CentOS

What happens if I try to install a different network adapter on my Centos 7.7 system? I presently have an Intel PRO/100 VE (LOM) Ethernet Controller (motherboard integrated) and the kmod-e100 module is tainting my kernel. I am hoping the change out automagically keeps my network settings and I don't have to re-create everything.

Thanks,
Hal

It's likely to be autodetected and assigned a new name but that does depend a bit on how your system is set up. If you use the default predictable network naming scheme and you install the new adapter in the same PCIe slot then it should be assigned the same name as the old one if it currently has a name like 'enp2s0f0' (EtherNet in pci bus 2, socket 0, function 0). However the MAC address will be different so it may not work without changes.

You'll want to have access to the machine via the local console to do this. Or if it's a server and has iDRAC/iLO console functions then that's ok too. You may need to logon locally and adjust the ifcfg files in /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ to reflect things like device names/MAC addresses.

This does of course assume that you have done your research and picked a new network card that has built-in drivers in the CentOS 7 kernel.

Thanks for the reply. It also brings up the other question I had but did not post which is, how can I find what drivers are supported? I have searched on the web for references to device support in Centos but haven't been able to find anything.

Mostly it's a matter of looking at pci device ids to see. For example, run modinfo e1000e and it will spit out a long list of the PCI vendor/device ids that it supports. e1000e is the module for most Intel gigabit chipsets though the igb module is also used as is the e1000 module (but I wouldn't use e1000 if you can help it as it's marked as deprecated in el8 even though it currently still works).