Peter Memishian writes: > > I'm afraid I just don't get it. From an administrator's point of > > view, what's more obvious about (say) the subnet mask versus a print > > server address? Aren't they configured in roughly the same way as far > > as the protocol is concerned? > > > > I don't get why an administrator would or should expect that DHCP > > shuts itself down when some server-supplied parameters are overridden, > > but doesn't do so when others are overridden. > > > > You've given a definition -- ones that the client configures -- that > > depends on the implementation of the client. Is there a definition > > that doesn't depend on the implementation? > > I don't see this as an implementation detail -- it's critical for > e.g. folks using dhcpinfo, which is why we document it in dhcpagent(1M):
Yes, I see that, but what about the protocol *insists* that it must be so? I'm fishing around for a fundamental reason why some parameters are special and others are not. I don't see that reason, and everything you're citing is revolving around the implementation we have. In other words, *we* decided that a random handful of properties are special, and *we* decided to make it such that the daemon will guard those things jealously, and ignore the use, misuse, or disuse of all the others. That's an implementation issue, not something that defines how DHCP operates, or necessarily matches what any other implementation does. As an administrator, I don't see why I would expect to see these few parameters among the many that DHCP/BOOTP can configure as being special for the Solaris systems on my network. > > Is the mask part of the lease? > > Yes. Except that, really, it's not. The address alone is what's being leased. The subnet mask is a common property of the local network -- it's not leased; it's shared, just like LPR server addresses. -- 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
