Bootstrap Protocol

Starting with IBM® i 7.1, Operations Console includes the automatic discovery of a connection between the system and a PC. However, you can still perform a standard BOOTP operation on the system and PC.

The automatic discovery function is referred to as VSDISCOVER, and is unique to Operations Console. Both the system and PC detect a special broadcast frame from the network and when received, there is a negotiation using ports 67 and 68. The system and PC can use the data exchanged to configure itself, if needed. In addition, the PC creates a configured connection that you can use to start a console session. The VSDISCOVER function is the default mechanism for configuring a connection. The BOOTP process is still used when VSDISCOVER is not necessary, such as when you already have a configured connection and the network data needs to be reset.

A local Operations Console on a network uses the Bootstrap Protocol (BOOTP) to configure the server service IP communications stack. The IP stack configuration, plus server serial number and partition ID, is requested in the Operations Console configuration wizard. The server broadcasts a BOOTP request. The Operations Console PC replies with the information submitted during the configuration wizard. The server then stores and uses the configuration information for the service IP communications stack.

The Operations Console PC must be placed on a network that is accessible by the server. This can be the same physical network or a network that permits broadcast packets to flow. This is an initial setup requirement; typical Operations Console operation does not require this setup. This setup should occur on the same physical network.

The BOOTP request carries the server serial number and partition ID. The server serial number and partition ID are used to assign the IP configuration information. If you are having problems while configuring the service IP communications stack, check that the Operations Console PC is on the same physical network and check that the server serial number and partition ID are correct in the configuration.

A local console on a network (LAN) uses ports 2323, 3001, and 3002. To use Operations Console in a different physical network, the router and firewall must allow IP traffic on these ports. BOOTP uses UDP ports 67 and 68 per RFC 951. For more information, see the Bootstrap protocol RFC website at RFC 951 - Bootstrap Protocol (RFC951) (http://www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc951.html).

The success of BOOTP is dependent on the network hardware used to connect the server and the PC. In some cases, you might need a different console device to configure the connection in DST. To use BOOTP, the network hardware that is used must be capable of autonegotiation of speed and duplex for the Operations Console connection.

To force the system to perform a BOOTP, you must deallocate the current LAN console resource or set the IP address to 0.0.0.0 and perform a function to force the system to reset the console device by using the console service functions.