Question: I've some Debian or Ubuntu based servers here with
allow-hotplug eth0
and some with
auto eth0
in /etc/network/interfaces. What is the difference between them? If I'm correct, both are bringing up the interfaces during startup and if a cobel is pluged in. Right?
Thanks
allow-hotplug allows you to plug in a new network device (say, turning on a network card, PCMCIA cards, etc.).
auto is just auto-detection of the port being plugged in IIRC to bring the interface online.
One potential serious consequence of allow-hotplug instead of auto is that allow-hotplug interface usually do not come up after issuing a
/etc/init.d/network restart
they go down but don't come up again which leaves you with a "down" interface.
