control of order of inet devices

[Willy Offermans]

Hello Brooks,

On Tue, Apr 16, 2013 at 10:44:23AM -0500, Brooks Davis wrote:
> On Tue, Apr 16, 2013 at 03:56:21PM +0200, Willy Offermans wrote:
> > Dear FreeBSD friends,
> > 
> > How can I control the order of the network devices in FreeBSD.
> > 
> > For example, the command ifconfig lists the network devices:
> > 
> > pcn0: flags=8802<BROADCAST,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 1500
> >         options=80000<LINKSTATE>
> >         ether 00:0c:46:ea:2b:32
> >         nd6 options=29<PERFORMNUD,IFDISABLED,AUTO_LINKLOCAL>
> >         media: Ethernet 100baseFX
> >         status: no carrier
> > rl0: flags=8843<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 1500
> >         options=2008<VLAN_MTU,WOL_MAGIC>
> >         ether 00:11:6b:99:7c:5a
> >         inet XXX.XXX.24.4 netmask 0xffffff80 broadcast 137.226.24.127
> >         inet6 fe80::211:6bff:fe99:7c5a%rl0 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x4 
> >         nd6 options=29<PERFORMNUD,IFDISABLED,AUTO_LINKLOCAL>
> >         media: Ethernet autoselect (100baseTX <full-duplex>)
> >         status: active
> > nfe0: flags=8802<BROADCAST,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 1500
> >         options=82008<VLAN_MTU,WOL_MAGIC,LINKSTATE>
> >         ether 00:1b:fc:df:a1:33
> >         nd6 options=29<PERFORMNUD,IFDISABLED,AUTO_LINKLOCAL>
> >         media: Ethernet autoselect (none)
> >         status: no carrier
> > plip0: flags=8810<POINTOPOINT,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 1500
> >         nd6 options=29<PERFORMNUD,IFDISABLED,AUTO_LINKLOCAL>
> > lo0: flags=8049<UP,LOOPBACK,RUNNING,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 16384
> >         options=600003<RXCSUM,TXCSUM,RXCSUM_IPV6,TXCSUM_IPV6>
> >         inet6 ::1 prefixlen 128 
> >         inet6 fe80::1%lo0 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x7 
> >         inet 127.0.0.1 netmask 0xff000000 
> >         nd6 options=21<PERFORMNUD,AUTO_LINKLOCAL>
> > tap0: flags=8843<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 1500
> >         options=80000<LINKSTATE>
> >         ether 00:22:19:10:8d:bb
> >         inet XXX.XXX.24.19 netmask 0xffffffff broadcast 137.226.24.19
> >         inet6 fe80::2bd:83ff:fe68:7200%tap0 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x8 
> >         nd6 options=21<PERFORMNUD,AUTO_LINKLOCAL>
> >         media: Ethernet autoselect
> >         status: no carrier
> > 
> > pcn0 being first. However, I would like tap0 being first and of course
> > without any output ordering trick.
> 
> The order is dictated by the order the drivers are probed by the kernel.
> When the devices are created they are added to a linked list.  There is
> no practical way to control the order and it has little or no effect.
> 
> -- Brooks

This is what I read in some of the articles or handbook as well. Can I
reorder this linked list? Can I control the order by creating the kernel
and reordering the inclusion of the device drivers?

I am aware that the request sounds silly, but I have a third party program
which checks its licence against the first inet device. Since I have added
a new inet controller, the sequence has changed. Of course I ask for a new
licence, but they want to charge me for that and I do not see any reason
for that.

-- 
Met vriendelijke groeten,
With kind regards,
Mit freundlichen Gruessen,

Willy

*************************************
 W.K. Offermans
Home:   +31 45 544 49 44
Mobile: +31 681 15 87 68
e-mail: Willy at Offermans.Rompen.nl

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