[CentOS] Choosing network interface to send traffic through

Ljubomir Ljubojevic
2011-04-12T12:04:50Z

Emmanuel Noobadmin wrote:
> I've got a server that initially was connected to a static WAN
> connection via eth0. Now I've added a second NIC eth1 connected to a
> local network switch with the intention of using it as a backup remote
> access connection via a dynamic ADSL connection.
>
> The problem now is getting the IP address of the dynamic ADSL connection.
>
> I've written a script that updates another server with the current IP
> address in order to ssh in which was used on my own home server also
> running Centos 5. But in the case of two NICs, I cannot find a way to
> make the outbound traffic of the script use eth1 instead of the
> default gateway on eth0.
>
> There are instructions on using iproute to ensure that a connection
> coming in from eth1 will work properly. But this only appears to work
> for when the connection is initiated externally through eth1.
>
> The only way I found that might work is adding a static route, but
> then this assumes that I'll always be connecting from the same
> external IP.
>
> Does anybody know if what I'm trying to achieve is possible?

You need policy routing. And it is possible. My suggestion is to use
shorewall (http://www.shorewall.net/), there are rpm's for download, and
use it's "Mult-ISP" feature
(http://www.shorewall.net/MultiISP.html).

Webmin can be of some help with setting it, it even supports manual edit
of config files (you will need it for part of the setup.)

Ljubomir