I am connected to a windows network at work. The problem I am having is that the system can't determine the routes to the gateway and the proxy server. I can "see" the DNS server and get an IP address from DHCP, but nothing else. If I manually add the routes to the table, I can connect to the net no problems, but how to I get MLinux to automatically determine the routes the way Windows XP does when I boot windows? And if I am unable to do this, how do I permanently add the two needed routes for booting my notebook at work, and then take them away when I work from home in the simplest of methods? (I'm WAY new to Linux, but I understand networking a little bit!)

Basically, at work we have a DNS server, a gateway, and a proxy server. Unless I add the routes to the table myself, I can't see the gateway or the proxy servers. Once I add them, I can connect to the internet OK. Windows does this automatically, though, and I would think MLinux could be configured to do the same...

One thing to eliminate as a problem is my network adapter. I can connect to the internet just fine at home where there is no gateway and/or proxy server.

Thoughts?

Windows XP is able to determine routes to both the gateway and the proxy server from, I am guessing here, the DNS server. It then sets up the routes dynamically.

Why doesn't Mandrake get/use this information? Is it possible that the Windows network won't send it when it detects a non-windows machine? Or is it more likely that MLinux gets the information but does nothing with it? Any direction here would be much appreciated.

The other difficulty I am having is making the static routes persistent. I added them to the "static-routes" file using the format described on the net in some other forums, but they don't come back when I reboot. I also haven't got any error messages in bootlog related. Can someone point me in a direction?

if u added routes with correct syntax in static-routes file, it must work. at least it works on redhat, fedora distros.

u can add routing commands in /etc/rc.d/rc.local file. the lines in this file will work every boot after all services started.

u may check network files to search trouble.
/etc/sysconfig/network
/etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth(x)

First, thanks for replying. I appreciate it.

Second, do you know why WinXP can automatically determine the gateway and proxy servers during bootup and Linux cannot?

Third, is there some setting I am missing in my network config that prevents me from dynamically setting the routing table during boot?

I ask because ideally I would like to avoid statically setting the routes during boot b/c I move my system around to different networks is all.

i dont know the answer. i never prefer M$ windows as server, especially proxy and internet based server.
i dont know about your distro well. but it is redhat similar. u can check network configuration.
/etc/sysconfig/network
/etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-xxx
check these files if there is any GATEWAY defined.

good luck

Thanks again, maxut.

I'm trying to figure out why my routes don't re-add when I put them in static-routes, but no luck yet. I'll keep looking for the solution.

post the output of
ifconfig
route -n
cat /etc/sysconfig/network
cat /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0

let me check your configuration. maybe i can catch the trouble.

good luck

sorry so late in responding!

route -n output:::

[root@willie thom]# route -n
Kernel IP routing table
Destination Gateway Genmask Flags Metric Ref Use Iface
192.168.188.0 0.0.0.0 255.255.255.0 U 0 0 0 eth0
127.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 255.0.0.0 U 0 0 0 lo
[

ifconfig output:::

root@willie thom]# ifconfig
eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:02:3F:6D:03:66
inet addr:192.168.188.176 Bcast:192.168.188.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
inet6 addr: fe80::202:3fff:fe6d:366/64 Scope:Link
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:964 errors:1 dropped:2 overruns:1 frame:0
TX packets:467 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:155918 (152.2 Kb) TX bytes:80559 (78.6 Kb)
Interrupt:10 Base address:0xf000

lo Link encap:Local Loopback
inet addr:127.0.0.1 Mask:255.0.0.0
inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:16436 Metric:1
RX packets:90 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:90 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:5892 (5.7 Kb) TX bytes:5892 (5.7 Kb)

[root@willie thom]# cat /etc/sysconfig/network
HOSTNAME=willie.therawsons.net
NETWORKING=yes
GATEWAY=192.168.191.1
[root@willie thom]#

(I added the GATEWAY line as suggested!)

[root@willie thom]# cat /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0
DEVICE=eth0
BOOTPROTO=dhcp
ONBOOT=yes
HWADDR=00:02:3f:6d:03:66
MII_NOT_SUPPORTED=no
WIRELESS_ENC_KEY=""
NEEDHOSTNAME=yes
GATEWAY=192.168.191.1
[root@willie thom]

by the way... is it:

static-hosts

or

static_hosts

It might not be useful, but here is the routing table when I boot to the same connection using Windows XP.


C:\Documents and Settings\Thom>route print
===========================================================================
Interface List
0x1 ........................... MS TCP Loopback interface
0x2 ...00 90 4b 4d ce fe ...... Broadcom 802.11b/g WLAN - Packet Scheduler Minip
ort
0x3 ...00 02 3f 6d 03 66 ...... Realtek RTL8139 Family PCI Fast Ethernet NIC - P
acket Scheduler Miniport
===========================================================================
===========================================================================
Active Routes:
Network Destination Netmask Gateway Interface Metric
0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 192.168.191.1 192.168.188.176 20
127.0.0.0 255.0.0.0 127.0.0.1 127.0.0.1 1
192.168.16.1 255.255.255.255 192.168.191.1 192.168.188.176 20
192.168.188.0 255.255.255.0 192.168.188.176 192.168.188.176 20
192.168.188.176 255.255.255.255 127.0.0.1 127.0.0.1 20
192.168.188.255 255.255.255.255 192.168.188.176 192.168.188.176 20
224.0.0.0 240.0.0.0 192.168.188.176 192.168.188.176 20
255.255.255.255 255.255.255.255 192.168.188.176 192.168.188.176 1
255.255.255.255 255.255.255.255 192.168.188.176 2 1
Default Gateway: 192.168.191.1
===========================================================================
Persistent Routes:
None

actually i didnt mean that u should add gateway line in /etc/sysconfig/network.

try the following simple ifcfg-eth0
and following network file