Manual Pages  — BOOTPTAB

The bootptab file is the configuration database file for bootpd(8), the Internet Bootstrap Protocol server. Its format is similar to that of termcap(5) in which two-character case-sensitive tag symbols are used to represent host parameters. These parameter declarations are separated by colons (:), with a general format of:

    hostname:tg=value. . . :tg=value. . . :tg=value. . . .

where hostname is the actual name of a bootp client (or a "dummy entry"), and tg is a two-character tag symbol. Dummy entries have an invalid hostname (one with a "." as the first character) and are used to provide default values used by other entries via the tc=.dummy-entry mechanism. Most tags must be followed by an equals-sign and a value as above. Some may also appear in a boolean form with no value (i.e.amp; :tg:). The currently recognized tags are:

bf	Bootfile
bs	Bootfile size in 512-octet blocks
cs	Cookie server address list
df	Merit dump file
dn	Domain name
ds	Domain name server address list
ef	Extension file
gw	Gateway address list
ha	Host hardware address
hd	Bootfile home directory
hn	Send client's hostname to client
ht	Host hardware type (see Assigned Numbers RFC)
im	Impress server address list
ip	Host IP address
lg	Log server address list
lp	LPR server address list
ns	IEN-116 name server address list
nt	NTP (time) Server (RFC 1129)
ra	Reply address override
rl	Resource location protocol server address list
rp	Root path to mount as root
sa	TFTP server address client should use
sm	Host subnet mask
sw	Swap server address
tc	Table continuation (points to similar "template" host entry)
td	TFTP root directory used by "secure" TFTP servers
to	Time offset in seconds from UTC
ts	Time server address list
vm	Vendor magic cookie selector
yd	YP (NIS) domain name
ys	YP (NIS) server address

There is also a generic tag, T n, where n is an RFC1084 vendor field tag number. Thus it is possible to immediately take advantage of future extensions to RFC1084 without being forced to modify bootpd first. Generic data may be represented as either a stream of hexadecimal numbers or as a quoted string of ASCII characters. The length of the generic data is automatically determined and inserted into the proper field(s) of the RFC1084-style bootp reply.

The following tags take a whitespace-separated list of IP addresses: cs, ds, gw, im, lg, lp, ns, nt, ra, rl, and ts. The ip, sa, sw, sm, and ys tags each take a single IP address. All IP addresses are specified in standard Internet "dot" notation and may use decimal, octal, or hexadecimal numbers (octal numbers begin with 0, hexadecimal numbers begin with '0x' or '0X'). Any IP addresses may alternatively be specified as a hostname, causing bootpd to lookup the IP address for that host name using gethostbyname(3). If the ip tag is not specified, bootpd will determine the IP address using the entry name as the host name. (Dummy entries use an invalid host name to avoid automatic IP lookup.)

The ht tag specifies the hardware type code as either an unsigned decimal, octal, or hexadecimal integer or one of the following symbolic names: ethernet or ether for 10Mb Ethernet, ethernet3 or ether3 for 3Mb experimental Ethernet, ieee802, tr, or token-ring for IEEE 802 networks, pronet for Proteon ProNET Token Ring, or chaos, arcnet, or ax.25 for Chaos, ARCNET, and AX.25 Amateur Radio networks, respectively. The ha tag takes a hardware address which may be specified as a host name or in numeric form. Note that the numeric form must be specified in hexadecimal; optional periods and/or a leading '0x' may be included for readability. The ha tag must be preceded by the ht tag (either explicitly or implicitly; see tc below). If the hardware address is not specified and the type is specified as either "ethernet" or "ieee802", then bootpd will try to determine the hardware address using ether_hostton(3).

The hostname, home directory, and bootfile are ASCII strings which may be optionally surrounded by double quotes ("). The client's request and the values of the hd and bf symbols determine how the server fills in the bootfile field of the bootp reply packet.

If the client provides a file name it is left as is. Otherwise, if the bf option is specified its value is copied into the reply packet. If the hd option is specified as well, its value is prepended to the boot file copied into the reply packet. The existence of the boot file is checked only if the bs=auto option is used (to determine the boot file size). A reply may be sent whether or not the boot file exists.

Some newer versions of tftpd(8) provide a security feature to change their root directory using the chroot(2) system call. The td tag may be used to inform bootpd of this special root directory used by tftpd. (One may alternatively use the bootpd -c chdir option.) The hd tag is actually relative to the root directory specified by the td tag. For example, if the real absolute path to your BOOTP client bootfile is /tftpboot/bootfiles/bootimage, and tftpd uses /tftpboot as its "secure" directory, then specify the following in bootptab:

    :td=/tftpboot:hd=/bootfiles:bf=bootimage:

If your bootfiles are located directly in /tftpboot, use:

    :td=/tftpboot:hd=/:bf=bootimage:

The sa tag may be used to specify the IP address of the particular TFTP server you wish the client to use. In the absence of this tag, bootpd will tell the client to perform TFTP to the same machine bootpd is running on.

The time offset to may be either a signed decimal integer specifying the client's time zone offset in seconds from UTC, or the keyword auto which uses the server's time zone offset. Specifying the to symbol as a boolean has the same effect as specifying auto as its value.

The bootfile size bs may be either a decimal, octal, or hexadecimal integer specifying the size of the bootfile in 512-octet blocks, or the keyword auto which causes the server to automatically calculate the bootfile size at each request. As with the time offset, specifying the bs symbol as a boolean has the same effect as specifying auto as its value.

The vendor magic cookie selector (the vm tag) may take one of the following keywords: auto (indicating that vendor information is determined by the client's request), rfc1048 or rfc1084 (which always forces an RFC1084-style reply), or cmu (which always forces a CMU-style reply).

The hn tag is strictly a boolean tag; it does not take the usual equals-sign and value. Its presence indicates that the hostname should be sent to RFC1084 clients. Bootpd attempts to send the entire hostname as it is specified in the configuration file; if this will not fit into the reply packet, the name is shortened to just the host field (up to the first period, if present) and then tried. In no case is an arbitrarily-truncated hostname sent (if nothing reasonable will fit, nothing is sent).

Often, many host entries share common values for certain tags (such as name servers, etc.). Rather than repeatedly specifying these tags, a full specification can be listed for one host entry and shared by others via the tc (table continuation) mechanism. Often, the template entry is a dummy host which does not actually exist and never sends bootp requests. This feature is similar to the tc feature of termcap(5) for similar terminals. Note that bootpd allows the tc tag symbol to appear anywhere in the host entry, unlike termcap which requires it to be the last tag. Information explicitly specified for a host always overrides information implied by a tc tag symbol, regardless of its location within the entry. The value of the tc tag may be the hostname or IP address of any host entry previously listed in the configuration file.

Sometimes it is necessary to delete a specific tag after it has been inferred via tc. This can be done using the construction tag@ which removes the effect of tag as in termcap(5). For example, to completely undo an IEN-116 name server specification, use :ns@: at an appropriate place in the configuration entry. After removal with @, a tag is eligible to be set again through the tc mechanism.

Blank lines and lines beginning with "#" are ignored in the configuration file. Host entries are separated from one another by newlines; a single host entry may be extended over multiple lines if the lines end with a backslash (\). It is also acceptable for lines to be longer than 80 characters. Tags may appear in any order, with the following exceptions: the hostname must be the very first field in an entry, and the hardware type must precede the hardware address.

An example /etc/bootptab file follows:

# Sample bootptab file (domain=andrew.cmu.edu)

amp;.default:\
        :hd=/usr/boot:bf=null:\
        :ds=netserver, lancaster:\
        :ns=pcs2, pcs1:\
        :ts=pcs2, pcs1:\
        :sm=255.255.255.0:\
        :gw=gw.cs.cmu.edu:\
        :hn:to=-18000:

carnegie:ht=6:ha=7FF8100000AF:tc=.default:
baldwin:ht=1:ha=0800200159C3:tc=.default:
wylie:ht=1:ha=00DD00CADF00:tc=.default:
arnold:ht=1:ha=0800200102AD:tc=.default:
bairdford:ht=1:ha=08002B02A2F9:tc=.default:
bakerstown:ht=1:ha=08002B0287C8:tc=.default:

# Special domain name server and option tags for next host
butlerjct:ha=08002001560D:ds=128.2.13.42:\
        :T37=0x12345927AD3BCF:\
        :T99="Special ASCII string":\
        :tc=.default:

gastonville:ht=6:ha=7FFF81000A47:tc=.default:
hahntown:ht=6:ha=7FFF81000434:tc=.default:
hickman:ht=6:ha=7FFF810001BA:tc=.default:
lowber:ht=1:ha=00DD00CAF000:tc=.default:
mtoliver:ht=1:ha=00DD00FE1600:tc=.default:

bootpd(8), tftpd(8)

DARPA Internet Request For Comments RFC951, RFC1048, RFC1084, Assigned Numbers