NetworkManager fails to ignore wlan0 which has been configured in /e/n/i

[Jose L. VG]

I had set up in Ubuntu 9.04 a network config fixed at /etc/netwrking/interfaces in a PC acting as a home printer server SO that users just have to switch ON the machine to access the server printer and shared folders but do not need to log in as any user.

All WAS working over a wlan interface (wlan0) on Ubuntu 9.04

Once I upgraded to 9.10, the network became unstable, disconnected most of the time. I have seen the logs at /var/log/syslog and the problems SEEMS to be that NetworkManager is NOT ignoring wlan0 interface as it should because it is being listed in /etc/network/interfaces and should be managed manually ONLY.

The connection is unstable because NetworkManager is competing with /etc/init.d/networking to manage the device.

Once I remove the config at /etc/network/interfaces, NetworkManager has the device for itself and manages to give me stable connections.

How can I force NetworkManager TO IGNORE wlan0?
Shoud I deinstall it completelly?

[This is not the first time NetworkManager fails on me when I do not seek the default config... is it really worth it?]

[Jose L. VG (josvaz)]

Confirmed. There is some kind of regression at NetworkManager on Karmic that prevents it from releasing an interface configured at:

 /etc/network/interfaces

The workarround for now is to remove the package network-manager (plus its companions network-manager-gnome, ...-kde, etc) and configure the system-server network at /etc/network/interfaces

With no NM (Network Manager) messing with the manually configured interface, the network connection is quite stable and works before a session is open by any user, so the system can be used as a server (printer server, web server, etc)

The regression is there because in Ubuntu Jaunty (9.04) it was not necessary to remove NM to have a single interface configured manually with system-wide settings.

[Jose L. VG (josvaz)]

Apart from the bug itself I would like to ask why on earth is Network Manager (NM) NOT DESIGNED to ALSO enable system-wide fixed networks settings per interface?

NM is ok for most laptops, but when on a workstation or any other system providing services to other machines NO becomes completely USELESS.

Linux is a very powerfull platform for servers and networking... it seems a bit stupid to me that its best config tool to date are text-file editors likek gedit or vi. I should be able to do simple tasks on a GUI, for instance:

1) Setting up a fixed-server system wide network config (fixed ip + gw on interface)
2) Setting up a PERSISTENT route (not having to make and ad-hoc script undes /etc/network/if-up.d...)
3) Setting up custom network configurations per profile (per SSID depending on the wireless network I get into, or per profile name 'work' vs 'home' etc)

[Thomas Hood (jdthood)]

Does this problem still occur in Precise?

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

[Expired for network-manager (Ubuntu) because there has been no activity for 60 days.]