PPPoE reports network is down

Question

When I try to connect to the Internet using pon provider, I get this error:

error sending pppoe packet: Network is down
error receiving pppoe packet: Network is down

If I configure the Internet with pppoeconf, then run pon provider, the connection works. I should not have to run pppoeconf every time I turn on my computer. How can I connect to the Internet, with pon without having to run pppoeconf every time?

Update:

When I installed Debian, the installer could not establish a DHCP connection, so I skipped the "Configure network" option. I have found, running this command allows me to start the Internet, without having to configure pppoeconf again.

ifconfig eth0 up
pon dsl-provider

Is there some place I should add ifconfig eth0 up so that it begins during startup and shutdown or when I run pon or poff?

Answer 1

Checkout man 5 interfaces. The /etc/network/interfaces file tells bunch of scripts (debian package ifupdown) how to bring up various network interfaces. You'd find stanzas like the following in them:

auto eth0
iface eth0 inet dhcp

The 'auto eth0' line tells the ifupdown bunch of scripts to 'UP' the eth0 interface when asked to UP everything. The system startup script normally requests that without having to add any lines in it/them.

So, I suggest you have a look at your /etc/network/interfaces file to see if you have an iface line for eth0. If you do check for presence of auto eth0.

If you dont have a DHCP server on the network, you could static IP and set an auto-IP value (for e.g. 169.254.1.1) for the static address. If you chose to use 'manual' method you could add a simple script like the following to /etc/network/if-up.d/ :

#!/bin/bash
test "${IFACE}" = "eth0" && ifconfig ${IFACE} up
exit 0

You'd need auto eth0 if you want it to be automagically brought up during bootup. You can test this (and your script) by using ifup -a and ifdown -a which acts on all the interfaces marked as auto.

Answer 2

When you have a pppoe connection, you can do it in the /etc/network/interfaces via 'Debian' or 'Ubuntu' way like:

auto eth0
iface eth0 inet ppp
    provider dsl-provider

You can find this solution in /usr/share/doc/pppoe/README.Debian

Edit:

If you want to start connection manually, don't use a line auto eth0 and connection you can start by ifup eth0 command.