Nick Howitt wrote:

I do compile a forcedeth driver here and the issue in that thread you linked to has gone away as the devs have dropped the plan to revert to a stock kernel in 7.x and will instead, do it in 8 from the outset. This is the safer option. However there is still a risk. These days RedHat only seem to be keeping ABI compatibility in the kernels within their point releases, so many of the drivers need to be recompiled when a kernel goes up along with EL7 going up a point release. This means, as an example, the forcedeth driver is fine for the 7.4 kernels (kernel-3.10.0-693.x.y.v7.x86_64) but needs to be recompiled (with slightly modified sources) for the 7.5 kernel (3.10.0-862.x.y.v7). The risk for you is not spotting the kernel update and the machine rebooting in your absence which will put the new kernel into effect and cut your internet. If it happens, it can be salvaged if you can talk your user through booting to an older kernel (just hitting the down arrow at a critical time during the boot process).

Apologies about the chkconfig command. It worked with 7.x. In 6.x if you turn it off and on again, it also enables runlevel 2 :S

Can you check that all your interfaces are valid in /etc/clearos/network.conf

Thanks Nick. Yes, network.conf looks sensible.

The only worry with the reboot to old kernel option is that someone has to climb up to the top of the shelves and connect a monitor/keyboard/mouse. The grizzling I'd have to put up with isn't worth it!