Peter Memishian writes:
> 
>  > I know; I'm asking about what's intended.  When DHCP starts normally,
>  > the interface is "down" and DHCP marks it as "up" so that it can do
>  > its thing.  I'm really asking about when DHCP knows it ought to do
>  > that and when it should leave the administrator's IFF_UP flag (or lack
>  > thereof) alone.
> 
> I see.  For IPv4, we could pass a flag to open_ip_lif() telling it whether
> this is the initial bringup of the interface (due to the administrator
> issuing a "start") or a subsequent restart (due to expiration or DAD).  It
> could then leave the IFF_UP flag as-is in the restart cases.  For IPv6, it
> appears the code does not have any special IFF_UP handling for the
> link-local and just assumes it's IFF_UP, so I think it's unaffected.

OK.  So, the intent is that IFF_UP doesn't get molested even if DHCP
might somehow learn a new reason (other than 'dhcp start', which seems
clear-cut) for the interface to be marked "up" once again.

>  > In other words, change of lease data from the DHCP server means "apply
>  > these changes now to the system."  But otherwise DHCP isn't in the
>  > business of trying to make sure that the interface matches what's set.
>  > It's a configuration mechanism, not a nanny.
> 
> Hmm, I'm not sure about this, but I also don't think this case is too
> important to the core topic at hand.

True ... I'm thinking about the limits so I know where we could be
going and the principle behind the "don't mind that flag" change.

-- 
James Carlson, Solaris Networking              <james.d.carlson at sun.com>
Sun Microsystems / 35 Network Drive        71.232W   Vox +1 781 442 2084
MS UBUR02-212 / Burlington MA 01803-2757   42.496N   Fax +1 781 442 1677

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