NAME
rpld - an RPL/RIPL remote boot server
SYNOPSIS
rpld [-f] [-C configfile] [-i iface] [-s sap] [-h]
WARRANTY
rpld DOES NOT come with ANY WARRANTY, NOT even an IMPLIED WARRANTY.
OPTIONS
-f this flag causes rpld to run in the foreground, and not
to fork and run as a daemon.
-C configfile causes rpld to read configfile rather than the default
configuration file.
-i iface causes rpld to bind to network interface iface rather
than the default. Because of the limitations of the LLC
802.2 protocol rpld can only bind to one interface.
-s sap changes the SAP number that rpld binds to. The IBM
standard says this should be 0xf8 but most network cards
seem to use 0xfc and some even use 0xf4. You can specify
the sap as either a hex number with a leading 0x or a
decimal one. Beware of specificing a SAP number which is
used for system control packets on a machine with native
llc support.
-h causes rpld to print a brief help message.
DESCRIPTION
rpld will net-boot IBM style RPL boot ROMs. Communication between the
client and the server is done in LLC-1 ui/C frames with the source and
destination SAP both being 0xfc. On booting the client transmits a FIND
frame containing the client’s MAC address, adapter type and frame length.
The server replies with a FOUND frame containing the server’s MAC address
and a possibly smaller frame length. The client issues a
SEND.FILE.REQUEST frame requesting the first block of the boot file. The
server then issues a sequence of FILE.DATA.RESPONSE frames with
increasing block numbers. The FILE.DATA.RESPONSE frames contain a load
address and an execute address and a flag. If the client fails to receive
a FILE.DATA.RESPONSE frame within a certain period it sends another
SEND.FILE.REQUEST frame requesting the block which follows the last block
that was successfully received. On the last FILE.DATA.RESPONSE frame the
server sets a special value of the flags which cause the client to
transfer execution to the execute address specified in the frame.
The server starts by reading the configuration file in /etc/rpld.conf,
see rpld.conf(5), After the configuration file has been read, it opens
the system’s default network interface and listens for RPL frames. The
server recalculates the length of all the files to be downloaded every
time it receives a SEND.FILE.REQUEST frame.
BUGS
Solenopsis invicta Burens
rpld doesn’t support the new bzImage format correctly.
rpld doesn’t reload the first 512 octets of Linux kernels
automatically.
There is no way to make rpld re-read its configuration file.
When concurrently serving multiple clients rpld will choose the pacing
value of the slowest one.
Partial ethernet addresses should be specified in bits not bytes.
rpld needs to meet more network adapters.
NOTES
IBM is a trademark of IBM Corp.
and the makefile in the distribution for more information.
FILES
/usr/sbin/rpld
/etc/rpld.conf
/rplboot
SEE ALSO
rpld.conf(5),
bootpd(1),
dhcpd(1),
http://gimel.esc.cam.ac.uk/james/rpld;
AUTHORS AND COPYRIGHT
(c) 1999,2000 James McKenzie, and Christopher Lightfoot. All rights
reserved.