bootpd(8) System Manager's Manual bootpd(8)
Name
bootpd - Server to help boot diskless clients
Syntax
/usr/etc/bootpd [ -d ] [ -i ]
Description
The server is for the Internet BOOTP protocol (a UDP-based protocol). This allows a diskless machine to find out its Internet address, the
address of a bootserver, and the name of a file to boot.
The server is either started from or from If is started from the -i flag must be supplied by The server reads its configuration file, when
it starts up. When a new request arrives, checks to see if the file has been modified, and if so, reads it again.
If started by waits until no new requests arrive for one minute. This limits the overhead of restarting the daemon without tying up a
process slot when nothing is happening. The following is an example of the format of the configuration file:
#
# /etc/bootptab: database for bootp server (/usr/etc/bootpd)
#
# Blank lines and lines beginning with '#' are ignored.
#
# home directory
/usr/local/bootfiles
# default bootfile
defaultboot
# end of first section
%%
#
# The remainder of this file contains one line per client
# interface with the information shown by the table headings
# below. The host name is also tried as a suffix for the
# bootfile when searching the home directory (that is,
# bootfile.host)
#
# host htype haddr iaddr bootfile
#
hostx 1 02:60:8c:06:35:05 99.44.0.65 ultrix
hosty 1 02:07:01:00:30:02 99.44.0.65 vms
hostz 1 02:60:8c:00:77:78 99.44.0.03 lps40
node1 1 02:60:8c:00:99:47 99.44.0.01 tops20
The first two lines specify the home (default) directory and the default bootfile, respectively. A line starting with two percent signs
(%%) separates these first lines from the host information table, which contains an entry for each bootable host.
You should start with a configuration file similar to this and edit the host entries to correspond to your local systems. The host field
does not have to be a formal host name; it is used for identification in the log file and also as a possible extension to the bootfile
name.
The is always 1 and corresponds to the hardware type assigned Ethernet by the Assigned Numbers RFC. The field can use a period (.), a
hyphen (-), or a colon (:) as separators. The entry is the file used if the client does not know the name of the file it wants to boot.
This is frequently the case when a diskless workstation is booted.
The server logs interesting events using
Options
-d Logs all requests and indicates what responses are made.
-i If is started from the -i flag must be supplied by
Files
Configuration file
See Also
inetd(8c), tftpd(8c)
bootpd(8)