AHCPD(8)						      System Manager's Manual							  AHCPD(8)

NAME

       ahcpd - ad-hoc configuration daemon

SYNOPSIS

       ahcpd option...	[ -- ] interface...

DESCRIPTION

       AHCP is a configuration protocol that can replace DHCP on networks without transitive connectivity, such as mesh networks.

OPTIONS

       -m multicast-address
	      Specify the link-local multicast address to be used by AHCP.  The default is ff02::cca6:c0f9:e182:5359.

       -p port
	      Specify the UDP port number to be used by AHCP.  The default is 5359.

       -n     Operate as a forwarder: participate in the flooding protocol, but don't actually perform any configuration.

       -4     Only attempt to configure IPv4 addresses.

       -6     Only attempt to configure IPv6 addresses.

       -N     Do not configure DNS.

       -t time
	      Specify  the time, in seconds, for which leases are requested.  The default is slightly over one hour.  Must be between five minutes
	      and a year.

       -s script
	      Specify the configuration script to run.	The default is /etc/ahcp/ahcp-config.sh.

       -d level
	      Set the debug level to level (default 1).

       -i filename
	      Specify the filename containing this host's unique id.  The default is /var/lib/ahcp-unique-id.  If it doesn't  exist,  it  will	be
	      created by ahcpd.

       -c filename
	      Specify the name of the configuration file.

       -C statement
	      Specify a configuration statement directly on the command line.

       -D     Daemonise at startup.

       -L logfile
	      Specify  a  file	to  log  random  ``how	do  you  do?''	messages  to.	This defaults to standard error if not daemonising, and to
	      /var/log/ahcpd.log otherwise.

       -I pidfile
	      Specify a file to write our process id to.  The default is /var/run/ahcpd.pid.

CONFIGURATION FILE FORMAT

       The configuration is a sequence of lines, each of which starts with one of the keywords below.  Blank  lines  are  ignored.   Comments  are
       introduced with an octothorp ``#'' and terminate at the end of the line.

       The following keywords are recognised:

       mode server|client|forwarder
	      Specifies  whether  the  daemon  operates as a server, a client, or a forwarder.	If omitted, the default is to operate as a client,
	      unless the -n flag is present on the command line.  If present, this must be the first line in the configuration file.

       prefix prefix
	      Specifies a prefix to use for configuring clients.  This keyword is only valid in server configurations, and may be specified twice,
	      once for IPv4 and once for IPv6.

       lease-dir directory
	      Specifies a directory to store lease files.  This keyword is only valid in server configurations.

       name-server address
	      Specifies  the  address  of a DNS server to configure clients with.  This keyword is only valid in server configurations, and may be
	      repeated multiple times.

       ntp-server address
	      Specifies the address of an NTP server to configure clients with.  This keyword is only valid in server configurations, and  may	be
	      repeated multiple times.

FILES

       /var/lib/ahcp-unique-id
	      An  8-byte  long	file containing this host's unique id.	If it doesn't exist, a new unique id will be generated from an interface's
	      MAC address.

       /etc/ahcp/ahcp-config.sh
	      The script that performs the actual configuration.  It will be passed one argument, which is either start or stop.

       /etc/ahcp/ahcp-local.sh
	      If this is an executable script, it will be called by ahcp-config.sh just after configuring or deconfiguring. It will be passed  one
	      argument, which is either start or stop.

SIGNALS

       SIGUSR1
	      Print ahcpd's status to standard output or to the log file.

       SIGUSR2
	      Check all interfaces for status changes, then reopen the log file.

NOTES

       Since  the  AHCP  protocol  is  designed for mesh networks, it doesn't have any provisions for setting routing parameters such as a default
       gateway, the IPv4 network mask and the IPv6 list of on-link prefixes; these are expected to be provided by a full-fledged routing  protocol
       for mesh nodes, and by router advertisements for ordinary nodes.

       The  AHCP  server should use NTP to synchronise its clock.  If a server instance of ahcpd doesn't detect time synchronisation, it will only
       give out leases for a short period of time, and be extremely conservative about releasing them.	Note that an SNTP client is not enough	--
       ahcpd actually checks with the kernel for time synchronisation, so real NTP is necessary.

SEE ALSO

       dhcpcd(8), dhclient(8), babeld(8), olsrd(8), ntpd(8), The Ad-Hoc Configuration Protocol.

AUTHOR

       Juliusz Chroboczek.

																	  AHCPD(8)