Bond device shows "HWaddr 00:00:00:00:00:00" from ifconfig output in RHEL 6

Solution Verified - Updated -

Environment

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6

Issue

  • Bond device shows "HWaddr 00:00:00:00:00:00" from ifconfig output in RHEL 6

Resolution

  • After adding bonding options to ifcfg-bondN file, problem was solved.
BONDING_OPTS="mode=active-backup miimon=100 updelay=200 downdelay=200"

Root Cause

  • The bondings options are not defined in ifcfg-ethN files

Diagnostic Steps

  • Network configuration files:
# cat ifcfg-eth6  
DEVICE="eth6"  
BOOTPROTO="none"  
USERCTL="no"  
HWADDR="AA:BB:CC:00:11:22"  
MASTER="bond1"  
SLAVE="yes"  
NM_CONTROLLED="no"  
ONBOOT="yes"  

# cat ifcfg-eth9  
DEVICE="eth9"  
BOOTPROTO="none"  
USERCTL="no"  
HWADDR="AA:BB:CC:00:11:33"  
MASTER="bond1"  
SLAVE="yes"  
NM_CONTROLLED="no"  
ONBOOT="yes"  

# cat ifcfg-bond1  
DEVICE="bond1"  
USERCTL="no"  
IPADDR=10.0.0.1  
NETMASK=10.0.0.254  
NETWORK=10.0.0.0  
BOOTPROTO="none"  
ONBOOT="yes"  

# cat /etc/modprobe.d/bonding.conf  
alias bond0  
bonding  
options bond0 mode=active-backup miimon=100 updelay=200  
downdelay=200  
alias bond1 bonding  
options bond1 mode=active-backup  
miimon=100 updelay=200 downdelay=200  
alias bond2 bonding  
options  
bond2 mode=active-backup miimon=100 updelay=200 downdelay=200  

    Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:00:00:00:00:00
    inet addr:10.0.0.1  Bcast:10.0.0.105  Mask:255.255.255.254
    UP BROADCAST RUNNING MASTER MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
    RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
    TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
    collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
    RX bytes:0 (0.0 b)  TX bytes:0 (0.0 b)

  • In the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 or later, it is required to  define bonding options in ifcfg-bondN files. (N is 0,1,2...)

  • For example:

BONDING_OPTS="mode=active-backup miimon=100 updelay=200  
downdelay=200"
  • Specify above entry in ifcfg-bondN files and remove this  from bonding.conf file.
  • All the options are specified in double  quotes (for example DEVICE="eth6"), remove double quotes from all  configuration files.
  • After that, restart the network service.

This solution is part of Red Hat’s fast-track publication program, providing a huge library of solutions that Red Hat engineers have created while supporting our customers. To give you the knowledge you need the instant it becomes available, these articles may be presented in a raw and unedited form.

Comments