dhcpd.conf variables?

Ray Phillips r.phillips at uq.edu.au
Wed Oct 14 08:52:47 UTC 2009


Is it possible to create and use variables in dhcpd.conf?  I'd like 
to be able to put strings and integers in a temporary place and 
recall them later.

At first I thought it might be possible to create a new option space 
for this, but then I saw a notice in the DHCP Handbook saying option 
values are assigned when the daemon starts and cannot be modified 
afterwards.

At the moment I want to use variables to create a log message showing 
the actual switch port to which a dhcp client is connected, not the 
code for the port that Cisco 3560s send in option 82 [1].

I was hoping to be able to progressively assemble the components of 
the log message I want by storing the relevant data in variables, 
something like:

switch-name = substring (option agent.remote-id, 2, 256);
(Our 3560s have been configured to send the switch name as an ASCII 
string in option 82.)

opt82.port-code = suffix (option agent.circuit-id, 1);

then use an if{ } elsif{ } chain to convert the port code to the 
actual port, and concat the pieces into the log message, but perhaps 
that's in the realms of fantasy?

Presumably only having to extract the port code once, then assign it 
to a variable and test that variable's value against the possible 
codes would save a fair bit of CPU time, as opposed to executing 
'suffix (option agent.circuit-id, 1)' for each possible port code.

There isn't a 'less than' or 'greater than' test available in dhcpd is there?


Ray


[1]

3560 48 port switch

Real    Reports As
Gi0/1   Port 1/1
Gi0/2   Port 1/2
Fa0/1   Port 1/3
Fa0/2   Port 1/4
Fa0/3   Port 1/5
Fa0/4   Port 1/6
Fa0/5   Port 1/7
Fa0/6   Port 1/8
Fa0/7   Port 1/9
Fa0/8   Port 1/10
Fa0/9   Port 1/11
Fa0/10  Port 1/12
Fa0/11  Port 1/13
Fa0/12  Port 1/14
FA0/13  Port 1/15
Fa0/14  Port 1/16
Fa0/15  Port 1/17
Fa0/16  Port 1/18
Fa0/17  Port 1/19
Fa0/18  Port 1/20
Fa0/19  Port 1/21
Fa0/20  Port 1/22
Fa0/21  Port 1/23
Fa0/22  Port 1/24
Fa0/23  Port 1/25
Fa0/24  Port 1/26
Gi0/3   Port 1/27
Gi0/4   Port 1/28
Fa0/25  port 1/29
Fa0/26  Port 1/30
Fa0/27  Port 1/31
Fa0/28  Port 1/32
Fa0/29  Port 1/33
Fa0/30  Port 1/34
Fa0/31  Port 1/35
Fa0/32  Port 1/36
Fa0/33  Port 1/37
Fa0/34  Port 1/38
Fa0/35  Port 1/39
Fa0/36  Port 1/40
Fa0/37  Port 1/41
Fa0/38  Port 1/42
Fa0/39  Port 1/43
Fa0/40  Port 1/44
Fa0/41  Port 1/45
Fa0/42  Port 1/46
Fa0/43  Port 1/47
Fa0/44  Port 1/48
Fa0/45  Port 1/49
Fa0/46  Port 1/50
Fa0/47  Port 1/51
Fa0/48  Port 1/52



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