The BMC Server Automation provisioning process requires a DHCP server, which gives the computer being provisioned an IP address and (in a single-database environment) the location of the Application Server. This topic provides instructions for configuring the DHCP server on Microsoft Windows platforms.

In addition to standard configuration of the DHCP server, which includes defining a scope, you must set some scope options. Use the following tasks to configure the DHCP server on Windows:

Adding predefined options

This topic provides instructions for adding predefined options on Microsoft Windows.

A standard DHCP configuration should include the definition of a scope, which sets a start and end of the range of IP addresses being distributed. This range determines the number of servers that can simultaneously access the DHCP server.

The BMC Server Automation provisioning process requires the following scope options:

To add scope options 3, 211 and 212, follow the instructions in To add predefined options. To add scope option 60, see Adding Option 60.

Note

• If you are setting up a multidatabase environment, do not add scope options 211 and 212. Instead, specify the IP address or host name of the Application Server as described in Configuring the PXE and TFTP servers.
• If you are changing from a single-database environment to a multidatabase environment, you must remove scope options 211 and 212 from your DHCP configuration.
• If you need to direct a PXE client such as a Citrix Xen guest VM to the PXE boot file, add also options 66 and 67. Option 66 specifies the boot server host name and option 67 specifies the boot file name.

To add predefined options

1. Install DHCP, if it is not already installed. For more information, visit the Microsoft Windows online technical documentation.
2. Run DHCP from the Start menu by selecting Programs > Administrative Tools > DHCP. The default server is the server on which you have installed DHCP.
3. If a scope is not already defined, right-click the server and choose New Scope. Use the wizard to define a new scope.
4. Add options 211 and 212.
   1. Select the default server, right-click, and choose Set Predefined Options.
   2. In the Predefined Options and Values dialog box, click Add.

   3. In the Option Type dialog box, provide the following information and click OK.

      Name	Enter bl-server.
      Data Type	Select IP Address.
      Code	Enter 211.

   4. In the Predefined Options and Values dialog box, click Add again.

   5. Provide the following information and click OK.

      Name	Enter bl-port.
      Data Type	Select Word.
      Code	Enter 212.

   6. Click OK again.

5. Provide values for options 211, 212, and 3:

   Note

   If you need to direct a PXE client such as a Citrix Xen guest VM to the PXE boot file, add also options 66 and 67. Use option 66 to specify the boot server host name and option 67 to specify the boot file name. The data type for both options is String.

   1. Expand the hierarchy for the default server and then expand the hierarchy for Scope.
   2. Select Scope Options, right-click, and select Configure Options.
   3. Under Available Options, scroll down and check option 211. Then, for IP address enter the IP address of the BMC Server Automation Application Server.
   4. Check option 212. For Port, enter 9831, which is the default port that BMC Server Automation uses for SSL communication.
   5. Check option 3 (Router).

   6. For Server Name, type a valid router IP address. (The system administrator who configured the DHCP server can provide this value.) Then click Resolve. The value appears in the IP Address field.

      Tip

      If you do not have a valid router IP address — for example, if you are provisioning in a local LAN — you can use a router IP address that is not real, for example, x.x.x.1. (You should define the correct router address, which might not align with the .1 host ID.) In the case of provisioning in a local LAN, the value can be any valid IP address within the subnet (or subnet mask) that is not in the range of IP addresses to be distributed by the DHCP server.

   7. Click Add. Option 003 appears on the list of addresses. Click OK.
6. Click OK.

Adding Option 60

If the DHCP server and the PXE server reside on the same host computer, you must add option 60 to let target computers differentiate between DHCP servers and proxy DHCP servers. If the DHCP server and the PXE Server reside on separate host computers, you do not have to perform this task.

To add Option 60

1. From the command line on the DHCP server, enter netsh. (This command runs the Microsoft Windows network shell.)
2. Enter dhcp.
3. Enter one of the following commands:
   • server
<servername>
   • server <ip_address>
     Replace <servername> with the host name of the DHCP server or replace <ip_address> with the IP address.
     The command prompt changes to netsh dhcp server>.
4. Enter the following command:
   add optiondef 60 PXEClient STRING 0 comment=<userDefined>
   For <userDefined>, substitute any comment that you want to add. This information appears in the list of scope options for the DHCP server. If your comment includes spaces, enclose the comment in quotation marks.
5. Enter the following command:
   set optionvalue 60 STRING PXEClient

6. To confirm the addition of the scope option, enter the following command:
   show optionvalue all
   The output is similar to the following example:

   General Option Values: OptionId: 60 Option Value: Number of Option Elements = 1 Option Element Type = STRING Option Element Value = PXEClient

   When finished, restart the DHCP server.

Where to go from here

Configuring the PXE and TFTP servers