December 4, 2008 · General · Email This Post

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There seems to be a known bug with the Gnome Network Manager included with the Ubuntu 8.10 release that resets any static ip address settings that are set manually when the system is rebooted reverting back to a DHCP setup. These steps will remove the Gnome Network Manager and help you manually setup the required files for your static network configuration.

Solution 1

Step 1 – Remove the Gnome Network Manager: You need to complete this step first because if left installed this application will overwrite any changes you make to your configuration when the system is rebooted. This is apparently where the bug is located.
To remove the Gnome Network Manager issue the following command in the terminal:

sudo update-rc.d -f NetworkManager remove

This will disable and remove the Gnome Network Manager application. Now you will have to edit your configuration manually.

Restart your System

Step 2 – Manual configuration of your network interface: In this step you will manually configure your network interface by editing the following two files using your preferred text editor(nano gedit vi). For the purpose of this example I am using the nano editor.

Step 2.1 – Manually configure your network interface file: You can edit the appropriate file by entering the following command into the terminal:

sudo nano /etc/network/interfaces

Once your prefered editor opens the file you want to enter the following information (changing your addresses where necessary):

auto lo eth0
iface lo inet loopback
iface eth0 inet static
address xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx(enter your ip here)
netmask xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
gateway xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx(enter gateway ip here)

Be sure to save your changes.

Step 2.2 – Manually configure your dns configuration file: You can edit the appropriate file by entering the following command into the terminal:

sudo nano /etc/resolv.conf

Once your preferred editor opens the file you want to enter the following information (changing your addresses where necessary):

# Generated by NetworkManager
nameserver xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx(enter your dns server ip)
nameserver xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx(enter your alt dns server ip)

Be sure to save your changes.

Step 2.3 – Manually restart your network interface with the new settings: Enter the following command in the terminal:

sudo /etc/init.d/networking restart

This should return a result that looks like the following:

*Reconfiguring network interfaces… [OK]

At this point in your terminal you should be able to run the ifconfig command and the results should reflect your new settings. If the addressing is correct you should have full network access, even after a system restart.

Haven’t tried reinstalling the Network Manger after doing these steps to see if it still works.

Solution 2

Install Wicd if you need both wired and wireless connection

Solution 3

Also, it is said that adding a new config in networkmanager (instead of editing the system default ‘Auto eth0′ stuff) and assign the right MAC address (and the static ip) will fix it, every thing’s fine even after reboot, and you can still use that gnome-networkmanager.

Check this simple guide

Credit Goes here

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48 Comments to “How to Set a Static IP address in Ubuntu 8.10 (Intrepid Ibex)”

  1. Luciano says:

    Static IP ok with solution #8 BUT I would also like to know how to make resolv.conf stay the way we edit it.

    Anyone?

  2. Luciano says:

    I found here how to avoid your resolv.conf:

    sudo chattr +i /etc/resolv.conf

    Note: this locks the file so even as root you wont be able to edit it. To unlock it use: sudo chattr -i /etc/resolv.conf

  3. OryK says:

    Artist, i did your solution steps, and works, I have two issues,
    1.- Network Manager doesnt start at Start Up.
    2.- I cant resolve DNS and Internet traficct doesnt Work.

    if somebody can help me.

  4. Zilus says:

    Great dude, I was having this problem and now It’s fixed.

  5. chak says:

    Reply 20 by Fabio worked for me. Thanks.

  6. JBC says:

    # 20 worked for me too! Thanks Fabio Dude…

  7. tauraz says:

    #8 and #32 makes my system with static IP thanks a lot.

  8. Phil says:

    As soon as i disable the Gnome network manager my nic stops working and i cant seem to get Eth0 back

  9. Lavi says:

    Thanx, it worked … :)

  10. Peter Mercedes says:

    Hi Phil!

    I think you missed put eth0, after auto lo:
    auto lo eth0

    Your interfaces file at /etc/network/ must look like this:

    auto lo eth0

    iface lo inet loopback

    iface eth0 inet static
    address xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx(enter your ip here)
    netmask xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx(enter your netmask here)
    gateway xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx(enter gateway ip here)

    I hope you can solve your probem.

  11. Stefan says:

    Hey, great thanks! Any word on whether it’s better practice to add eht0 after auto lo as Peter Mercedes suggested?

  12. Stefan says:

    Just a quick one… this sometimes NEEDS a reboot to work… well it does with a VirtualBox Ubuntu 9 machine running on OSX. Otherwise.. works like a charm.

  13. warttan says:

    i did all the steps bu it says :
    warttan@warttan-desktop:~$ sudo /etc/init.d/networking restart
    * Reconfiguring network interfaces…
    Don’t seem to be have all the variables for eth0/inet.
    Failed to bring up eth0.
    [ OK ]
    warttan@warttan-desktop:~$
    please help me

  14. Stefan says:

    If you check the status of the network interface cards you should be able to see if they have been successfully been assigned a static ip at that point.. do ifconfig again and see. S

  15. Stefan says:

    I was getting that too, but my statis IP was still working.. maybe its because we stopped the service or something.

  16. Saif says:

    I used this when I had Ubuntu 8.10 but now that I’ve upgraded to Ubuntu 9.04 I want to undo this but couldn’t. I tried to reverse whatever I did but it doesn’t seem to work. Any tips?

  17. bob says:

    Under Ubuntu 9.04 I simply disabled Network Manager from System|Preferences|Startup applications. Edit the two files as suggested and reboot and the PC came up answering at the new IP.

  18. bob says:

    OK, after reboot I had to re-edit /etc/resolv.conf and put the name servers back as it dumped the info.

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