Ubuntu 14.04 server interfaces not coming up

Question

I have two ethernet interfaces, p10p1 (motherboard) and eth1 (card), and the only interface that is loading on boot is loopback; neither of the Ethernet interfaces are loading. This has started occurring after [unsuccessfully] trying to create a pppoe connection and then completely removing pppoeconf in an attempt to remove any trace of its effect on the system.

The /etc/network/interfaces file is as follows:

auto lo
iface lo inet loopback

auto p10p1
iface p10p1 inet dhcp

auto eth1
iface eth1 inet static
    address 192.168.5.1
    netmask 255.255.255.0
    broadcast 192.168.5.255
    gateway 192.168.0.1        

When booting, I get the message “Waiting for network configuration” then ”Waiting an additional 60 seconds for network configuration.”

I can bring up the interfaces manually using sudo ifconfig p10p1 up (same for eth1), but that doesn’t seem to accomplish anything.

The current configuration is that this server sits behind a router that provides DHCP to the whole network (there are no devices behind the server at this point). p10p1 interface is the “external/primary” interface and eth1 is the “internal” interface.

The end goal is to get a pppoe connection going to I can turn the unfortunate router my ISP gave me for our fiber internet into bridge mode and make the server the primary gateway/firewall/router again; that’s how it was when we had cable Internet.

For now, though, I just need to get this box communicating with the interwebs again so I can install rp-pppoe and try that.

I’m wondering if my uninstall of pppoeconf wiped something out, or if in the process of configuring pppoeconf, something was done that might render /etc/network/interfaces inoperable. Is that possible?

Any thoughts on why my interfaces are not coming up on boot?

Answer 1

I'm not sure how much of an answer this will be as I'm not sure exactly why this worked (so I won't be checking it as the correct answer). There was nothing wrong with the configuration, it seemed to do with the file itself. I created a new file with the exact same parameters, wrote it to the original file name, restarted and boom, the interfaces came up exactly how they are supposed to.

@Brandon's comment about using ifup on the interface led me on the path. Prior to overwriting the file, I tried using ifup p10p1 and I was informed that it could not read the file or some such thing. So I thought maybe the file was corrupt, overwrote it, and now it works.