Network interface configuration on Debian 6 (No DHCPOFFERS received)

Question

I am trying to configure an interface to allow internet connection on a home server which runs Debian 6 x86.

The server is behind a router which has DHCP enabled. The router IP is 192.168.1.1 with netmask 255.255.255.0.

I have so far tried configuring the connection via /etc/network/interfaces using the official Debian docs.

My current /etc/network/interfaces configuration looks like this:

auto lo
iface lo inet loopback
auto eth0
iface eth0 inet dhcp

Once I saved this configuration, I ran /etc/init.d/networking restart, however, it seems like dhclient is unable to connect. The output given is:

DHCPRELEASE on eth0 to 192.168.1.1 port 67
send_packet: Network is unreachable
send_packet: please consult README file regarding broadcast address.
DHCPDISCOVER on eth0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 7
DHCPDISCOVER on eth0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 12
DHCPDISCOVER on eth0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 17
DHCPDISCOVER on eth0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 13
No DHCPOFFERS received.
No working leases in persistent database - sleeping.
done. 

The output of route -n is empty. (not sure if that is relevant)

I also tried troubleshooting the connection by ensuring that the cable is connected to the server, as well as that the router isn't malfunctioning (no issues with the other devices connected to it). Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

Try this.

instead of

auto eth0

try

auto eth0

allow-hotplug eth0

allow-hotplug starts the interface when the kernel detects a hotplug event from the interface while auto starts the interface on the system start.

I'm sure but I think a DHCP release is a hotplug event.

Hope this was helpful.