Modifying DHCP Options

If you have created options for your DHCP service, you can change the properties for an option by using either DHCP Manager or the dhtadm command.

You can use the dhtadm -M -s command or DHCP Manager's Option Properties dialog box to modify options.

Note that you should modify the Solaris DHCP client's option information to reflect the same modification you make to the DHCP service. See Modifying the Solaris DHCP Client's Option Information.

The following figure shows DHCP Manager's Option Properties dialog box.

Figure 10-18 Option Properties Dialog Box

How to Modify DHCP Option Properties (DHCP Manager)

1. Select the Options tab.

2. Select the option whose properties you want to change.

3. Choose Properties from the Edit menu.

   The Option Properties dialog box opens.

4. Edit the properties as needed.

   See Table 10-3 for information about the properties.

5. Select Notify Server of Change when you are finished with options.

6. Click OK.

How to Modify DHCP Option Properties (dhtadm)

1. Become superuser or a user assigned to the DHCP Management profile.

2. Type a command using the following format:

   # dhtadm -M -s option-name-d 'category,code,data-type,granularity,maximum'

   
   

   where

   option-name	is the option name whose definition you want to change.
   category	is Site, Extend, or Vendor=list-of-classes, and list-of-classes is a space-separated list of vendor client classes to which the option applies. For example, SUNW.Ultra5_10 SUNW.Ultra-1 SUNWi86pc.
   code	is a numeric value appropriate to the option category, as explained in Table 10-3.
   data-type	is a keyword that indicates the type of data passed with the option, as explained in Table 10-3.
   granularity	is a nonnegative number, as explained in Table 10-3.
   maximum	is a nonnegative number, as explained in as explained in Table 10-3.

   Note that you must specify all of the DHCP option properties with the -d switch, not just the properties you want to change.

   The following two commands are examples:

   # dhtadm -M -s NewOpt -d 'Site,135,UNUMBER8,1,1'
   # dhtadm -M -s NewServ -d 'Vendor=SUNW.Ultra-1 \
   SUNW.i86pc,200,IP,1,1'

Deleting DHCP Options

You cannot delete standard DHCP options, but if you have defined options for your DHCP service, you can delete them by using DHCP Manager or the dhtadm command.

How to Delete DHCP Options (DHCP Manager)

1. Select the Options tab.

2. Choose Delete from the Edit menu.

   The Delete Options dialog box opens.

3. Confirm the deletion by clicking OK.

How to Delete DHCP Options (dhtadm)

1. Become superuser or a user assigned to the DHCP Management profile.

2. Type a command using the following format:

   # dhtadm -D -s option-name

   
   

Modifying the Solaris DHCP Client's Option Information

If you add a new DHCP option to your DHCP server, you must add a complementary entry to each DHCP client's option information. If you have a DHCP client that is not a Solaris DHCP client, refer to that client's documentation for information about adding options or symbols.

On a Solaris DHCP client, you must edit the /etc/dhcp/inittab file and add an entry for each option that you add to the DHCP server. If you later modify the option on the server, you must also modify the entry in the client's /etc/dhcp/inittab file.

Refer to the dhcp_inittab man page for detailed information about the syntax of the /etc/dhcp/inittab file.

Note - If you added DHCP options to the dhcptags file in a previous release of Solaris DHCP, you must add the options to the /etc/dhcp/inittab file. See DHCP Option Information for more information.

Supporting Solaris Network Installation with the DHCP Service (Task Map)

You can use DHCP to install the Solaris operating environment on certain client systems on your network. Only Sun Enterprise Ultra systems and Intel systems that meet the hardware requirements for running the Solaris operating environment can use this feature.

For information about supporting diskless clients, see Supporting Remote Boot and Diskless Boot Clients (Task Map).

The following task map shows the high-level tasks that must be performed to enable clients to obtain installation parameters using DHCP.

Creating DHCP Options and Macros for Solaris Installation Parameters

When you add clients with the add_install_client -d script on the install server, the script reports DHCP configuration information to standard output. This information can be used when you create the options and macros needed to pass network installation information to clients.

To support clients that require Solaris installation from the network, you must create Vendor category options to pass information that is needed to correctly install the Solaris operating environment. The following table shows the options you must create and the properties needed to create them.

Table 10-4 Values for Creating Vendor Category Options for Solaris Clients

When you have created the options, you can create macros that include those options. The following table lists suggested macros you can create to support Solaris installation for clients.

Table 10-5 Suggested Macros to Support Network Installation Clients