Configuring network interfaces

What network interface configuration includes

When you configure network interfaces, you can do any or all of the following:

Assign an IP address to a network interface
Set parameters such as network mask and broadcast address
Set hardware-dependent values such as media type, MTU size, and flow control
Specify whether the interface is attached to a network with firewall security protection
Specify whether the network interface is to be registered with Windows Internet Name Services (WINS), if CIFS is running and at least one WINS server has been configured
Specify the IP address of an interface on a cluster partner for takeover mode
View the current configuration of a specific interface or all interfaces that exist on your storage system

Additional network interface configuration tasks include the following:

About configuration tools

The following tools are available for storage system network configuration and management.

Command-line interface	Graphical interface
`ifconfig` command For more information, see the na_ifconfig(1) man page.	FilerView Network windows For more information, see FilerView help.

Command-line interface

Graphical interface

ifconfig command

For more information, see the na_ifconfig(1) man page.

FilerView Network windows

For more information, see FilerView help.

How interface configuration works

You assign initial network interface configuration values when new interfaces are created. The method you use to configure the interface depends on your preference of command-line interface (the ifconfig command) versus graphical user interface (FilerView).

An ifconfig command is included in the /etc/rc file of the root volume for each storage system interface that you specify an IP address for during the system setup. After your storage system has been set up, the ifconfig commands in the /etc/rc file are used to configure the interfaces on subsequent storage system reboots.

Note
You can use the ifconfig command to change values of parameters for an interface when your storage system is operating. However, such changes are not automatically included in the /etc/rc file. If you want your configuration modifications to be persistent after a reboot, you must include the ifconfig command values in the /etc/rc file.

When you use FilerView to make changes, the changes are automatically written to the /etc/rc file.

Viewing and modifying interface settings at the command line

To view or modify interfaces with the ifconfig command, complete the following step.

Step	Action
1	At your storage system command line, enter ifconfig interface_name parameters For more information on `ifconfig` parameters, see Command syntax for viewing interface settings Command syntax for modifying interface settings

Viewing and modifying interface settings with FilerView

To view or modify interfaces with FilerView, complete the following steps.

Step	Action
1	In FilerView, click Network in the list on the left.
2	In the list under Network, click Manage Interfaces.
3	If you want to....	Then...
	View interface configuration details	Click Show All Interface Details.
	Modify an interface configuration	Click Modify for the interface you want. Examples of configuration values are listed in Command syntax for modifying interface settings

Command syntax for viewing interface settings

The following table describes the command syntax for viewing network interface configuration settings.

To view ...	Use this command syntax ...
A single interface	ifconfig interface_name
All interfaces	ifconfig -a

Command syntax for modifying interface settings

The following table shows how to set specific network interface parameters using the ifconfig command. For more information about each task, see the na_ifconfig(1) man page.

To modify this parameter ...	What the parameter is for...	Use this command syntax ...
IP address	To configure an IP address for the specified interface	ifconfig interface_name IP_address Example 1: To configure a quad-port Ethernet interface e3a with an IP address 192.168.25.10, enter ifconfig e3a 192.168.25.10
Network mask	To specify a subnet mask for the specified interface	ifconfig interface_name netmask mask Example 1: To configure a 24-bit mask for the interface e3a configured in the previous example, enter ifconfig e3a netmask 255.255.255.0 Note By default, your storage system creates a network mask based on the class of the address (Class A, B, C, or D). However, if you have created subnets that do not match the class boundary of the IP address, you must specify a network mask.
Broadcast address	To specify an address that when used enables you to send a message to all machines on a network	ifconfig interface_name broadcast address Example: To set a broadcast address of 192.168.25.250 for the network 192.168.25.10 with subnet mask 255.255.255.0, enter ifconfig e3a broadcast 192.168.25.250
Media type	To configure speed and duplex for an interface	ifconfig interface_name mediatype value Example: To configure the interface e2 as a 100Base-TX full-duplex interface, enter `ifconfig e2 mediatype 100tx-fd`
MTU	To specify an MTU size for transmission between your storage system and its clients	ifconfig interface_name mtusize size Example: To specify an MTU size of 9000 for a Gigabit Ethernet interface e8, enter ifconfig e8 mtusize 9000
Flow control	To specify the flow control type For more information, see the na_ifconfig(1) man page.	ifconfig interface_name flowcontrol value Example: To turn off flow control on interface e8, enter ifconfig e8 flowcontrol none
Trusted/ Untrusted	To declare an interface to be trustworthy or untrustworthy. When you specify an interface as untrusted (untrustworthy), any packets received on the interface are likely to be dropped. For example, if you initiate a ping, the ICMP response packets received on the interface will be dropped.	ifconfig interface_name trusted \| untrusted Example: To specify that the network attached to interface e8 is not trusted for firewall security, enter ifconfig e8 untrusted
WINS	To enable an interface to register with WINS when CIFS is running. By default, network interfaces are registered with a WINS server when CIFS is running.	ifconfig interface_name wins \| -wins Example: To disable interface e8 from registering with WINS servers, enter ifconfig e8 -wins
Partner IP address	To specify the IP address of an interface on the cluster partner and to specify the interface that will assume this interface during takeover	ifconfig interface_name partner address Example: To specify the IP address of an interface on the cluster partner that will be assumed by interface e8 if the cluster partner fails, enter ifconfig e8 partner 192.168.25.10
nfo / -nfo	To specify whether negotiated failover is turned On or Off on the interface This parameter works in tandem with the cluster failover option `cf.takeover.on_network_ interface_failure`. If the `nfo` parameter is turned On for an interface and the cluster failover option is enabled, negotiated takeover between the cluster nodes can occur if this network interface fails. This parameter cannot be used for an interface that is part of a vif. You must include this option in the /etc/rc file for it to persist across reboots. For more information about the `nfo` parameter, see the na_ifconfig(1) man page. For more information about the `cf.takeover.on_network_ interface_failure` option, see the na_options(1) man page.	ifconfig interface_name nfo Example: To enable negotiated failover on an interface e8 of a cluster, enter `ifconfig e8 nfo` Note Remember to enable the `cf.takeover.on_network_ interface_failure` option after enabling negotiated failover with the above command.