adding non-default route in /etc/network/interfaces doesn't work

[Tom Wood]

Binary package hint: ifupdown

As I understand it, the proper way to introduce a non-default route at boot time is to add a "up route add -net ..." line to the network interface in question to the /etc/network/interfaces file in the interface stanza, like so:

iface eth0 inet static
        address 10.1.1.123
        netmask 255.255.255.0
        network 10.1.1.0
        broadcast 10.1.1.255
        gateway 10.1.1.1
        # dns-* options are implemented by the resolvconf package, if installed
        dns-nameservers 192.168.1.50
        dns-search example.com
        up route add -net 192.168.1.0 netmask 255.255.255.0 gw 10.1.1.2

However, the "up route" line doesn't get executed.

As a separate but related issue, there's no way using System->Administration->Network to add a non-default route either. That would be a nice idea for an enhancement.

[Tom Wood (woodts)]

After booting, the "up route ..." line is not run, as evidenced by "netstat -r" not showing the route specified. However, running "/etc/init.d/networking stop" followed by "/etc/init.d/networking start" after boot runs the "up route ..." line. Race condition of some sort, perhaps, at boot time?

[Tom Wood (woodts)]

Tracked the problem down to NetworkManager. Implementing the steps necessary to turn off NetworkManager as referenced in bug # 82335 alleviates the problem.

As stated in bug # 82335, NetworkManager really needs not to cause this conflict on a purely statically addressed machine.

[Tom Wood (woodts)]

Changed package to reflect actual source of the problem.