DHCP Based Network Boot Failure

dennis.metzger_at_gmail.com
Date: 11/03/05 

Date: 3 Nov 2005 09:40:18 -0800

We've been mandated to migrate our network boot from /etc/ethers &
/etc/hosts to using DHCP. It was working, I say was because every
network boot involved 4 timeouts then a restart of the process before
working. Now it continuously timesout waiting for the BOOTP.DHCP reply.
I've sniffed the network and found the following sequence:

Client sends DHCPDISCOVER
Server sends DHCPOFFER (with all the required data)
Client sends DHCPREQUEST (with the server, address, etc defined)
At this point the server does not send a DHCPACK, so the client
timesout and resends the DHCPREQUEST.

If I boot the client off the hard disk and request DHCP network
configuration, the server does send the DHCPACK, thus that process
works.

I'm looking for any ideas on how to proceed with debugging this.

Dennis

Relevant Pages

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