Standards, Environments, and Macros                       dhcp(5)

NAME
     dhcp - Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol

DESCRIPTION
     Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) enables host sys-
     tems  in a TCP/IP network to be configured automatically for
     the network as they boot. DHCP uses a client/server  mechan-
     ism:  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 informa-
     tion 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).  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.  Network  parameters  needed  for system configuration
     during bootup are extracted from the information recieved 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  dae-
     mon,  in.dhcpd(1M).  This  daemon can deliver network confi-
     guration information to either BOOTP or  DHCP  clients.  The
     Solaris  DHCP  service  can be managed using the dhcpmgr(1M)
     GUI  or   the   command   line   utilities   dhcpconfig(1M),
     dhtadm(1M), and pntadm(1M).

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

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

SunOS 5.8           Last change: 13 Mar 2001                    1

Standards, Environments, and Macros                       dhcp(5)

          DHCP network tables
                DHCP network tables, which  contain  mappings  of
                client IDs to IP addresses and parameters associ-
                ated 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  net-
                work tables.

SEE ALSO
     dhcpinfo(1),  dhcpagent(1M),  dhcpconfig(1M),   dhcpmgr(1M),
     dhtadm(1M),    ifconfig(1M),    in.dhcpd(1M),   netstat(1M),
     pntadm(1M),   syslog(3C),    dhcp_network(4),    dhcptab(4),
     dhcpsvc.conf(4), dhcp_inittab(4), dhcp_modules(5)

     Solaris DHCP Service Developer's Guide

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

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

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

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

SunOS 5.8           Last change: 13 Mar 2001                    2