Red Hat Enterprise Linux server fails to boot when connected to the network

[Stephen Carville]

David Poole wrote:
> We have a new Dell server which came pre installed with Red Hat
> Enterprise Linux Version 4 server on it.
> However when it is connected to our network it freezes when booting up.
> If I  enter interactive startup and stop the network service from
> running the server boots fine.
> Does anyone have any ideas how to fix this?
> 
> The last message that shows up is "enabling swap space" and it
> eventually says it is killing the services and its out of memory.
> 
> I made it so the network card doesn't start at boot, so I have to enable
> it after logging into the server. It connects to the network fine after
> that, but it just doesn't boot when connected to the network.
> 
> We havn't changed anything on the server as its brand new, just had to
> set up a few settings like the time, root password, etc.
> 
> Thanks in advance for any ideas

It would help if you gave the model of the Dell Server and whether 
you're using the onboard connectors or a PCI card.

Assuming you're using the onboard networking, go into the the BIOS at 
startup and change the network card setting(s) to "Enabled without PXE". 
  This is usually enough if the problem is PXE related.

Next thing to try, when the card offer you an option to configure it, 
hit the key sequence (can't remember what it is offhand) and turn off 
DHCP for the card.  It won't hurt to do that anyway.

--
Stephen Carville
310-342-3602
Systems Engineer
Land America