filename in BOOTP reply vs RFC 951 -- ignore the previous message please

[Eduardo Fleury]

Sorry for the previous message which was sent before being ready.
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Hi, how are you?
I've set up an ISC DHCP/BOOTP server so that it provides a set of images I
need to make an IBM Power machine boot from the network, however I've run
into a situation that might require a correction in the dhcp server.

The issue is the following, the image I'm trying to boot is split in several
files due to a few design restrictions. In order to boot I's expecting the
following to work:

1) CLIENT sends a bootp request with a NULL filename (aka zeroed filename
field).
2) SERVER sends bootp reply with default filename (as specified in
dhcpd.conf or whatever)
3) CLIENT gets the first file with TFTP.
4) CLIENT sends a bootp request for the 2nd file - filename field IS
SPECIFIED.
5) SERVER sends a bootp reply to let the client know it can get the SECOND
file.
6) CLIENT gets the second file with TFTP.

And then steps 4-6 repeat until all files needed have been got.

I've also read the RFC 951 and 1542 and from what I could understand it
seems that this behavior is in accordance to the BOOTP standard.

However, this is not working because in the 5th step above, the BOOTP reply
message is sent with the first filename in it. Reading the code in v.
3.1.0I could see that currently, if a filename is specified in
dhcpd.conf this filename will be ALWAYS used, no matter what arrives in the
BOOTP request message.

My understanding is that the filename specified in the configuration file
should be used ONLY IF the bootp request hadn't specified a filename itself,
ie. the server shouldn't override the filename specified by the client.

I'd like to know if you agree with my understanding. If you do, this is
something that could be changed with a tiny patch (1 line) in v. 3.1.0 (I
have yet to check in v. 4).

Kind regards,
Eduardo

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Eduardo Fleury
Software Engineer
IBM Linux Technology Center Brazil