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I'm considering to completely ignore the /etc/network/interfaces file for portability reasons and let the file stay always with its original content: 

auto lo
iface lo inet loopback

Which services depend on further configuration of this file? What would I break within the system if I - kind of - manually configure the interfaces (with my own scripts) and not touch the /etc/network/interfaces file at all?

ceremcem
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2 Answers2

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sfaik only "netwoking" depends on /etc/network/interfaces

PPP and some VPN services use other files in that directory.

what would break would be anything that uses the status of the networking service

Jasen
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Do not remove this file ! A lot of services already depend on this and even more might depend on it in the future. From the manpage:

arping, avahi-autoipd, avahi-daemon, bind9, bridge-utils, clamav-freshclam, controlaula, epoptes-client, ethtool, guidedog, hostap-utils, hostapd, htpdate, ifenslave, ifmetric, ifupdown-extra, ifupdown-multi, ifupdown-scripts-zg2, initscripts, isatapd, linux-wlan-ng, lprng, macchanger, miredo, nslcd, ntpdate, openntpd, openresolv, openssh-server, openvpn, openvswitch-switch, postfix, resolvconf, sendmail-base, shorewall-init, slrn, slrnpull, tinc, ucarp, uml-utilities, uruk, vde2, vlan, vzctl, whereami, wide-dhcpv6-client, wireless-tools, wpasupplicant

And these are only the ones that extend the options in /etc/network/interfaces for their own purposes... It's very likely that even more services use the file without the extra options.

Garo
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  • I misexpressed my intention, edited the question accordingly. I didn't mean to remove the file itself, I meant I would completely ignore it. Would I still break anything within the system? – ceremcem Dec 26 '19 at 04:46