Arch Linux

jskier

Member

From: Minnesota, USA

Registered: 2003-07-30

Posts: 383

Website

Leave plugged in Ethernet interface disabled (down) [solved]

Is it possible to keep a plugged in Ethernet interface down by default at boot? I have a USB Ethernet adapter I'd like to keep down until needed. Despite not having an IP, it is automatically activated and up at boot up (it is a spanned port).

The ipv6 stack is in the kernel but not used for interfaces, udev renames the device, and nothing is configured for it in NetworkManager (although have tried to manage it this way to avail). dhcp shouldn't be a problem, unless I'm missing something that is pre-configured by default?

The only solution I can think of is to blacklist the module, which would allow me to probe it when needed to bring it up (there is also the physical side of doing this as well). The only drawback is these aren't the most efficient ways to manage an interface.

Any suggestions are appreciated.

Last edited by jskier (2014-03-27 19:49:44)

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JSkier

alphaniner

Member

From: Ancapistan

Registered: 2010-07-12

Posts: 2,810

Re: Leave plugged in Ethernet interface disabled (down) [solved]

Standard NICs are kept down unless configured (eg. with netctl, etc). My net2 is plugged into a switch:

$ ip a s
...
3: net2: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST> mtu 1500 qdisc noop state DOWN group default qlen 1000
    link/ether 00:00:5a:73:94:a2 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
...

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jskier

Member

From: Minnesota, USA

Registered: 2003-07-30

Posts: 383

Website

Re: Leave plugged in Ethernet interface disabled (down) [solved]

This got me looking more into NetworkManager, thank you.

Wiki solution worked as expected after making the change and reboot:
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Ne … ic_devices

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JSkier