8Chapter 2
For all non-Windows server platforms, bootp can be run either at boot or from inetd. It is recommend that bootp be run from inetd, although with many terminals and a stable environment (i.e., an unchanging list of terminals), it may be faster to run via automatic start-up at server boot. Consult the manual pages for the bootp program on your server platform. Linux uses bootpd, UnixWare uses in.bootpd, Openserver uses bootpd, and HP/UX uses bootpd. On Linux and Openserver platforms, the entry to look for in the file /etc/inetd.conf (/etc/inet/inetd.conf on UnixWare) begins with bootps. On Linux, HP/UX, and Openserver platforms, the table that describes what options to provide to what terminals is /etc/bootptab (/etc/inet/bootptab on UnixWare). For more information, refer to the server manual pages that discuss bootptab and bootpd.
DHCP
DHCP is a protocol that can be used in both local- and network-boot environments. In local-boot environments, it can be used to reduce the amount of configuring that must be done on a terminal-by-terminal basis. In network boot environments, it can be used in the same manner as BOOTP (described above). For network boot, site policy should dictate the use of BOOTP or DHCP for providing the terminal with its boot information. In the database for DHCP, the terminal’s MAC address and IP address are not normally used because all information typically will be provided for all terminals and the DHCP server manages the IP addresses for all terminals at run time.
Note
A Microsoft NT DHCP server can provide information allowing a terminal to network boot, provided the TFTP and NFS services are running on supported servers.
In a network-boot environment, all fields mentioned above for BOOTP should be entered and the same explanations apply. There are currently no other special requirements for configuring DHCP servers to provide information to the terminals. The server and path are provided to terminals by the DHCP protocol. DHCP uses options 66 and 67 defined in RFC 2132.
