How can I configure a DHCP server to assign addresses based on the OS that is running
Marc Chamberlin
marc at marcchamberlin.com
Thu May 20 21:59:14 UTC 2010
Thanks for replying Randall, I guess I don't follow or understand what
you are asking me? My goal is to be able to assign a particular IP
address to a system based on what operating system is running when it
asks the dhcpd server for one. Right now we have just Linux and various
flavors of Windows running on dual bootable systems... Mostly this is so
our backup server can choose and appropriate fileset to back up when it
connects to each system.
So far, Linux has been pretty stable in terms of it's file structure and
as we upgrade from one release to the next, the backup requirements
remain pretty consistent. Windows is far more variable and I may have to
assign separate IP addresses to Windows machines based on what variant
of Windows is being used. (and we do have at least one fool who is
making noises about wanting to set up his system to triple boot it! (XP,
Windows 7, and Linux) GROAN!.....)
Marc..
On 5/19/2010 6:07 PM, Randall C Grimshaw wrote:
> any chance that it is sufficient to separate windows and other...
> Randall Grimshaw rgrimsha at syr.edu <mailto:rgrimsha at syr.edu>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> *From:* dhcp-users-bounces+rgrimsha=syr.edu at lists.isc.org
> [dhcp-users-bounces+rgrimsha=syr.edu at lists.isc.org] On Behalf Of Marc
> Chamberlin [marc at marcchamberlin.com]
> *Sent:* Wednesday, May 19, 2010 5:49 PM
> *To:* dhcp-users at lists.isc.org
> *Subject:* How can I configure a DHCP server to assign addresses based
> on the OS that is running
>
> I have a need to be able to assign fixed IP addresses to various
> computers based on the operating system that is running, not based on
> MAC addresses... The purpose of this is so that our backup server,
> which automatically backs up files from each system, and can only work
> with static IP addresses, has the ability to change it's behavior
> based on which IP address/OS is used/running, when it connects to a
> particular system. Our systems, are all dual boot, Linux and Windows
> (Vista or XP). Laptops in particular are a problem because they can be
> connected wirelessly or wired to our network, and it is unpredictable
> as to which way they will be connected, or what operating system is
> in use, when the backup occurs (usually late at night)....
>
> I am running a dhcp server on a Linux (SuSE11.2) system, - Internet
> Systems Consortium DHCP Server V3.1.2p1
>
> So here is what I am after - For a given OS (Windows or Linux)
> running on a client, I want the DHCP server to assign a particular IP
> address to that client, regardless of which interface that client is
> using - wired or wireless. But I want a different IP address assigned
> to that client for each OS. For example, if the laptop is running
> Windows I want to give the laptop the address of 192.168.2.15
> regardless of whether it is connected wirelessly or wired. If the
> laptop is running Linux I want to give the laptop the address of
> 192.168.2.10, again regardless of how it is connected to the network.
>
> I understand that I can configure the dhcpd.conf file so as to assign
> the same IP address to a client, for each MAC address that it has,
> i.e. as follows -
>
> host laptop_Vista_wireless {
> hardware ethernet 00:1A:73:55:7D:0F;
> fixed-address 192.168.2.15;
> }
>
> host laptop_Vista_ethernet {
> hardware ethernet 00:1B:24:3C:88:3E;
> fixed-address 192.168.2.15;
> }
>
> But that won't work for Linux since it will be using the same
> interfaces with the same MAC addresses, and I need a different IP
> addressed assign to that system when it is running Linux.
>
> With Linux I can set the dhcp client identifier, but I have never been
> able to figure out how to do so in Windows XP or Vista. I have
> discovered, by monitoring the dhcpd.leases file however, that there is
> indeed a client identifier for each of the network interface cards
> when running under Windows. Unfortunately it is not the same
> identifier for both interfaces, nor is it human readable. But I can
> cut and paste it so I have tried to configure the dhcpd.conf file as
> follows -
>
>
> host laptop_Linux {
> option dhcp-client-identifier "\000Linux-laptop";
> fixed-address 192.168.2.10;
> }
>
> host laptop_Vista_wireless {
> option dhcp-client-identifier "\001\000\032sU}\017";
> fixed-address 192.168.2.15;
> }
>
> host laptop_Vista_ethernet {
> option dhcp-client-identifier "\001\000\0266\302e\244";
> fixed-address 192.168.2.15;
> }
>
> And that gets me close but there is still a problem. If the user of
> the laptop switches from using one of the interfaces to the other, the
> dhcp server recognizes that there is still a lease on the IP address
> that it assigned to the initial interface, used by the laptop, and it
> fails to reassign that IP address to the new interface that the user
> switched to. So some default IP address is assigned instead, which
> results in my backup server failing to back up that system.
>
> I realize that there is an interesting question about what happens if
> a user has both interfaces active when he/she connects to a network. I
> see from log files that Linux will try and have the dhcp server assign
> an IP address to each interface when it is activated/initialized.
> Since Windows hides everything, I am not sure what it does or how it
> prioritizes the usage of multiple interfaces. So I would appreciate
> some insight here as well, if anyone really understands the behavior
> of these operating systems.. But what I really want is that I have the
> ability to assign a fixed IP address to whichever interface the OS
> will decide to use.... And if I can assign the same IP address to each
> interface, then it should not matter in the final analysis, since I
> would guess the OS is only going to use one of the interfaces. (At
> least that is what it appears Windows does, not so sure about Linux)
>
> I have tried to read the documentation and man pages, and fooled
> around a bit with the conditional expressions but could never get that
> to work. The documentation is pretty difficult and obtuse to
> understand so I give up and decided to simply ask... So can some kind
> guru help me out and show me how to configure dhcpd.conf so I can
> achieve what I am after? Much appreciate it and many thanks in advance..
>
> Marc..
--
Marc Chamberlin
www.marcchamberlin.com
A man said unto the universe - "Sir I Exist!"
"However" replied the universe
"I do not see where that creates in me a sense of
an obligation" S Crane.
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