Handbook:Parts/Networking/Dynamic

Network management
With laptops, systems can be always on the move. As a result, the system may not always have an Ethernet cable or plugged in or an access point available. Also, the user may want networking to automatically work when an Ethernet cable is plugged in or an access point is found.

In this chapter, we cover how this can be done.

ifplugd
ifplugd is a daemon that starts and stops interfaces when an Ethernet cable is inserted or removed. It can also manage detecting association to Access Points or when new ones come in range.

Configuration for ifplugd is fairly straightforward too. The configuration is held in. Run  for details on the available variables. Also, see for more examples.

In addition to managing multiple network connections, users may want to add a tool that makes it easy to work with multiple DNS servers and configurations. This is very handy when the system receives its IP address via DHCP.

See  to learn more about its features.