett Serkez wrote:> - Investigation concluded the issue was that the HWaddr address of the > physical NIC matched the fabricated HWaddr that XEN uses for most of > its adapters: FE:FF:FF:FF:FF:FF.I had the same problem after (IIRC) a kernel panic. After a few rounds of research and ineffective treatments I shut down the computer, left it unplugged for a few minutes, and turned it back on. The MAC went back to normal and it hasn't been an issue since. Hope that helps. -- Andrew Norris Systems Administrator Locus Telecommunications andrewn at locus.net (201)-947-2807 ext. 1135