Network manual settings - why is "apply" greyed out?

[douglerner]

I have this old eMachines on which I've been running RedHat for about 7 years. It is kernel 2.4 and I wanted to upgrade to a newer kernel so I can run a newer version of some server software I use.

I was debating whether to upgrade to Fedora 12 or Ubuntu, and some other person recommended, "definitely Fedora" so here I am.

The CD-ROM downloaded fine. I was able to boot and install Fedora fine. But I'm stuck at the network settings.

None of the screens *quite* match what is in the quick or detailed installation guide at the Fedora site.

The main problem I have is I'm trying to manually set a couple of fixed IP addresses. I am in "Editing System eth0" now. If I switch the method from "Automatic" to "Manual" the Apply button turns greyed out, and stays that way even after I enter the address, netmask, gateway (router address I assume?) and a DNS server address.

Any suggestions?

I've also downloaded Ubuntu and might try that if Fedora is too weird on this.

Thanks for any advice.

doug

[devils casper]

Hi and Welcome !

Have you gained root privileges? There must be a button 'Administration' or something like that on configuration window. I am not using Fedora these days and can't verify exactly but I am sure that you must have root privileges to edit Network settings.

[douglerner]

Hi and Welcome !

Have you gained root privileges? There must be a button 'Administration' or something like that on configuration window. I am not using Fedora these days and can't verify exactly but I am sure that you must have root privileges to edit Network settings.

Thanks for your note.

Yes, I was prompted for root authentication and it ok'd my password when I entered it.

What are you using these days instead of Fedora?

Thanks,

doug

[devils casper]

I am using CentOS. Its a clone of RHEL and very stable. Debian is my second preference.

Fedora is like a test rat of RedHat labs. RedHat Team put latest, bleeding edge packages in Fedora to test stability and other factors. Stable and bug free packages make way to next release of RHEL and CentOS.

[douglerner]

I am using CentOS. Its a clone of RHEL and very stable. Debian is my second preference.

Fedora is like a test rat of RedHat labs. RedHat Team put latest, bleeding edge packages in Fedora to test stability and other factors. Stable and bug free packages make way to next release of RHEL and CentOS.

Does CentOS have a GUI like Fedora? I also just tried Ubuntu server, but the server version doesn't come with a GUI. I was able to manually configure network/interfaces and resolv.conf manually with vi and get a basic network going, but "sudo apt-get install ubuntu-desktop" didn't work as far as retrieving Gnome goes.

I have a quick Internet line here so can get these install CD-ROMs in like 5 minutes. I was going to try Ubuntu next.

Basically, all I want to do is:

Assign two static IP addresses.
Make sure OpenSSH is working.
Run my server software in one of the IP addresses.

Since I was having trouble with Fedora, and Ubuntu server doesn't seem to be working right, I thought I would try Ubuntu Desktop next (even though the kernel is supposedly not tweaked for optimum server performance).

I guess if that doesn't work I can try CentOS next. How is its ease-of-use. I know my way around some basics, but I'm not really what I would call an expert Linux person. So something user friendly would be nice .

Thanks,

doug

[devils casper]

GUI is available in CentOS by default and you can try its LiveCD before installation.
As I mentioned earlier, its a clone of RedHat Enterprise Linux and suitable for Servers. I am using it for last 2 years.

but "sudo apt-get install ubuntu-desktop" didn't work as far as retrieving Gnome goes.

Why it didn't work? Any error message?

[protolocke]

I have exactly the same problem on ubuntu 9.10. I think maybe the network manager has been recently updated or something and now it doesn't allow me to set manual IP settings, since the 'apply' button gets greyed out. It's pretty frustrating.

[protolocke]

Ok that's weird, I've just tried it again and now it works. It appears that the apply button now only gets greyed out as soon as I type something in the DNS field, but them becomes ungreyed when I finish typing the full DNS address. I'm pretty sure it wasn't working before now.

So maybe it's just a glitch? Try editing your network settings again.