[Pkg-utopia-maintainers] Bug#658919: Bug#658919: Bug#658919: NetworkManager install destroys access

[Michael Biebl]

On 07.02.2012 05:46, Teunis Peters wrote:
> On 12-02-06 02:00 PM, Michael Biebl wrote:
>> severity 658919 important tags 658919 + moreinfo thanks
>>
>> Am 06.02.2012 20:35, schrieb Teunis Peters:
>>> Package: network-manager Version: 0.9.2.0-1 Severity: critical
>>>
>>> While updating the package 'network-manager' it cut off access to my network card, removing the static IP configuration in /etc/network/interfaces This is for a static IP
>>> based server. Server is no longer accessible until I can go onsite.   No log information.
>>>
>>> Preference: I want to blacklist this package, but if it must be installed, and almost any of the 'desktop' packages require it, there must be a way to disable its activity. 
>>> network-manager is not needed on a static IP server, even when some of - say - the gnome desktop tools, are.
>>>
>>
>> Please attach your /etc/network/interfaces, the output of nm-tool and the output out NetworkManager when you restart it.
>>
>> You should have relevant log entries in your syslog.
>>
>>
>>
>>
> 
> Have access now.
> Marked this critical as system becomes unavailable
> 
> There will be no nm-tool logs.   I can't produce them from nonworking system, and network-manager running cuts off all access except emergency console.
> 
> expected behaviour:
> 1. network-manager not being a dependency.   (it's desktop-only software, no business on a server, even one that has a graphical desktop sometimes)
> 2. it should not touch operational interfaces.
> 3. it should ask before restarting on an ssh-based connection.   And it should accept 'no' as an answer.

One could argue that installing gnome on a cricical server is
questionable. In any case, gnome and it's different components rely on
netowrkmanager, so this depencency is not going away.

What it shouldn't do is touch a interface that is configured in
/etc/network/interfaces and NM is in unmanaged mode. I need more
information though, what's going on in your case. So far I don't see yet
what went wrong.

Regarding the restart-on-upgrade issue: I was considering no longer
restarting the NetworkManager daemon on upgrades but I'm usually not a
friend of this behaviour as this potentially leaves on older version of
a critical system daemon running unpatched.
I've also considered some kind of compromise, i.e. if a SSH session is
detected, that no restart is made. But I haven't found a good a way yet
to reliably determine if the system upgrade is made from a SSH (or any
kind of remote) session.

> 
> Actual behaviour:
> 1. it's a dependency that's automatically installed for a number of packages
> 2. it gives no warning or time to respond before it wipes out the network configuration.
> 
> After this log I'm purging it again.
> Is there a way to permanently blacklist it from install?

If another package is depending on it, you can't blacklist it from
install. What you can do, is create a dummy package with equivs or even
more simple run "update-rc.d network-manager disable". This will simple
disable the system daemon.

> syslog:Feb  6 20:26:33 rockstar NetworkManager[24998]: <info> (eth1): now unmanaged
> syslog:Feb  6 20:26:33 rockstar NetworkManager[24998]: <info> (eth1): device state change: disconnected -> unmanaged (reason 'removed') [30 10 36]
> syslog:Feb  6 20:26:33 rockstar NetworkManager[24998]: <info> (eth1): cleaning up...
> syslog:Feb  6 20:26:33 rockstar NetworkManager[24998]: <info> (eth1): taking down device.

Was this the time you upgraded the system?
From which version to which version did you upgrade? What other packages
were upgraded?


-- 
Why is it that all of the instruments seeking intelligent life in the
universe are pointed away from Earth?

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