Re: [gentoo-user] NetworkManager OK? kNetworkManager broken? Wireless setup very confusing...

[Bill Kenworthy]

No I am saying create a unique /etc/conf./net, hosts file, bind files,
firewall files (shorewall in my
case), /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf and anything else that
has a unique setup per site and put them together in another directory.

I have tried putting everything in the net file in the past but its just
too complex once you get beyond a few sites, and many things wont fit
anyway.  Ive learnt that its best to simplify - let each part of the
process do one thing only.  You have less failures when you go into a
lecture/demo/site when all eyes are on you :) - and easier to fix
quickly, especially when the local IT services decides to change the
topology/settings without telling you!

Its a lot more complex in my case because of the number and complexity
of sites - VPN's at some, local routing, non-local routing,
private/public addressing, and in one case a site required cisco VPN
over wifi with an OpenVPN running through it to my office connecting
across a private addressed WAN to a asterisk VoIP.

You can do almost anything ...

BillK

On Thu, 2010-09-30 at 20:17 -0600, Darren Kirby wrote:
> Hey Bill,
>
> On Thu, Sep 30, 2010 at 7:13 PM, Bill Kenworthy <billk@×××××××××.au> wrote:
> > Gentoo networking is a bit on the wild side - it doesnt seem to work
> > nicely with third party tools without a lot of work.
> >
> > My fix was to manually configure each location (and a couple of general
> > ones such as wifi hotspot, and basic wired dhcp) as I came across them
> > and copy the resulting config files to separate directories.  Then when
> > I need to return to a location I just copy the matching set of files
> > back and restart services.  Allows a "profile" based approach based on
> > site - some need different screen resolutions, apache or bind running,
> > external projector, firewall settings for VoIP or not and so on - all
> > able to be scripted.
>
> So are you saying you are writing configs in the normal gentoo
> /etc/conf.d/net format? Not sure I'm following you here...
>
> > Very flexible as I control it with a shell script linked to a gtkdialog
> > for site selection one click to open dialog, second click selects site.
> > I have decided not to automate site selection (such as netwwork
> > detection on cable plugin) as I wanted control :)
> >
> > So my reccomendation is forget networkmanager (particularly that heap
> > of !#$#%$@) and the like and roll your own.
> >
> > BillK
> >
>
> Yeah...starting to think that myself. I think conf.d/net allows you to
> write separate configs based on essid, so perhaps I'll just go with
> that. I'm sure I'll be using the same core group of APs a good 80% or
> so of the time, it will just be annoying to have to scan and configure
> manually the other 20%...
>
> Perhaps I'll give Wicd a shot, if if no joy there just stick to what I
> know and do it on the CLI...
>
> Thanks,
>
> D
> --
> Support the mob or mysteriously disappear...
> I'm on flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/badcomputer/
>