Hello all,
I have reported what follows as a bug in the way 3.2c parses
the entries in /etc/rc.config.
If you add an alias for an ethernet address using either
netsetup or by directly editing /etc/rc.config (which produce the
same result) you obtain:
...
IFCONFIG_0="aaa.bbb.ccc.ddd netmask 255.255.255.0 alias www.xxx.yyy.zzz"
...
Now, on reboot the alias address will be set to you _broadcast_
address and you will suddently notice amazing errors like RIP packets
not being broadcast, or rather, they are broadcast according to your
routed or gated but noone on the net ever, ever sees them as the i/f
broadcast address has been changed.
Adding an explicit "broadcast aaa.bbb.ccc.255" before alias doesn't
change matters at all as it is ignored and the last IP address is
taken to be the broadcast address.
DEC UK is aware of this and have agreed that it is an unpleasant
side-effect especially as it is undocumented and can be reproduced by
running their own scripts.
Please notice that until you reboot you will not see this problem, so
if you have edited the file, say, and added the alias by hand all will
be fine, the moment you reboot.... boom!
I logged the call today so don't expect an immediate reply from DEC
about it. Should I receive a fix I will post immediately.
Ciao,
Arrigo
--
Arrigo Triulzi <arrigo_at_lpac.ac.uk> - +44-171-775-3247
London Parallel Applications Centre - London E1 4NS - UK
Received on Wed Dec 13 1995 - 19:27:59 NZDT