MacOS – Internet Sharing failing on Mac OS X Lion Server

internet-sharingmacosNetwork

Before I upgraded to Lion Server, I was running 10.7.1

I setup Internet Sharing in the preferences

(Share from Ethernet 1 to Ethernet 2).

After the upgrade, sharing doesn't work unless I take the following steps

  1. Login
  2. Turn off Internet Sharing
  3. Turn Internet Sharing back on

So the question is can I have Internet Sharing on and running even if no one is logged in?

Thanks

Best Answer

The answer is yes.

I'm typing you this answer through an InternetSharing connexion provided by an iMac running MacOS Lion (10.7.3) where no one is connected:

me -> MBP    ………Wi-Fi………   iMac   ………Ethernet………   Internet 
      10.6.8               10.7.3

I'm using such a connection for professionnal use since MacOS 10.4 with no one connected (on the Mac running InternetSharing). This connection was used by 5 other Mac (10.4, 10.5, 10.6) and might be considered as a nearly professional grade network.

When you login when your InternetSharing is faulty, could you type in a Terminal or xterm window:

ifconfig -a
ps ax | egrep '(bootp|natp)'

My first blind guess is that your main Ethernet connection was shut down under the responsability of your Energy Saver tuning.

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