Linux PXE server conflits woth Ignite server on the same network

[Novonil Choudhuri]

Hi ,

We have a Linux PXE server as well as an Ignite server in the same network. Everytime we try to install Linux os from PXE server it points towards our ignite server IP and fails to install. In the ignite admin guide ( page no 83 ) it is mentioned that you should not have 2 DHCP servers in the same network. As we know that PXE uses dhcp, that is the reason it is happening.

How can we avoid this situation as everytime Linux users are using PXE server we are compelled to stop the ignite server net services which is again affecting the ignite servers users ?

[Steven E. Protter]

Shalom,

Put them on different networks.

Lets say currently:
linux pxe 192.168.0.10/255.255.255.0
ignite 192.168.0.20/255.255.255.0

Change the linux to:
192.168.1.10/255.255.255.0

Any linux machine needing to be on two networks can do this:

ifconfig eth0:0 up

Then its on both. Just not the PXE serer.

SEP

[Novonil Choudhuri]

I cannot change the network of the PXE server as it will affect 1000s of servers in that newwork..

Kindly provide me an alternate solution.

[Matti_Kurkela]

Yes, two un-cooperating DHCP servers in the same network is a sure recipe for problems.

You should examine the DHCP configurations in both servers and build a configuration that gives correct information to both Linux PXE and HP-UX Ignite clients. That may require copying the PXE boot files to the Ignite server and making them available using the Ignite server's tftpd, or alternatively copying the Ignite server's HP-UX boot files to the Linux PXE server.

This will require a lot of testing and tweaking and a good understanding of both network boot systems.

MK

[Scot Bean]

Some documentation on Ignite & PXE:

- http://docs.hp.com/en/5991-6440/ch04s03.html

- http://www.docs.hp.com/en/5991-7513/5991-7513.pdf

[Novonil Choudhuri]

Thanks.. I have created /etc/dhcpdeny file which contains all the Linux clients .. probably this will help :)

[Novonil Choudhuri]

Hi everytime i add any Linux client mac address in /etc/dhcpdeny file we need to restart the dhcp services.

How can i avoid it ? Can we avoid this in Linux PXE server ? Do we an alternative beside restarting the dhcp services ?

[Novonil Choudhuri]

Initially my ignite server was running instl_bootd booting deamon which can boot any anonymous clients ( which includes Linux clients also ). I removed instl_bootd deamon from inetd services and included bootpd deamon which can boot only registered clients.

Now my /etc/inetd.conf file looks like this

bootps dgram udp wait root /usr/lbin/bootpd bootpd -d 3
#bootps dgram udp wait root /opt/ignite/lbin/instl_bootd instl_bootd

After doing the above change i am not facing any issues .

Thanks all for the inputs