dhcpcd-discuss

Assuming Openrc 0.4.3, and dhcpcd-0.50, I'm a bit baffled about how to 
actually configure all the bits to fit together...

Here's my scenario:

- eth0 - outbound broadband link, dhcp client. Will become the default 
route when connected (may be only intermittently connected)
- eth1/2 - in a bridge with wlan0. fixed IP, offers dhcp to client on 
local net
- wlan0 - in a bridge with eth1/2. fixed IP, offers dhcp to clients on 
local net. hostapd
- wlan1 - user may plug in extra wifi card. will act as default outbound 
route when connected, dhcp client (intermittently connected, either card 
can be missing, or may not be in range of network)
- ppp connection - user may use a backup dialout route
- given multiple possible outbound routes I want to prefer the default 
gateway via wireless, then the wired, then the backup ppp connection

(so to summarise, we have a router. clients connect via 2 wired ports 
and one wireless port, all in a bridge. Outbound is via either wired 
link, additional wifi card or ppp dialup)

Now, I'm mainly baffled by how openrc/dhcpcd wants me to work with
- hotplugged interfaces (wlan1)
- dhcpcd'd interfaces which may not have anything connected (eth0)
- static interfaces (my bridge)

What I observe is:

- If I *don't* start /etc/init.d/dhcpcd then when I try and start 
/etc/init.d/net.eth0 with nothing connected, then it hangs for what I 
guess is a 30 second timeout looking for a dhcp server.  It would appear 
that the link state check isn't being checked?

- If I do start dhcpcd then if the cable is plugged, it configures eth0 
without even starting net.eth0 (which is presumably expected).  If I 
manually start net.eth0 then it mutters about connecting to the master 
dhcpcd process, then carries on straight away regardless of whether the 
cable is plugged or not (ie no delay even if cable not connected)

- If I set hotplugging on any net interface (eg net.wlan), then it seems 
that all the manually started interfaces start before dhcpcd starts 
(dependency bug?).  This leads to the unplugged interfaces hanging for 
about 30 secs.  Then later dhcpcd starts, then for whatever reason 
something else tries to start the interfaces again, but this time they 
run through quickly (dhcpcd obviously started now).  Looking at the 
dependencies I see no reason why dhcpcd should start before any interfaces?

- It would appear if I don't start net.ethX for something configured as 
a static ip, then dhcpcd grabs it and gives it a dynamic address.  I 
suspect that the boot process therefore first gives all my interfaces 
dhcp addresses, then later in the process these are replaced with static 
ips (or whatever /etc/conf.d/net specifies)


So how should I be configuring all this!  Lets also assume that the 
above isn't set in stone and I will be adding a GUI so that the user can 
reconfigure all the interfaces, dhcp/static, etc.  So I need to get 
something scalable and flexible and easy to reconfigure

I'm mainly confused on how dhcpcd should be leveraged in all this.  It 
seems that dhcpcd is doing a bit too much and it's not clear how to 
dovetail it with the openrc net scripts?

Also how does this all change with openrc 0.50... ?

It's possible I missed a bunch of documentation - pointers appreciated.  
However, grateful for some suggestions on how to implement such a setup 
and in particular how to make best use of dhcpcd?  Please don't 
overthink the scenario above, it's the big picture I'm after, the above 
just illustrates a reasonably comprehensive configuration

Thanks

Ed W