bootp(1M) bootp(1M)
NAME
bootp - remote bootstrap configuration client
SYNOPSIS
bootp [-a interface_name] [-c number_of_tries] [-d] device [hostname]
DESCRIPTION
The bootp command gives client hosts the ability to obtain
network configuration information from a central Internet
Bootstrap Protocol (BOOTP) server [see bootpd(1M)].
Files
/etc/inet/bootptab data base file read by bootpd
Exit Codes
On success, bootp returns zero. On a timeout, it returns 254
and prints the message INET_BOOTP_TIMEDOUT=yes to stderr.
USAGE
bootp can be run at system installation time, or in cases
where the characteristics of the network change (for example,
when a new domain name server is added) and the client's
configuration files must be updated to reflect the changes to
the network.
bootp can be run by a privileged user only. When invoked,
bootp broadcasts a BOOTP request containing the hardware
address of the Ethernet interface interface_name through the
Ethernet device device. bootpd responds to the request on the
BOOTP server. bootp interprets the response and outputs
attribute values contained in the response as shell variable
assignments. If a randomly varied time-out period expires
without a response, bootp resends the request and increases
the time-out period. The request is retried until
number_of_tries (default 5) is reached.
To avoid the possibility of exhausting the space in the 64
byte vend area of the request/response packet, the host name
and domain name attributes are obtained via reverse DNS
lookup. The local hosts(4) file and the resolv.conf(4) file
are not consulted for this operation; any DNS servers
specified in the vend area are consulted instead.
The BOOTP attributes that are currently used, together with
the shell variables output by bootp, are summarized in the
following tables:
Copyright 1994 Novell, Inc. Page 1
bootp(1M) bootp(1M)
RFC951 | BOOTP Server | bootp Client
Field Name | Attribute Name | Shell Variable
_____________|________________|_______________________
file | bf | INET_BOOT_FILE_NAME
ciaddr | ip | INET_YOUR_IP_ADDRESS
siaddr | sa | INET_SERVER_IP_ADDRESS
vend | - | see following table
RFC1533 | BOOTP Server | bootp Client
Vendor Extension Field| Attribute Name| Shell Variable
______________________|________________|____________________________
Ethernet Frame Type | T36 | INET_ETHER_ENCAPSULATION
NIS Domain Name | T40 | INET_NIS_DOMAIN_NAME
Domain Name | dn | INET_DOMAIN_NAME
Domain Name Server | ds | INET_DNS_SERVER[instance]
Router | gw | INET_ROUTER[instance]
Host Name | hn | INET_HOSTNAME
Subnet Mask | sm | INET_SUBNET_MASK
Time Offset | to | INET_TIME_OFFSET
Time Server | ts | INET_TIME_SERVER[instance]
Note that, in cases where reverse DNS lookup is used, bootp
outputs the INET_HOSTNAME and INET_DOMAIN_NAME variables.
The attribute names shown in these tables are implemented as
parameter declarations in the BOOTP server configuration file
/etc/inet/bootptab [see bootptab(4)].
Options
bootp takes the following options:
-a interface_name
Causes the Ethernet interface interface_name to be
reconfigured with an address of zero. interface_name
should be the name of the interface associated with the
Ethernet device device. This allows bootp to receive a
response even if it is directed to a different IP
address because the current IP address does not match
the BOOTP server's configuration. To avoid an error
condition, do not invoke bootp with the -a option from a
multi-user system when interface_name is in use.
-c number_of_tries
Specifies the number of unanswered BOOTP requests to
send before giving up. The default value is 5.
Copyright 1994 Novell, Inc. Page 2
bootp(1M) bootp(1M)
-d Do not use DNS to obtain the host name and the domain
name.
Examples
A sample client host entry in /etc/inet/bootptab might look
something like:
..default:\
:ds=128.212.64.29 128.212.64.5 128.212.64.2:\
:ts=128.212.64.29:\
:gw=128.212.64.29:\
:sm=255.255.255.0:\
:vm=auto:to=auto:
mcfeely:ht=1:ha=0080298356B4:ip=128.212.64.146:tc=default:
The ht (hardware address type) and ha (hardware address)
attributes are used by the BOOTP server to locate the proper
entry in its configuration file. Note that this client host
forces the BOOTP server to choose an address by always setting
the ciaddr field in the request to zero. The value of the
bootp argument hostname is placed in the request vend area
Host Name field so that a server may choose to respond based
on this hostname if a lookup by hardware address fails. The
Class Identifier of ``UnixWare'' is also provided in the
request to identify the client as a UnixWare system.
REFERENCES
bootpd(1M), bootptab(4), ifconfig(1M)
RFC951, RFC1533
Copyright 1994 Novell, Inc. Page 3