Configuring DHCP

This topic includes the following topics about configuring required communications for the BMC provisioning environment.

Configuring SSL Ports

The provisioning process explicitly uses the TCP protocol, port 9831 as the SSL port. Bare metal target servers use this port to communicate back to the Application Server (the Provisioning Server).

  1. On the Application Server, ensure that the SSL port is set to 9831.
    1. On the BMC Server Automation Console, select Configuration > Infrastructure Management.
    2. Expand the Application Servers node and select the Application Server that is your Provisioning Server.

    3. Under the Application Server, ensure that the SSL Port is set to 9831. Set it if not.

      You can also use the blasadmin utility to check and set the SSL port. Use the blasadmin option appserver SSLPort.

  2. Ensure that port 9831 is open for communication. (For example, make sure a firewall is not blocking communication.)
  3. Configure port 9831 as the SSL port in the DHCP server, as described in the following procedures:

Configuring the Windows DHCP

To enable and configure DHCP on a Windows server, use the procedures in this section.

Make sure that adding DHCP does not conflict with any other servers running DHCP in your environment.

Adding DHCP

The following procedure is specific to Windows 2003. Other Windows operating systems are similar.

  1. Select Control Panel > Add/Remove Programs.
  2. Select Add/Remove Windows Components.
  3. Select Networking Services and click Details.
  4. Select DHCP and click OK.

  5. Click Next and then click Finish.

    In an Active Directory environment, work with your Domain Administrator to authorize the DHCP server.

Adding predefined options

  1. Run DHCP from the Start menu by selecting Programs > Administrative Tools > DHCP.
  2. Ensure that a DHCP scope is defined. Typically, a scope is already defined. If not, do the following:
    1. Right-click the server and select New Scope.
    2. Use the wizard to define a scope that leases addresses to servers provisioned in a certain range.
  3. Right-click the default server and choose Set Predefined Options. In the Predefined Options and Values dialog box, click Add.
  4. Provide the following information about the Application Server.
    • Name: bl-server
    • Data Type: IP address
    • Code: 211

  5. Click OK.

    Do not enter an IP address after you click OK.

  6. Click OK again.
  7. In the Predefined Options and Values dialog box, click Add again.
  8. Provide the following information and click OK.
    • Name: bl-port
    • Data Type: Word
    • Code: 212
  9. Click OK, and do not change the default value for Word.
  10. Click OK again.
  11. In the DHCP window, expand the Scope folder.
  12. Right-click Scope Options and select Configure Options.
  13. Under Available Options:
    1. Scroll down and check the 211 bl-server option.
    2. For IP address, enter the IP address of the Application Server.
    3. Check the 212 bl-ports option.
    4. For Port, enter 9831, which is the port that BMC Server Automation uses by default for Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) communication. The system calculates and displays the hexadecimal value for the port number (0x2667).

    5. To configure a router, check option 003.

      You must configure a router in the following circumstances:

      • If any part of the BMC Server Automation infrastructure is on a different network from the target servers that you intend to provision, you must configure a router.
      • Some operating systems require a router configuration; if there is no router, use the IP address of the application server.
      • For Server Name, type a valid router IP address. The system administrator who configured the DHCP server can provide this value. Use the actual router address, which might not align with the .1 host ID. If you do not have a valid router IP address (for example, if you are provisioning in a local LAN) you can use any valid IP address within the subnet that is not in the range of IP addresses to be distributed by the DHCP server, such as x.x.x.1. The IP address of the DHCP server is a good alternative if no gateway exists.
      • Click Resolve. The value appears in the IP Address field.
      • Click Add. Option 003 appears in the list of options.
      • Click OK.

  14. Review the DHCP Scope Options that you just configured. A successful configuration looks similar to the right panel in the following example.
    worddav0166686999606bbc0c46b8b89eb93d55.png

    Note

    If you need to direct a PXE client such as a Citrix Xen guest VM to the PXE boot file, add also options 66 and 67. Use option 66 to specify the boot server host name and option 67 to specify the boot file name. The data type for both options is String.

Adding Option 60

If the DHCP server and the PXE server reside on the same host computer, you must add Option 60. This option makes it possible for the target computers to differentiate between DHCP servers and proxy DHCP servers.

You do not need to perform this task if the DHCP server and the PXE server reside on separate host computers.

  1. On the DHCP server, type netsh on the command line to enter Microsoft Windows network shell.
  2. Run the dhcp command dhcp
  3. Run the server command: server server_ID
     Where server_IDis one of the following:
    • Name of the DHCP server, in the format
      servername
    • IP address of the DHCP server
       The command prompt changes to dhcp server.

  4. Run the following command:

    add optiondef 60 PXEClient STRING 0 comment=<userDefined>

    Where userDefined is any comment that you want to add. The comment appears in the list of scope options for the DHCP server. If your comment includes spaces, enclose the comment in quotation marks.

  5. Enter the following command:
    set optionvalue 60 STRING PXEClient
     To confirm the addition of the scope option, enter the following command:
    show optionvalue all
    The output is similar to the following example:

    General Option Values:
    OptionId: 60
    Option Value:
    Number of Option Elements = 1
    Option Element Type = STRING
    Option Element Value = PXEClient
  6. Before proceeding to the next section, restart the DHCP server.

Configuring the ISC DHCP for Linux

The following procedure describes how to install and configure the Internet Systems Consortium (ISC) DHCP.

  1. Download ISC DHCP version 3.0p2 or later from http://www.isc.org/software/dhcp and compile the executable.
     Or
     Use a package manager (such as YUM, YaST, or Zypper) to install the dhcpd package.

  2. Edit the dhcpd.conf file, (typically /etc/dhcpd.conf) to match the following example.

    Use the PXEClient option (third line from the bottom in the following example) only if the DHCP and PXE servers are installed on the same system; otherwise, omit that line.

    allow booting;
    allow bootp;
    allow duplicates;
    always-broadcast on;
    authoritative;
    ddns-update-style none;
    option bl-server code 211 = ip-address;
    option bl-port code 212 = unsigned integer 16;
    subnet 192.168.4.0 netmask 255.255.255.0
    \{
    range 192.168.4.200 192.168.4.220;
    option subnet-mask 255.255.255.0;
    option routers 192.168.4.1;
    option domain-name-servers 10.20.21.3;
    option netbios-name-servers 10.20.21.3;
    option domain-name "netboot.customer.com";
    default-lease-time 2592000;
    max-lease-time 5184000;
    option vendor-class-identifier "PXEClient";
    option bl-server 192.168.4.100;
    option bl-port 9831;
    \}
  3. Restart the DHCP server.

 

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