Network (eth0) automatically gets IP address using DHCP now

I recently ran into a strange problem with the Voyage/Soekris box, where the box would not get the IP address using DHCP on bootup, even with the network cable plugged in. However, when I manually reset the networking (using ifdown/ifup eth0 or /etc/init.d/networking restart), it would work properly.

This was strange, as it had been working fine all along, and I had the /etc/network/interfaces set up as follows:

auto eth0
iface eth0 inet dhcp

After prolonged searching on the Internet, I found two entries on Ubuntu forums:

• No more automatic dhclient on bootup
• Network not connecting automatically on boot

that helped, but didn't quite work in my case.

I finally added a line to the /etc/network/interfaces file to make it read like this:

auto eth0
iface eth0 inet dhcp
pre-up ifconfig eth0 up

and then, hey presto, the network card now picks up an IP address automatically on boot.