Single Linux install on hot swap disk in multiple machines
Discussion
Looking for a bit of advice from system admin folk out there.
At work, we have a setup of four machines that have caddy drive systems installed which allow us to power down a machine, swap over the OS by changing the disk slotted into it, power it back up and do whatever's needed. This works fine for the Windows disks, but Linux is giving us some sporadic network problems.
My Linux knowledge is somewhat limited, but I've a hypothesis that there's something more solidly configured for Linux such that the MAC address is more key, meaning the disk will likely work fine on the physical hardware on which it was built, but when putting into one of the other machines will not be completely happy as the MAC address is different. The machines in question are all from a batch of machines built and ordered at the same time, with the same configuration hardware wise.
Has anyone come across this sort of setup before and is able to offer any pearls of wisdom? If my hypothesis is correct, is it possible to configure the Linux install to be aware of the four MAC addresses with the expectation that only one is valid ever at one time? If so, how do I go about configuring it in such a manner? Is what we're doing even possible with Linux?
We're using RHEL5 and RHEL6, and will have root access to play with configurations if needed, just need to understand what needs to be done, or things to try to move forward with it. I'm not a sysadmin, we have no local IT onsite, and in lieu of someone visiting and finding the time to investigate, I'd like to try and find a solution to allow my team to be getting on with what they're good at.
At work, we have a setup of four machines that have caddy drive systems installed which allow us to power down a machine, swap over the OS by changing the disk slotted into it, power it back up and do whatever's needed. This works fine for the Windows disks, but Linux is giving us some sporadic network problems.
My Linux knowledge is somewhat limited, but I've a hypothesis that there's something more solidly configured for Linux such that the MAC address is more key, meaning the disk will likely work fine on the physical hardware on which it was built, but when putting into one of the other machines will not be completely happy as the MAC address is different. The machines in question are all from a batch of machines built and ordered at the same time, with the same configuration hardware wise.
Has anyone come across this sort of setup before and is able to offer any pearls of wisdom? If my hypothesis is correct, is it possible to configure the Linux install to be aware of the four MAC addresses with the expectation that only one is valid ever at one time? If so, how do I go about configuring it in such a manner? Is what we're doing even possible with Linux?
We're using RHEL5 and RHEL6, and will have root access to play with configurations if needed, just need to understand what needs to be done, or things to try to move forward with it. I'm not a sysadmin, we have no local IT onsite, and in lieu of someone visiting and finding the time to investigate, I'd like to try and find a solution to allow my team to be getting on with what they're good at.
Sounds like you're probably on the right track. If it sees a new network card then it will assign it a new name.
eth0 is the default which will have been configured during the initial install but when you moved hardware it will call it eth1 which won't be configured.
The output of:
If that is the case then try the following:
eth0 is the default which will have been configured during the initial install but when you moved hardware it will call it eth1 which won't be configured.
The output of:
- ifconfig -a
If that is the case then try the following:
- Delete /etc/udev/rules.d/70-persistent-net.rules
- Update /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0 and remove the HWADDR line
Edited by cornet on Monday 12th October 22:12
Well it turns out three of our disks are fine and the other one might be on its way out. The guy that told me there were loads of problems is now on holiday, but as far as I can tell, certainly from checking three separate OS versions in two different machines, they generally work.
I've made a note of your advice though cornet, so if we do get more problems, I'll be cross referencing what you advised.
That's the last time I take at face value what someone tells me is happening, instead I'll go back to having trust issues
I've made a note of your advice though cornet, so if we do get more problems, I'll be cross referencing what you advised.
That's the last time I take at face value what someone tells me is happening, instead I'll go back to having trust issues
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