NAME

     rbootd — HP remote boot server

SYNOPSIS

     rbootd [-ad] [-i interface] [config_file]

DESCRIPTION

     The rbootd utility services boot requests from Hewlett-Packard workstations over a local
     area network.  All boot files must reside in the boot file directory; further, if a client
     supplies path information in its boot request, it will be silently stripped away before
     processing.  By default, rbootd only responds to requests from machines listed in its
     configuration file.

     The options are as follows:

     -a          Respond to boot requests from any machine.  The configuration file is ignored if
                 this option is specified.

     -d          Run rbootd in debug mode.  Packets sent and received are displayed to the
                 terminal.

     -i interface
                 Service boot requests on specified interface.  If unspecified, rbootd searches
                 the system interface list for the lowest numbered, configured ``up'' interface
                 (excluding loopback).  Ties are broken by choosing the earliest match.

     Specifying config_file on the command line causes rbootd to use a different configuration
     file from the default.

     The configuration file is a text file where each line describes a particular machine.  A
     line must start with a machine's Ethernet address followed by an optional list of boot file
     names.  An Ethernet address is specified in hexadecimal with each of its six octets
     separated by a colon.  The boot file names come from the boot file directory.  The ethernet
     address and boot file(s) must be separated by white-space and/or comma characters.  A pound
     sign causes the remainder of a line to be ignored.

     Here is a sample configuration file:

     #
     # ethernet addr     boot file(s)        comments
     #
     08:00:09:0:66:ad    SYSHPBSD            # snake (4.3BSD)
     08:00:09:0:59:5b                        # vandy (anything)
     8::9:1:C6:75        SYSHPBSD,SYSHPUX    # jaguar (either)

     Rbootd logs status and error messages via syslog(3).  A startup message is always logged,
     and in the case of fatal errors (or deadly signals) a message is logged announcing the
     server's termination.  In general, a non-fatal error is handled by ignoring the event that
     caused it (e.g. an invalid Ethernet address in the config file causes that line to be
     invalidated).

     The following signals have the specified effect when sent to the server process using the
     kill(1) command:

             SIGHUP   Drop all active connections and reconfigure.

             SIGUSR1  Turn on debugging, do nothing if already on.

             SIGUSR2  Turn off debugging, do nothing if already off.

FILES

     /etc/rbootd.conf
                      configuration file
     /tmp/rbootd.dbg  debug output
     /var/lib/rbootd  directory containing boot files
     /var/run/rbootd.pid
                      process id

SEE ALSO

     kill(1), socket(2), signal(3), syslog(3),

BUGS

     If multiple servers are started on the same interface, each will receive and respond to the
     same boot packets.  The interface should be specified in a configuration file rather than
     having to be put on the command line as an argument.  Also the location of the boot images
     is hardcoded into the binary at compile time.