Network Function Files; Additional Resources; Installed Documentation - Red Hat ENTERPRISE LINUX 5 - DEPLOYMENT Deployment Manual

Chapter 14. Network Interfaces
ADDRESS0=10.10.10.0
NETMASK0=255.255.255.0
GATEWAY0=10.10.10.1
DHCP should assign these settings automatically, therefore it should not be necessary to configure
static routes on Red Hat Enterprise Linux servers or clients.

14.5. Network Function Files

Red Hat Enterprise Linux makes use of several files that contain important common functions used to
bring interfaces up and down. Rather than forcing each interface control file to contain these functions,
they are grouped together in a few files that are called upon when necessary.
The /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/network-functions file contains the most commonly
used IPv4 functions, which are useful to many interface control scripts. These functions include
contacting running programs that have requested information about changes in the status of an
interface, setting hostnames, finding a gateway device, verifying whether or not a particular device is
down, and adding a default route.
As the functions required for IPv6 interfaces are different from IPv4 interfaces, a /etc/sysconfig/
network-scripts/network-functions-ipv6 file exists specifically to hold this information.
The functions in this file configure and delete static IPv6 routes, create and remove tunnels, add and
remove IPv6 addresses to an interface, and test for the existence of an IPv6 address on an interface.

14.6. Additional Resources

The following are resources which explain more about network interfaces.

14.6.1. Installed Documentation

/usr/share/doc/initscripts-<version>/sysconfig.txt
A guide to available options for network configuration files, including IPv6 options not covered in
this chapter.
/usr/share/doc/iproute-<version>/ip-cref.ps
This file contains a wealth of information about the ip command, which can be used to manipulate
routing tables, among other things. Use the ggv or kghostview application to view this file.
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