How to setup an external DHCP server instead of the branch server one.

This document (7008743) is provided subject to the disclaimer at the end of this document.

Environment

SUSE Linux Point Of Service 10

SUSE Linux Point Of Service 11

Situation

Since SUSE Linux Point Of Service 11 it is possible to use an external DHCP server for managing the POS clients IP addresses.

Resolution

This can be done with the LDAP object scDhcpExtern. However, it is not possible to simply switch to an external DHCP server only by changing the value to TRUE.

After changing scDhcpExtern to TRUE a completely reinitialize of the branch server is necessary.

This can be done with the command:

# posInitBranchserver --reinitialize

During the reinitialization the "internal" branch dhcp server will shutdown and not longer started. A manually stopping is not necessary.

The old dhcp.conf file can be used as a template for the new dhcp server. Using that that template the following options are important:

option domain-name-servers [new dhcp server IP]


next-server [branch server IP]

By using an external DHCP server it is not longer possible to get fix addresses for the POS clients. This has to be add manually or by using your own script.

Additional Information

During the reinitialization of the branch server, the configuration in /etc/SLEPOS/branchserver.conf will be rewritten and therefore the line: LEASES2LDAP_EXTDHCP="FALSE" will be changed to LEASES2LDAP_EXTDHCP="TRUE".

Disclaimer

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