12.2. Establishing an Ethernet Connection

network speeds; make sure your NIC is compatible with the network to which you want to connect.

To add an Ethernet connection, follow these steps:

1. Click the Devices tab.

2. Click the New button on the toolbar.

3. Select Ethernet connection from the Device Type list, and click Forward.

4. If you have already added the network interface card to the hardware list, select it from the Ethernet card list. Otherwise, select Other Ethernet Card to add the hardware device.

   	Note
   	in the hardware list on the Hardware tab.

5. If you selected Other Ethernet Card, the Select Ethernet Adapter window appears. Select the manufacturer and model of the Ethernet card. Select the device name. If this is the system's first Ethernet card, select eth0 as the device name; if this is the second Ethernet card, select eth1 (and so on). The Network Administration Tool also allows you to configure the resources for the NIC. Click Forward to continue.

6. In the Configure Network Settings window as shown in Figure 12-2Forward to continue.

7. Click Apply on the Create Ethernet Device page.

After configuring the Ethernet device, it appears in the device list as shown in Figure 12-3.

Be sure to select File => Save to save the changes.

After adding the Ethernet device, you can edit its configuration by selecting the device from the device list and clicking Edit. For example, when the device is added, it is configured to start at boot time by default. To change this setting, select to edit the device, modify the Activate device when computer starts value, and save the changes.

When the device is added, it is not activated immediately, as seen by its Inactive status. To activate the device, select it from the device list, and click the Activate button. If the system is configured to activate the device when the computer starts (the default), this step does not have to be performed again.

If you associate more than one device with an Ethernet card, the subsequent devices are device aliases and an eth1:1 device. For details, refer to Section 12.13 Device Aliases.