At 05:40 PM 7/8/2005, you wrote:
>Hi Folks,
>
>I am looking for some software that I can put on my dhcp server and
>force people to register to get a valid IP address.  I am not really
>looking for anything that does authentication, just something that
>would be based on the "honor system" so that I can pair MAC addresses
>with a name.  We often have visitors here who do not have a valid UNIX
>or other account, so auth would be nice but likely is not easily
>doable unless I create accounts for visitors.   I found www.netreg.org
>and am considering using that software, but I was interested in
>hearing from anyone who knows about a similar or better product.
>
>Thanks,
>Shannon

So, you're basically looking for something that will:
1)  allow someone to get an IP address temporarily, long enough to do the 
registration
2)  and then release the IP address if they don't do it in time.

Here are a couple ideas that come to mind.  I haven't done them and they 
may be some work or not feasible, but it would be "home-grown":

You might script a loop on your DHCP server to --
a)  allow IP address assignment via DHCP, logging the time and address
b)  script a loop on your DHCP server to check assigned IP addresses 
against the current registration list every couple minutes
c)  unassign any IP address that hasn't registered properly
  --- per the man page for dhcpcd "Leases can't currently be created or 
destroyed, but they can be looked up to examine and modify their state. " 
so just change the expiration time from whenever to whenever+1second.

Alternatively, if you might be able to put something on the client, modify 
ifup_eth0 to get and pass a registration value (name, etc) (validate it if 
you want).  Don't execute ifup_eth0 automatically - run a script to get 
user input and then trigger it.    Maybe run the dhcpd server on an unusual 
port number as a way to force the special software for validation and IP 
address acquisition.  Ping periodically, if a client doesn't respond to two 
consecutive pings, unregister it.


--
Terry Stockdale -- Baton Rouge, LA
My main website: http://www.TerryStockdale.com
My newsletter:  http://www.TerrysComputerTips.com

Reply via email to