Enabling BOOTP Forwarding on Routers

Enabling BOOTP Forwarding on Routers

Inst uses the Internet Bootstrap Protocol (BOOTP) to obtain IP addresses during miniroot installations. For this reason, all routers between an installation server and a remote target must allow bootp (see the bootp 1M reference page) forwarding. On factory-shipped Silicon Graphics systems, however, bootp forwarding is disabled in the file /etc/inetd.conf.

Note: The inetd.conf file is stored in /usr/etc on systems running versions of IRIX that are earlier than 5.2. The procedure below describes how to identify routers and change the /etc/inetd.conf file to enable bootp forwarding on them. This procedure might not be appropriate for routers that are not Silicon Graphics systems.

Determine the names of routers.
Enter this command from the target system:

ping -R -c 1 installation_server
Look for an entry that begins with RR: in ping output. It shows the route of a packet from the target to the installation server and back. Each node listed, except the installation server and target, is a router.
Become the superuser on the router.
% su
Password:
#
Change the bootp line in /etc/inetd.conf on each router, as needed.
The default bootp line in /etc/inetd.conf looks like this:

bootp dgram udp wait root /usr/etc/bootp bootp
Add the -f flag to enable bootp forwarding. The modified line should look like this:

bootp dgram udp wait root /usr/etc/bootp bootp -f
Put your changes into effect:
# killall -v -HUP inetd
Repeat steps 2 and 3 for additional routers.

When the server is no longer needed for software installation, you can return the /etc/inetd.conf file on the router to its original state, then enter the killall command to put the change into effect (see the killall(1M) reference page).