xref: /freebsd-10.1-release/libexec/bootpd/Problems

# $FreeBSD$

Common problems and ways to work around them:

Bootpd complains: "bind: Address already in use" and fails to start.
	You are already running something that has bound the
	BOOTP listening port number.  Check /etc/inetd.conf or
	the equivalent for a bootp line (or in startup files).

Bootpd complains that it "can not get IP addr for HOSTNAME"

	If the entry is a "dummy" (not a real host) used only for
	reference by other entries, put '.' in front of the name.

	If the entry is for a real client and the IP address for
	the client can not be found using gethostbyname(), specify
	the IP address for the client using numeric form.

Bootpd takes a long time to finish parsing the bootptab file:

	Excessive startup time is usually caused by waiting for
	timeouts on failed DNS lookup operations.  If this is the
	problem, find the client names for which DNS lookup fails
	and change the bootptab to specify the IP addresses for
	those clients using numeric form.

	When bootptab entries do not specify an ip address, bootpd
	attempts to lookup the tagname as a host name to find the
	IP address.  To suppress this default action, either make
	the entry a "dummy" or specify its IP numeric address.

	If your DNS lookups work but are just slow, consider either
	running bootpd on the same machine as the DNS server or
	running a caching DNS server on the host running bootpd.

My huge bootptab file causes startup time to be so long that clients
give up waiting for a reply.

	Truly huge bootptab files make "inetd" mode impractical.
	Start bootpd in "standalone" mode when the server boots.

	Another possibility is to run one bootpd on each network
	segment so each one can have a smaller bootptab.  Only one
	instance of bootpd may run on one server, so you would need
	to use a different server for each network segment.

My bootp clients are given responses with a boot file name that is
not a fully specified path.

	Make sure the TFTP directory or home directory tags are set:
	:td=/tftpboot:	(or)
	:hd=/usr/boot:	(for example)

My PC clients running Sun's PC-NFS Pro v1.1 fail to receive
acceptable responses from the bootp server.

	These clients send a request with the DHCP "message length"
	option and the (new) BOOTP "broadcast flag" both set.
	The bootp server (on SunOS) will send a fragmented reply
	unless you override the length with :ms=1024: (or less).
	The "broadcast flag" is not yet supported, but there is
	a simple work-around, just add :ra=255.255.255.255:
	for any clients that need their reply broadcasted.
	You may need to use a differnet broadcast address.
	(Thanks to Ivan Auger <ivan.auger@wadsworth.org>)