dhcp(5) 						Standards, Environments, and Macros						   dhcp(5)

NAME

       dhcp - Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol

DESCRIPTION

       Dynamic	Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) enables host systems in a TCP/IP network to be configured automatically for the network as they
       boot. DHCP uses a client/server mechanism: servers store configuration information  for	clients,  and  provide	that  information  upon  a
       client's request. The information can include the client's IP address and information about network services available to the client.

       This manual page provides a brief summary of the Solaris DHCP implementation.

   Solaris DHCP Client
       The Solaris DHCP client is implemented as background daemon, dhcpagent(1M).

       For IPv4, this daemon is started automatically during bootup if there exists at least one dhcp.interface file in /etc. Only interfaces with
       a corresponding /etc/dhcp.interface file are automatically configured during boot.

       For IPv6,  this	daemon	is  started  automatically  when  commanded  by  in.ndpd  (based  on  IPv6  Routing  Advertisement  messages).	No
       /etc/dhcp.interface file is necessary, but such a file can be used to specify an interface as "primary," provided that IPv4 DHCP is also in
       use.

       Network parameters needed for system configuration during bootup are extracted from the information received by the daemon through the  use
       of  the	dhcpinfo(1) command. The daemon's default behavior can be altered by changing the tunables in the /etc/default/dhcpagent file. The
       daemon is controlled by the ifconfig(1M) utility. Check the status of the daemon using the netstat(1M) and ifconfig(1M) commands.

   Solaris DHCP Server
       The Solaris DHCP server is implemented as a background daemon, in.dhcpd(1M). This daemon can deliver network configuration  information	to
       either  BOOTP  or  DHCP	clients.  The Solaris DHCP service can be managed using the dhcpmgr(1M) GUI or the command line utilities dhcpcon-
       fig(1M), dhtadm(1M), and pntadm(1M).

   DHCP Configuration Tables
       The Solaris DHCP server stores client configuration information in the following two types of tables:

       dhcptab tables	      Contain macros and options (also known as symbols), used to construct a package of configuration information to send
			      to  each	DHCP client. There exists only one dhcptab for the DHCP service. The dhcptab(4) can be viewed and modified
			      using the dhtadm(1M) command or dhcpmgr(1M) graphical utility. See dhcptab(4) for more information about the  syntax
			      of dhcptab records. See dhcp_inittab(4) for more information about the DHCP options and symbols.

       DHCP network tables    DHCP  network  tables,  which  contain  mappings	of client IDs to IP addresses and parameters associated with those
			      addresses. Network tables are named with the IP address of the network, and can be  created,  viewed,  and  modified
			      using  the  pntadm  command  or  dhcpmgr	graphical  utility. See dhcp_network(4) for more information about network
			      tables.

SEE ALSO

       dhcpinfo(1), dhcpagent(1M), dhcpconfig(1M), dhcpmgr(1M), dhtadm(1M), ifconfig(1M), in.dhcpd(1M), in.ndpd(1M), netstat(1M), pntadm(1M), sys-
       log(3C), dhcp_network(4), dhcptab(4), dhcpsvc.conf(4), dhcp_inittab(4), ndpd.conf(4), dhcp_modules(5)

       Solaris DHCP Service Developer's Guide

       Alexander, S., and R. Droms. RFC 2132, DHCP Options and BOOTP Vendor Extensions. Silicon Graphics, Inc. Bucknell University. March 1997.

       Droms, R. RFC 1534, Interoperation Between DHCP and BOOTP. Bucknell University. October 1993.

       Droms, R. RFC 2131, Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol. Bucknell University. March 1997.

       Wimer, W. RFC 1542, Clarifications and Extensions for the Bootstrap Protocol. Carnegie Mellon University. October 1993.

       Lemon,  T.  and	B.  Sommerfeld.  RFC 4361, Node-specific Client Identifiers for Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol Version Four (DHCPv4).
       Nominum and Sun Microsystems. February 2006.

       Droms, R. RFC 3315, Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol for IPv6 (DHCPv6). Cisco Systems. July 2003.

SunOS 5.11							    5 Jan 2007								   dhcp(5)