Chapter 3 Configuring the BOOTP and TFTP Servers

The Bootstrap Protocol (BOOTP) allows certain systems to discover network configuration information (such as an IP address and a subnet mask) and boot information automatically.

The Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP) is a simple protocol used to read and write files to or from a remote system.

Together, TFTP and BOOTP allow a system to provide boot information for client systems that support BOOTP, such as an HP 700/X terminal. These protocols are implemented on the Internet User Datagram Protocol (UDP). Therefore, you can use these protocols across networks that support UDP.

This chapter explains how to manually configure the BOOTP and TFTP servers for your network from the HP-UX prompt. Examples are provided to help you configure the servers. You can also use HP System Management Homepage (HP SMH), the online configuration interface, to configure BOOTP and TFTP servers. The troubleshooting section explains corrective measures to recover from problems that may occur while using the BOOTP and TFTP servers.

DHCPv6 is a superset of BOOTP and you can configure DHCPv6 using HP System Management Homepage (HP SMH).

	NOTE: BOOTP is not supported over the X.25 link product or networks using the PPL (SLIP) product.

The following topics are discussed in this chapter: