DHCP Configuration Wizard

The DHCP Configuration Wizard helps you configure a Solaris^TM system to be a DHCP server and configures the first network.

Note: Please read the "Planning for DHCP Service" chapter in the Solaris DHCP Administration Guide, before configuring a DHCP server.

After initial configuration, use the Modify option in the Services menu to configure services such as BOOTP compatibility, duplicate address detection, and which interfaces to monitor.

To enter information in the wizard, double-click in the field, enter the desired value, and then press Enter.

The DHCP Configuration Wizard, asks you to supply the following information.

Data Store
Select the type of data store the DHCP server will use to store configuration data. The choices are:

Text files Data is stored in clear text ASCII files. Suitable for small number of clients, up to 10,000. Data can be shared through NFS among several DHCP servers.

Binary files Data is stored in binary text files. Suitable for large numbers of clients up to 100,000. Data can not be shared among several DHCP servers.

Data store path
If you chose text files or binary files as your data store, enter the path to the data (default=/var/dhcp).

Hosts name service
Select the name service that the DHCP server should use to register host names associated with IP addresses that it allocates to clients.

Do not manage hosts records The DHCP server will not attempt to add host name entries to any name service. An administrator should add the names manually to a name service.

/etc/hosts The DHCP server will add host name entries to the servers /etc/hosts table.

DNS The DHCP server will add host name entries to DNS if the DHCP daemon and DNS daemon are running on the same system. You must supply the DNS domain name.

Lease Policy
Enter the length of time before a lease expires. The lease is the amount of time a DHCP server grants permission to a DHCP client to use a particular address. You can enter from 1 hour to 3550 weeks.
The lease time value should be relatively small, so that expired addresses are reclaimed quickly, but large enough so that if your DHCP service becomes unavailable, the clients continue to function until the machine(s) running the DHCP service can be repaired. A rule of thumb is to specify a time that is two times the predicted down time of a server. For example, if it generally takes four hours to obtain and replace a defective part and reboot the server, you should specify a lease time of eight hours.
The default is to allow a client to renegotiate the lease before it expires. A Solaris DHCP client will try to renew the lease when it is halfway through the lease period.
If not allowed to renegotiate, clients must issue a new DHCP request in order to obtain a new address when the lease expires. You may choose this option in an environment where there are more clients than there are addresses, and you need to enforce a time limit on the use of an IP address.

DNS Domain The domain server resolves host names to host addresses. If the server is configured to use DNS, the domain name and address of the DNS server will be displayed. If the fields are empty, you can enter the domain name and address of a DNS domain server.
You can enter the address of more than one server. The order in the list determines the order in which the servers are queried.

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Network Configuration

This section begins the network configuration. You can configure the first network using the DHCP Configuration Wizard. Once the DHCP server is configured, you can add additional networks using the Network Wizard, which is available from the Edit menu, when the Address view is displayed.

Network Address Enter the IP address of the network you are configuring.

Subnet Mask
Enter the subnet mask for this network. A subnet mask is a way of dividing up the host portion of an Internet address to form local subnetworks.

Network Type
Specify whether the network is a local area network (LAN) or point-to-point (PPP).

Routing A router is a machine with multiple network interfaces that can forward IP packets from one network to another. In most cases, your clients should use router discovery to connect to a router. If you have clients in your network that cannot use router discovery, enter the IP address of a router which they can use to communicate with systems on another network.

NIS Domain Name
NIS Server Address If the server is configured to use NIS naming service, the NIS server information will be filled in. If not, you can enter the domain name and IP address of one or more NIS name servers.
The order in which the address appears in the list determines the order in which the servers are queried.

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