Bug#376136: exim4: Long delay at boot when iface is unplugged

[michaelm]

On Fri, Jun 30, 2006 at 03:21:32PM +0200, Marc Haber wrote:
> On Fri, Jun 30, 2006 at 03:47:13PM +0300, michaelm wrote:
> > There's a noticeable delay (about a minute or a bit less) for starting
> > exim at boot when the eth0 here is not connected to a switch. If it's
> > plugged, it normally starts immediately.
> 
> Sounds like DNS issue. Does your system know how to find out the host
> name from its IP address without refering to the external DNS?

It seems it tries to resolve the hostname into an ip without looking into
/etc/hosts, and having a static config in /etc/network/interfaces it
waits for it to fail. It looks like it is the same delay "host domain" does
when the iface is technically up put actually unplugged (but apps like nmap
read /etc/hosts and work normally).

I tried a DHCP setup but that also has a delay at bootup when unplugged (waiting
for a dhcp reply that never comes) so it doesn't really solve it:)