a network interface i don't intend to use

[flazz]

i have an onboard ethernet adapter (eth0) that i don't use, i use a wireless (ra0) instead.

my /etc/conf.d/net is very simple and it works

[bjlockie]

[jonnevers]

[flazz]

so adding and deleting a network interface is as simple as making a symlink net.${the_device_name} -> net.lo? cool.

where are the docs on this?

[tarpman]

Not quite. The symlink exists to provide an init script for the interface, which allows it to be started and stopped by the sysvinit system. The actual interface still exists as long as the driver is loaded, and chances are if the driver loads correctly udev will start the service for you during hardware detection. There are a few things you need to do to completely disable the interface:

1) rc-update del net.eth0
2) rm /etc/init.d/net.eth0
3) remove support for your particular driver from your kernel, and delete the appropriate module from /lib/modules/`uname -r`/... if it had been previously built as a module.

I wouldn't recommend that, though; wired, though you may rarely or never use it, is a good thing to have around as a fallback in situations where wireless isn't available. My recommendation:

1) leave the symlink alone
2) emerge --ask --verbose ifplugd

sys-apps/ifplugd is a useful tool. It's supported completely by Gentoo's init system, so you don't need to configure it by hand at all; just installing it is enough. It detects whether a cable is plugged into your wired interface, and starts the applicable net service if it is. This means that if no cable is plugged in when you start the system, the interface won't start; but if for some reason you do need or want to use wired net, all you need to do is plug in the cable and it should work just like that.

Documentation is in /etc/conf.d/net.example, as well as in the Gentoo Handbook, which it is highly recommended that you read before and while trying to learn Gentoo.
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