Installing and Administering Internet Services

Chapter 5 189
Configuring TFTP and BOOTP Servers
Troubleshooting BOOTP and TFTP Servers
to = time_offset
Tnnn = generic_information
Cause: Too many RFC-1048 options have been specified for the client’s
configuration entry in /etc/bootptab. The BOOTP protocol allows only
64 bytes of “vendor extension” information. When such extended
information is included in the bootreply, bootpd must also add a 4-byte
vendor magic cookie to the bootreply, a 1-byte tag indicating the end of
the vendor information, and a 1-byte or 2-byte tag for each field
(depending on the format of the field) along with the value of the tag
itself. The total size of the extended information you list for a client must
not exceed 64 bytes.
Action: Ensure the configuration contains only the necessary information to boot
the client. Check the documentation for the BOOTP client to find out
which tags are necessary for configuration and which tags are supported.
For example, if the client supports only one nameserver address, there is
no need to list three nameserver addresses with the ds tag. If the client
does not support configuring its host name with the hn tag, there is no
reason to include it.
Common tftpd Problems
If you experience a problem with tftpd, read through this section for
possible remedies. The problems listed in this section are ordered by
symptom.
Symptom: File transfer “timed out.” inetd connection logging (enabled with the
inetd -l command) does not show any connection to the TFTP server.
Cause: The TFTP server, tftpd, did not start.
Action: ❏ Ensure /etc/inetd.conf is configured correctly as documented
earlier in this chapter.
❏ Ensure you have reconfigured inetd with the command inetd -c.
❏ As documented in “Configuring the BOOTP Server” on page 174,
verify that the server is working by using tftp to transfer a small
file. It might be helpful to try the transfer from another node on your
network rather than from the server node itself.