You are prompted for the following information:
This is the name of the machine. The machine may have several, but there is one which is more important (more official). The name may be composed of letters and numbers. The case is not important. It also contains the domain name. It is not recommend to start the name with a digit. Some programs may naively interpret this name as an IP number.
The machine is part of a set of machine under a common administration. This domain name is generally used for email. If you don't know what to write there then use the domain name of your Internet provider. Put only a single word (name without domain) if you have no idea.
ex: pcjack.mydomain.com
The machine may have nicknames for different purposes. You can specify several on the line, separated by spaces. Linuxconf will automatically add the "loghost" alias. This means that every Linuxconf managed machine may be referenced locally as "loghost". This is handy when creating various generic procedures.
If your machine is on a network (Ethernet probably), you must enter its IP number. If there is no IP network currently installed on your LAN, you can leave this empty.
You can set the IP address of the first Ethernet adaptor to 127.0.0.1. Linuxconf will prompt you about this anyway if you left this field blank.
Choosing this number will allows you to operate normally with full networking even if you don't have any Ethernet adaptor. You may want to do this for the following reasons.
PPP
or SLIP
networking.
You can setup your network with the same IP number used by the PCMCIA Ethernet adaptor. You simply select the dummy0 (First dummy device) instead of eth0 as the net device. This allows you to have a permanent IP number even when you are not connected to the net (The PCMCIA device is unplugged).
If you are setting up a new isolated LAN (Not connected to the Internet, the IP network 192.168.1.0 is a good choice. This is a network number specifically allocated for private network. If your network gets hook to the Internet later (through a firewall for example), your network number won't class with an existing network, so the gateway won't be confused.
Pick an IP number for your machine between 192.168.1.1 and 192.168.1.254. The Network address will be 192.168.1.0
Your IP number may be parsed into two components: The network part and the station ID. For example, a station having the IP number 192.168.1.10 belong to the network 192.168.1.0 and do have the ID 10. It is common practice to express a network address using four numbers, where the one corresponding to the station ID are 0.
This field is optional (like the netmask) below. Unless there is sub-netting on your LAN.
Linuxconf computes most of the network parameters out of the IP number you have entered. On some networks (using sub-netting), you have to provide more information. Generally only the netmask is needed. Here is a table showing what Linuxconf can compute
Unless you are doing some sub-netting, you can leave this field empty. Your administrator will provide a magic sequence like 255.255.255.192 if there is sub-netting on you LAN.
A help list is available on this field. It lists the most used netmasks. Useful in case you are not sure of the exact netmask (You were told about it over the phone by the admin)...
Here is a table showing network and network configuration. This is shown for an x.y.z. This table is produced by the command "/usr/lib/linuxconf/lib/calcmask x.y.z"
Netmask Networkadr Start Stop
255.255.255.128 x.y.z.0 x.y.z.1 x.y.z.126
x.y.z.128 x.y.z.129 x.y.z.254
255.255.255.192 x.y.z.0 x.y.z.1 x.y.z.62
x.y.z.64 x.y.z.65 x.y.z.126
x.y.z.128 x.y.z.129 x.y.z.190
x.y.z.192 x.y.z.193 x.y.z.254
255.255.255.224 x.y.z.0 x.y.z.1 x.y.z.30
x.y.z.32 x.y.z.33 x.y.z.62
x.y.z.64 x.y.z.65 x.y.z.94
x.y.z.96 x.y.z.97 x.y.z.126
x.y.z.128 x.y.z.129 x.y.z.158
x.y.z.160 x.y.z.161 x.y.z.190
x.y.z.192 x.y.z.193 x.y.z.222
x.y.z.224 x.y.z.225 x.y.z.254
255.255.255.240 x.y.z.0 x.y.z.1 x.y.z.14
x.y.z.16 x.y.z.17 x.y.z.30
x.y.z.32 x.y.z.33 x.y.z.46
x.y.z.48 x.y.z.49 x.y.z.62
x.y.z.64 x.y.z.65 x.y.z.78
x.y.z.80 x.y.z.81 x.y.z.94
x.y.z.96 x.y.z.97 x.y.z.110
x.y.z.112 x.y.z.113 x.y.z.126
x.y.z.128 x.y.z.129 x.y.z.142
x.y.z.144 x.y.z.145 x.y.z.158
x.y.z.160 x.y.z.161 x.y.z.174
x.y.z.176 x.y.z.177 x.y.z.190
x.y.z.192 x.y.z.193 x.y.z.206
x.y.z.208 x.y.z.209 x.y.z.222
x.y.z.224 x.y.z.225 x.y.z.238
x.y.z.240 x.y.z.241 x.y.z.254
255.255.255.248 x.y.z.0 x.y.z.1 x.y.z.6
x.y.z.8 x.y.z.9 x.y.z.14
x.y.z.16 x.y.z.17 x.y.z.22
x.y.z.24 x.y.z.25 x.y.z.30
x.y.z.32 x.y.z.33 x.y.z.38
x.y.z.40 x.y.z.41 x.y.z.46
x.y.z.48 x.y.z.49 x.y.z.54
x.y.z.56 x.y.z.57 x.y.z.62
x.y.z.64 x.y.z.65 x.y.z.70
x.y.z.72 x.y.z.73 x.y.z.78
x.y.z.80 x.y.z.81 x.y.z.86
x.y.z.88 x.y.z.89 x.y.z.94
x.y.z.96 x.y.z.97 x.y.z.102
x.y.z.104 x.y.z.105 x.y.z.110
x.y.z.112 x.y.z.113 x.y.z.118
x.y.z.120 x.y.z.121 x.y.z.126
x.y.z.128 x.y.z.129 x.y.z.134
x.y.z.136 x.y.z.137 x.y.z.142
x.y.z.144 x.y.z.145 x.y.z.150
x.y.z.152 x.y.z.153 x.y.z.158
x.y.z.160 x.y.z.161 x.y.z.166
x.y.z.168 x.y.z.169 x.y.z.174
x.y.z.176 x.y.z.177 x.y.z.182
x.y.z.184 x.y.z.185 x.y.z.190
x.y.z.192 x.y.z.193 x.y.z.198
x.y.z.200 x.y.z.201 x.y.z.206
x.y.z.208 x.y.z.209 x.y.z.214
x.y.z.216 x.y.z.217 x.y.z.222
x.y.z.224 x.y.z.225 x.y.z.230
x.y.z.232 x.y.z.233 x.y.z.238
x.y.z.240 x.y.z.241 x.y.z.246
x.y.z.248 x.y.z.249 x.y.z.254
255.255.255.252 x.y.z.0 x.y.z.1 x.y.z.2
x.y.z.4 x.y.z.5 x.y.z.6
x.y.z.8 x.y.z.9 x.y.z.10
x.y.z.12 x.y.z.13 x.y.z.14
x.y.z.16 x.y.z.17 x.y.z.18
x.y.z.20 x.y.z.21 x.y.z.22
x.y.z.24 x.y.z.25 x.y.z.26
x.y.z.28 x.y.z.29 x.y.z.30
x.y.z.32 x.y.z.33 x.y.z.34
x.y.z.36 x.y.z.37 x.y.z.38
x.y.z.40 x.y.z.41 x.y.z.42
x.y.z.44 x.y.z.45 x.y.z.46
x.y.z.48 x.y.z.49 x.y.z.50
x.y.z.52 x.y.z.53 x.y.z.54
x.y.z.56 x.y.z.57 x.y.z.58
x.y.z.60 x.y.z.61 x.y.z.62
x.y.z.64 x.y.z.65 x.y.z.66
x.y.z.68 x.y.z.69 x.y.z.70
x.y.z.72 x.y.z.73 x.y.z.74
x.y.z.76 x.y.z.77 x.y.z.78
x.y.z.80 x.y.z.81 x.y.z.82
x.y.z.84 x.y.z.85 x.y.z.86
x.y.z.88 x.y.z.89 x.y.z.90
x.y.z.92 x.y.z.93 x.y.z.94
x.y.z.96 x.y.z.97 x.y.z.98
x.y.z.100 x.y.z.101 x.y.z.102
x.y.z.104 x.y.z.105 x.y.z.106
x.y.z.108 x.y.z.109 x.y.z.110
x.y.z.112 x.y.z.113 x.y.z.114
x.y.z.116 x.y.z.117 x.y.z.118
x.y.z.120 x.y.z.121 x.y.z.122
x.y.z.124 x.y.z.125 x.y.z.126
x.y.z.128 x.y.z.129 x.y.z.130
x.y.z.132 x.y.z.133 x.y.z.134
x.y.z.136 x.y.z.137 x.y.z.138
x.y.z.140 x.y.z.141 x.y.z.142
x.y.z.144 x.y.z.145 x.y.z.146
x.y.z.148 x.y.z.149 x.y.z.150
x.y.z.152 x.y.z.153 x.y.z.154
x.y.z.156 x.y.z.157 x.y.z.158
x.y.z.160 x.y.z.161 x.y.z.162
x.y.z.164 x.y.z.165 x.y.z.166
x.y.z.168 x.y.z.169 x.y.z.170
x.y.z.172 x.y.z.173 x.y.z.174
x.y.z.176 x.y.z.177 x.y.z.178
x.y.z.180 x.y.z.181 x.y.z.182
x.y.z.184 x.y.z.185 x.y.z.186
x.y.z.188 x.y.z.189 x.y.z.190
x.y.z.192 x.y.z.193 x.y.z.194
x.y.z.196 x.y.z.197 x.y.z.198
x.y.z.200 x.y.z.201 x.y.z.202
x.y.z.204 x.y.z.205 x.y.z.206
x.y.z.208 x.y.z.209 x.y.z.210
x.y.z.212 x.y.z.213 x.y.z.214
x.y.z.216 x.y.z.217 x.y.z.218
x.y.z.220 x.y.z.221 x.y.z.222
x.y.z.224 x.y.z.225 x.y.z.226
x.y.z.228 x.y.z.229 x.y.z.230
x.y.z.232 x.y.z.233 x.y.z.234
x.y.z.236 x.y.z.237 x.y.z.238
x.y.z.240 x.y.z.241 x.y.z.242
x.y.z.244 x.y.z.245 x.y.z.246
x.y.z.248 x.y.z.249 x.y.z.250
x.y.z.252 x.y.z.253 x.y.z.254
You may enter the network address directly. Linuxconf will compute it correctly from the netmask. For special setups (do you have an example) you may want to override the default behavior of Linuxconf.
The broadcast address is also computed from the netmask. On some network, the broadcast address is configured differently so you will have to enter it manually.
Each adaptor configuration is associated with a specific network device in the kernel. For example, eth0 correspond to the first ethernet adaptor, eth1, to the second. On token ring network, tr0 correspond to the first token ring adaptor. This field lets you pick the proper device. There is a help list showing which ones are available.
You can control which driver will be loaded for each adaptor.
Each network device is associated with a kernel module. This module is either built in the kernel or must be loaded at run time. Linuxconf will take care of loading it if needed, but you have to tell it which type of network adaptor you have. Use to help list to find out the name of the various kernel module. The list shows all available kernel module for Linux. Module with the "(inst)" prefix are currently installed on your workstation. If you need one which is not installed, you will have to recompile a kernel and select (using "make menuconfig") the appropriate kernel module.
Most kernel module have the ability to auto-probe their configuration. Especially the PCI ones. Some requires that you provide them with the basic configuration, which is the I/O address and the Irq (interrupt number). This is especially true for Ne2000 adaptor (since Linux 2.0, PCI Ne2000 adaptor are auto-probed, prior to 2.0.30, you were forced to enter the I/O and Irq even for Ne2000 PCI adaptors).
So you enter the I/O using the following 0xNNN format where NNN is an hexadecimal number, as presented by the adaptor configuration utility.
Like the I/O, you need sometime to enter the value as the driver is unable to probe for it (especially for Ne2000). You can use the help list to find out which Irq are already allocated to which device on your workstation.
When you have several network adaptors of the same type in the machine, you must provide the I/O port and Irq information for all the adaptor in one shot, in the configuration of the first network adaptor. You enumerate the I/O ports and Irq on the same line using comma to separate them.
I/O port (opt) : 0x300,0x320
Irq (opt) : 10,11