Manage different network
profilesDraknetprofileIntroductionEach network interface of a Mageia system is initially
configured with a fix set of parameters. This corresponds
to what is expected by a user of a desktop computer, but
may not be adequate when the system is moved between various
network environments: having the system run in different
network environments will require that multiple configurations
co-exist for a given network device - otherwise the interface
might need to be re-configured each time the network environment
changes.ProfilesLinux provides support for multiple configurations
of network devices as a standard feature. The notion
of a "network profile"
refers to a set of configurations of network devices,
defined for a specific network environment. Each network
profile has a name -
the initial configuration that comes out of system generation
has the name "default"; when a new
profile is created, a name must be specified which is
different from all already existing profile names.DraknetprofileDraknetprofile is a - very simple - component of
the Mageia Control Center (MCC), it provides a Graphical
User Interface (GUI) for managing profiles. This GUI
allows to
switch between profiles - i.e. activate a target
profile to become the "current profile",create a new, additional profile,delete a profile from the list of defined profiles.Running DraknetprofileDefining profiles, profile switchingDefining/modifying profiles concerns the entire Linux
system and all its users. Running draknetprofile therefore
requires root privileges. Normally, launching is achieved
from within MCC (which already runs as root):
Figure 1: Mageia Control
Center: Network & Internet tab
launch the MCC by hitting the MCC icon in one
of the panels of your desktop,select the "Network & Internet" tab,hit "Manage different network profiles" in the
"Personalize and Secure your network" Section (solid
red contour in Figure 1).Draknetprofile can also be launched by a command-line
instruction from a terminal emulator with root privileges
(this may be helpful when standard-output or error-output
from draknetprofile needs to be consulted - for instance
for debugging). Simply type: draknetprofile After the launch, the main page of Draknetprofile
will be displayed:
Figure 2: Management actions
of Draknetprofile
The upper zone of the window contains the list of
the names of all presently defined profiles. The bottom
zone presents a series of buttons:"Activate" ... establish the selected profile
(top zone of the window) as the current profile (and
save the properties of the old profile);"New" ... create a new profile;"Delete" ... delete the selected profile from
the list of defined profiles;"Quit" ... exit from Draknetprofile.Before hitting the "Activate" or the "Delete" button,
you have to select a profile from the list: select it
by a left-button click on the name of the target profile.Hitting the "New" button will launch an auxiliary
window where you can type the name of the profile you
want to create; this name must be different from any
already existing profile. This profile will be created
as a precise copy of the currently active profile and
immediately activated as the current profile. You will
probably then need to specify its properties (modify
the automatically created configuration) in a second,
independent action:exit from Draknetprofile (hit the "Quit" button),back in the "Network & Internet" tab, you
select the tab "Set up a new network interface (...)"
(marked with dashed red contour in Figure 1),you then go through the steps for configuring
the interface; they are similar to those you
did for configuring the original interface during
system generation - as documented in the Drakconnect
manual.The middle zone of the window is normally hidden,
hit the "Advanced" button to make it visible. It should
display the list of names of Draknetprofile "modules" (such as "network",
"firewall", "urpmi"), each with a check-button next to
the name; these check-buttons determine whether the properties
controlled by that module are included into the profile
or not.Using a system that has more than one profileIn a system where several profiles are defined, an
additional user interaction is required when the system
boots: at the very end of the bootstrapping activities
- just before the Desktop Environment starts - you will
get a message like Select network profile:
(1) default (2) roaming* Type 1 or 2 to select the "default", respectively
the "roaming" profile, or carriage-return to select the
profile that is marked with an asterisk (the profile that
was active when the system had been shut down).Presently (Mageia-5) there appears to be an intermittent
problem: it happens that the system becomes unresponsive
after soliciting the user to select a profile. The only
way out of this situation is to launch another boot.
This problem is under investigation.Appendix: Files relevant to DraknetprofileThe configuration data of network interfaces are stored
in the directory /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/,
in files with names like ifcfg-xxx.The name of the currently active profile is maintained
in the file /etc/netprofile/current .