NetbootServer 1.0 Release Note
Lucent NetbootServer is a Java-based graphical user interface (GUI) to
a TFTP server and BOOTP server that can boot a Lucent PortMaster(R)
product across a network or download a new version of ComOS(R).
NetbootServer is independent of the version of ComOS that is running on
the PortMaster.
_______________ Contents
How NetbootServer Works
TFTP Configuration
BOOTP Configuration
Limitations
System Requirements
Installation
Deinstallation
Running NetbootServer
Debug Log
Contacting Technical Support
_______________ How NetbootServer Works
The NetbootServer's TFTP and BOOTP servers are independent of each
other and can be started, stopped, and configured separately. A list
of clients that have been served by the TFTP and BOOTP servers is
displayed in the main window.
NetbootServer includes online help.
On any UNIX system, you must be root to start the NetbootServer's TFTP
or BOOTP server.
On any UNIX system, you cannot run another TFTP or BOOTP server when
running NetbootServer. Otherwise, NetbootServer is unable to use the
defined UDP ports to listen for TFTP and BOOTP requests.
_______ TFTP Server
The TFTP server implements RFC 1350, the Trivial File Transfer Protocol
(TFTP). TFTP is a protocol for transferring files in 512-byte blocks
over UDP. The TFTP server can send files to any TFTP client, such as
the one implemented on PortMaster products. For example, as part of the
normal upgrade procedure, the PortMaster can retrieve a new version of
ComOS from the TFTP server when you enter the following command:
tftp get comos <Server_IPaddress> <Filename>
For security reasons, the TFTP server cannot write files -- it cannot
receive files sent from a TFTP client.
_______ BOOTP Server
The BOOTP server implements RFC 951, the Bootstrap protocol (BOOTP).
BOOTP is a UDP protocol that provides a BOOTP client with its own IP
address and the IP address of a server host, based on the client's
media access control (MAC) address. Unlike the TFTP server, which
responds to any TFTP client, the BOOTP server is customized to respond
only to BOOTP clients in PortMaster products. This selective response
is possible because the BOOTP server provides only a subset of
configuration information in the BOOTP request, which is all that is
needed by the PortMaster BOOTP client.
The PortMaster acts as a BOOTP client and sends a BOOTP request as part
of its netbooting process -- when the DIP switch on the PortMaster is
set for netbooting -- or when the configuration stored in nonvolatile
RAM is invalid. The BOOTP server searches for the MAC address of the
BOOTP client in its MAC-address-IP-address database. If it finds the
MAC address, the BOOTP server sends a BOOTP response packet containing
the MAC address, the corresponding IP address, and the IP address of
the machine on which NetbootServer is running.
During the netbooting process, the PortMaster uses the IP address of
the machine on which NetbootServer is running to request a standard
ComOS file containing minimum functionality -- GENERIC.PM3 for the
PortMaster 3, for example -- from the TFTP server. Once this minimal
ComOS file is downloaded, the PortMaster can then be upgraded to a
fully functional ComOS release using PMVision, pmupgrade from PMTools,
or the ComOS "tftp get comos" command.
_______________ TFTP Configuration
The following settings are configurable on the TFTP server:
Timeout Number of seconds that must elapse before the server
attempts to resend a data packet if an ACK packet has
not been received. The value can be between 1 and 30.
Max Retries Number of times the server attempts to resend a data
packet after the Timeout interval has elapsed, before
terminating the connection with the TFTP client. The value
can be between 0 and 10. A setting of 0 prevents the server
from resending data packets.
Base Directory Name of the base directory from which files are read when
the TFTP server receives a read request from a TFTP client.
The actual filename or file path in the request from the TFTP
client is appended to this base directory.
The TFTP server does not support the optional TFTP option extensions
defined in RFC 2347, RFC 2348, and RFC 2349.
_______________ BOOTP Configuration
The following settings are configurable on the BOOTP server:
MAC address MAC address of the client that sends a BOOTP request.
IP address IP address corresponding to this MAC address, which the
BOOTP server sends in the BOOTP response to the client.
By entering these settings into the GUI, you can define the database of
MAC addresses and their corresponding IP addresses through the
application.
Alternatively, you can import an existing file containing a list of
MAC-address-IP-address pairs into the application. This file must
contain each pair on a separate line with MAC address first. For
example:
00:c0:05:04:34:e6 149.198.32.104
The file can include blank lines, and comment lines that start with a
number sign (#), but it must not contain any other data.
This database can be exported to a user-defined file, to use, for
example, with NetbootServer running on another machine.
_______________ Limitations
Following is a list of known limitations in NetbootServer 1.0:
* When NetbootServer is first started on Microsoft Windows NT, the
BOOTP server can take up to a minute before responding to BOOTP
requests from a client if NetbootServer is running on an isolated
machine that cannot access the Domain Name Server (DNS). After the
first minute, the BOOTP server responds correctly to BOOTP requests.
* An entry deleted from the BOOTP database is active until the BOOTP
server is stopped and restarted.
_______________ System Requirements
NetbootServer is a Java-based product that runs on any system with Java
Development Kit (JDK) or Java Runtime Environment (JRE) version 1.1.6
or later installed. Nondevelopers can use the JRE rather than the JDK.
Currently, JDK 1.1 and JRE 1.1 are available for the following
platforms:
* Windows NT 4.0 http://www.javasoft.com/products/jdk/1.1/
* Windows 95 http://www.javasoft.com/products/jdk/1.1/
* Solaris 2.5.1 http://www.javasoft.com/products/jdk/1.1/
* Solaris x86 2.5.1 http://www.javasoft.com/products/jdk/1.1/
* Linux 2.x ftp://lagrange.la.asu.edu/pub/Linux_jdk/
* FreeBSD http://www.freebsd.org/java/
* SGI IRIX 6.3 http://www.sgi.com/developers/devtools
* HP-UX 10.02 http://www.hp.com/esy/go/java.html
* Alpha Digital UNIX 4.0 http://www.digital.com/java/download/
* IBM AIX 4.1 http://www.ibm.com/java/tools/jdk.html
* Macintosh http://developer.apple.com/java/
* All other platforms http://java.sun.com/cgi-bin/java-ports.cgi
_______________ Installation
You can install NetbootServer with or without netbootable ComOS
images. You can get individual netbootable ComOS images from
ftp://ftp.livingston.com/pub/le/netboot/ or you can get a single file
containing all the netbootable ComOS images as described below.
To install NetbootServer use the following steps:
1. Download files from ftp.livingston.com as follows:
ftp ftp.livingston.com
(Enter "anonymous".)
(Enter your email address; it will not echo.)
binary
cd pub/le/software/java
- For Solaris, enter
get netboot10_solaris.tar
- For other UNIX systems, enter
get netboot10_unix.tar
- For Windows, enter
get netboot10.zip
- For Macintosh, enter
get netboot10.sit
- If you want all the ComOS netboot images, enter one of the three
- following commands:
- For Solaris and UNIX, enter
- get netboot.tar
- For Windows, enter
get netboot.zip
- For Macintosh, enter
get netboot.sit
- If you do not want to get the entire (large) set of netboot images,
- you can retrieve individual images from /pub/le/netboot. Enter:
cd /pub/le/netboot
mget GENERIC*
quit
2. For UNIX systems only, define the path for jre/bin in your .cshrc file.
For example, if you install the JRE in the /usr/local/lib directory,
your .cshrc file must have the following entry:
set path=( /usr/local/lib/jre/bin $path )
If the JDK has been installed, then change the netboot and zipexpand
scripts to use the java command instead of jre.
3. Run the installation.
* For Solaris, enter the following commands on the command line:
tar xvf netboot10_solaris.tar
./netboot_install.bin
* For other UNIX systems, use the following commands, replacing
/usr/local/Lucent with your desired path:
mkdir /usr/local/Lucent
mkdir /usr/local/Lucent/NetbootServer
cp netboot10_unix.tar /usr/local/Lucent/NetbootServer
cd /usr/local/Lucent/NetbootServer
tar xvf netboot10_unix.tar
rm netboot10_unix.tar
* On both Solaris and other UNIX systems, to install the netbootable
ComOS images create a directory and place the images in it.
Configure NetbootServer to tell it where to find the images.
mkdir /usr/local/Lucent/tftpboot
cp netboot.tar /usr/local/Lucent/tftpboot
cd /usr/local/Lucent/tftpboot
tar xvf netboot.tar
rm netboot.tar
ln -s . tftpboot
Move any netboot images you retrieved from the FTP site to the
/usr/local/Lucent/tftpboot directory.
* For Windows, unzip the netboot10.zip file, run the
netboot_install.exe program, and follow its instructions.
To install the netboot ComOS images on Windows, unzip the netboot.zip
file and run the resulting program, and follow its instructions.
* For Macintosh, unstuff the netboot10.sit file, run the
netboot_install program, and follow its instructions.
To install the netboot ComOS images on Macintosh, unstuff the
netboot.sit file and run the resulting program, and follow its
instructions.
_______________ Deinstallation
* On a Solaris, Windows, or Macintosh system, an application called
Uninstall_Netboot is placed in the netbootserver directory.
Run this application to remove NetbootServer from your system.
On Solaris, if the local jre directory still exists after you run
Uninstall_Netboot, remove the directory with the command "rm -rf jre".
* On a UNIX system, remove the shell script and jar files to remove
NetbootServer from your system.
_______________ Running NetbootServer
* On UNIX systems (including Solaris), run NetbootServer by typing
"netbootserver" when you are in the netbootserver installation
directory. If you have added the netbootserver installation directory
to your PATH, you can run it from anywhere.
* On a Windows NT system, select the NetbootServer icon from the
Lucent folder in your Start --> Programs menu.
* On Macintosh systems, select the NetbootServer icon from the Apple
menu.
_______________ Debug Log
When running NetbootServer, you can use the following options:
-g <Debug level>
-l (specifies the local directory)
The -g <Debug level> option specifies the debug level. Valid debug
level values are the following:
0 - NONE - No debug output
10 - FATAL_ERRORS - Debug output for fatal errors only
20 - ALL_ERRORS - Debug output for all errors (the default)
30 - DEBUG - Useful debug information
40 - VERBOSE - More debug than you can possibly stand
The -l option sends all debug output to the directory NetbootServer is
installed in. By default, all debug output is sent to the
Lucent/NetbootServer directory created in your home directory. On UNIX
machines, the default works properly. However the concept of a home
directory is not so clear on PCs and seems to differ for each vendor's
Virtual Machine. Try looking for one of the following:
c:\java\Lucent\NetbootServer
c:\users\<username>\Lucent\NetbootServer
c:\windows\Lucent\NetbootServer
If you still cannot find the directory that contains debug output, select
Find --> File and search for debuglog.txt.
________________________________________________________________________
Copyright and Trademarks
Copyright 1999 Lucent Technologies. All rights reserved.
PortMaster, ComOS, ChoiceNet, MERLIN, and NetCare are registered
trademarks of Lucent Technologies. PMVision, IRX, PortAuthority, and
MERLIN MAGIX are trademarks of Lucent Technologies. PolicyFlow is a
service mark of Lucent Technologies. All other marks are the property
of their respective owners.
Notices
Lucent Technologies makes no representations or warranties with respect
to the contents or use of this publication, and specifically disclaims
any express or implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for any
particular purpose. Further, Lucent Technologies reserves the right to
revise this publication and to make changes to its content, any time,
without obligation to notify any person or entity of such revisions or
changes.
Contacting Lucent NetCare Technical Support
Lucent NetCare(R) Professional Services provides technical support via
voice and electronic mail, or through the World Wide Web at
http://www.livingston.com/. Mention that you are running NetbootServer 1.0,
and include the version of JDK or JRE that you are running, the
operating system version ("uname -a" output), and the version of ComOS
on the PortMaster.
The "About NetbootServer..." menu item in the Help menu displays the
version of NetbootServer you are running, including the build date,
debug level, and location of runtime debug files.
Internet service providers (ISPs) and other end users in Europe, the
Middle East, Africa, India, and Pakistan must contact their authorized
Lucent sales channel partner for technical support; see
http://www.livingston.com/International/EMEA/distributors.html.
For North America, the Caribbean and Latin America (CALA), and Asia
Pacific customers, technical support is available Monday through Friday
from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. U.S. Pacific Time (GMT -8). Dial 1-800-458-9966
within the United States (including Alaska and Hawaii), Canada, and
CALA, or 1-925-737-2100 from elsewhere, for voice support. Otherwise,
send email to support@livingston.com (asia-support@livingston.com for
Asia Pacific customers).
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