************************************************************
* Project: DHCPd Configurator
* Author: Vee Schade <vschade@mindless.com>
* Release: December 15, 1999
* Version: 0.7.0
************************************************************
ABOUT:
------
This application assists with creating and maintaining a /etc/dhcpd.conf
configuration file for the Internet Software Consortium's DHCP version 2
distribution.
This program was originally written to fill a specific need of one of my
clients. Not all of the current DHCPd specification is supported in
this release. See the section ISSUES below to see what is currently
missing and to what extent existing features are supported. If more
interest in support for missing features is evident through friendly
e-mails and feedback I will add them in subsequent releases.
LICENSE:
--------
This program is 'free' software as covered by the GNU General Public
License Version 2. See the file _COPYING_ for details. No warranties
of fitness are made by the author for this program nor is he liable for
any damages that may occur through the use of this software. However,
the author uses this program to administrate the dhcpd servers of his
clients and believes it to be in good working order to the extent of its
capabilities.
REQUIREMENTS:
-------------
An ANSI compliant C compiler is required to build this application. A
recent version of 'gcc' is sufficient.
This application uses the 'newt' console windowing toolkit from RedHat.
Version >= 0.40 was/is used to develop this program. The latest version
of this toolkit is available on RedHat's ftp site in RPM format and from
the author's web site in tar.gz format.
This application uses GNU DBM (gdbm) to store its data. Version >=
1.7.6 was/is used to develop this program. The latest version may
be obtained from GNU's ftp site.
No other extra libraries are used by this application.
INSTALL:
--------
The Makefile should require no changes on current Linux systems
to build correctly, assuming the above requirements are met by
the target platform.
* Extract the source from the gzipped tarball:
> gunzip -c dhcp-conf_0.7.0.tar.gz | tar xvf -
* Change directory to the distribution directory:
> cd dhcp-conf_0.7.0
* Type 'make' to build the program:
> make
NOTE: you may safely ignore any warnings during compile.
* Install the executable:
> make install
USAGE:
------
Execute '/sbin/dhcp-conf' as root to configure your DHCPd server.
All usage information is contained in the program through on-line
help available for each screen. Just select "<Help>" at the bottom
of the relevant screen to see information on that screen's fields.
If you have an existing '/etc/dhcpd.conf' file, back-up that file
in the event something goes wrong. Not all features are currently
supported and you *will* lose some configuration if your site
requires a more advanced configuration than this program currently
supports. Reread the ABOUT section above and the ISSUES section
below if you have any doubts!
ISSUES:
-------
* Supported features:
This program supports the creation and maintenance of basic
DHCPd configuration files containing a global parameters section
("Common Settings"), upto 20 static hosts declarations ("Fixed-host
Settings"), and upto 20 subnet ranges for dynamic assignments
("Subnet Settings").
Common Settings - all global parameters are applied to both static and
dynamic IP assignments in the current version; currently supported
global parameters include:
= Minimum and maximum lease times; defaults to 10 and 120
minutes respectively
= Domain name specification; is limited to 99 characters in
length
= Default network-mask
= Default broadcast address
= Upto three router addresses
= Upto three DNS addresses
Fixed-host Settings - currently supported fixed-host parameters
include:
= The static host's hostname; upto 25 characters in length
= The static host's ethernet hardware address
= The static host's fixed-address IP
Subnet Settings - upto 20 subnet ranges are supported and may be
applied to subnets in any combination or ratio of ranges to subnet
from 1:1 to 20:1; currently supported parameters include:
= The subnet address; all subnets currently receive the
network-mask specified in the global parameters section
= The start and end IP's of the range
* Un-supported features:
** Declarations
General declaration blocks not supported by this program include:
= 'shared-network' declarations
= 'group' declarations
Block-level parameters for host and subnet declarations not specified
in the "Supported features" subsection above are not supported by this
program.
Token-ring hardware is not supported by this program.
The BOOTP protocol is not supported by this program.
** Statements
Parameters and statements not supported by this program include:
= 'allow' and 'deny' for any keyword; this program was created
to fill a client's need to easily add and/or remove PC's from
his remote office LANs -- therefore, the advanced features
provided by these statements were/are not required
= 'filename'; remote booting of clients via the 'allow
booting' directive is not supported so there is no need for
this statement
= 'next-server'; see 'filename' above
= 'server-name'; the DHCPd server's information may be added
to the site's DNS
= 'dynamic-bootp-lease-*'; the BOOTP protocol is not
supported by this program
= 'get-lease-hostnames'; see 'allow'... above
= 'use-host-decl-names' and the 'host-name' option; since
'group' declarations are not supported and fixed-hosts are
presumed to have the names given in their declarations, these
statements are meaningless in this program
= 'server-identifier'; this parameter is neither needed nor
used in the majority of situations
** Options
Any DHCP options not explicity identified in the "Common Settings"
subsection above are not supported by this program.
TODO:
-----
This section identifies planned future enhancements for this program.
The following is presented in no specific order.
* Error messages: when an error is encountered in an input field of a
screen, the screen notifies the user with a beep and positions the
cursor to that field; however, the user is not told the nature of
the error -- a future version will display a short error message at
the bottom of the screen explaining the error
* Input assistance: though the network portion of an address may be
easily calculated from the global broadcast and network-mask
addresses of the global parameters the user must currently enter
the full address in an IP input field -- a future version will
perform this calculation and automatically insert the network
portion of all addresses
* Subnet requirement: the DHCPd specification requires at least one
'subnet' declaration in the dhcpd.conf file (dynamic IP ranges
need not be specified, though this program requires it -- see the
'allow'... subsection above); however, this program does not
currently ensure that one is entered -- a future version will
check for this and prompt the user to the appropriate screen
* Root user permissions: both the DHCPd server's configuration file
(dhcpd.conf) and this program's data file (dhcp-conf.dat) are
stored under /etc; as this location's write permissions is limited to
the system super-user (er, unless the target site is particularly
unsecure for some reason...), this program should be executed as
'root' (or with SUID permissions, though this is _not_ recommended);
since this is not currently checked for this program will run when
executed by a normal user but will be unable to read or write any of
its associated configuration and data files (nor is the user notified
of these "errors", lending to inaccurate perceptions about the
program's performance) -- a future version will check for this and
refuse to run for normal users
BUGS:
-----
Please send any reports of bugs, requests for new features, and/or
patches <g> in care of the author at the address above.
AUTHOR:
-------
Vee Schade, known in the "real world" as Tony Cook, is an independent
consultant and contractor with more than 20 years of experience in
computer systems of all shapes and sizes. He specializes in Linux,
Java, and database systems development. He may be contacted by e-mail
at the address above or through his personal home-page at
http://members.xoom.com/vschade.
###---- end of file: README (dhcp-conf) ----###
