[KLUG Members] Bootp, dhcp, and New York

[Adam Williams]

> So, when I fire up the SGI, enter the command monitor, and try to tell it 
> to
> >> bootp(): root=/dev/ram0
> I watch it (via ethereal and tcpdump) try to search for a bootp server. 
> But, it goes and does crap like looking for stuff from cnc.net (philly), 
> xo.net (??) and a DSL line from New York.  
> So, if it's a bootp server, why on earth is my SGI talking bootp out my 
> router?  It doesn't have a default route, it shouldn't talk to the outside 
> world, yes?
> So, the questions here are:  
> 1. Why would my SGI fetch crap from the 'net if it doesn't have a route, 
> 2. Is there anything I need to change on my dhcp server to get the SGI to 
> notice it (I don't see dhcp traffic at all, only bootp).

Thats OK, ISC dhcpd supports bootp.

What does your DHCP stanza look like?  Are you providing the machine
with a root path and file name?

group {
        use-host-decl-names        on;
        option routers             192.168.3.3;
        option subnet-mask         255.255.255.0;
        option nis-domain          "whitemice";
        option domain-name         "whitemice.org";
        option domain-name-servers 192.168.3.1;
        option time-offset         -18000; # Eastern Standard Time
        option ntp-servers         192.168.3.1;
        default-lease-time         21600;
        max-lease-time             43200;
        host xterm1 {
          hardware ethernet 00:e0:29:45:bd:b2;
          fixed-address 192.168.3.21;
          option root-path    "192.168.3.1:/usr/local/ltsp/i386";
          filename            "/lts/vmlinuz-2.4.9-ltsp-6";
        }
        host xterm2 {
          ....
        }
        ....
 }

> The env variables on the SGI aren't plentiful (I cleared them) but I 
> still'd like to know what it's doing talking to the outside world... (Even 
> if I set dlserver to my bootp/dhcp server it talks  outside).

It possibly has some hard coded fall back addresses.  Some IBM Xstation
130 firmware versions would "phone home" when lost.