Beyond Linux® From Scratch - Version svn-20091121

Chapter 13. Connecting to a Network

dhcpcd-4.0.11

Introduction to dhcpcd

dhcpcd is an implementation of the DHCP client specified in RFC2131. This is useful for connecting your computer to a network which uses DHCP to assign network addresses.

Package Information

User Notes: http://wiki.linuxfromscratch.org/blfs/wiki/dhcpcd

Installation of dhcpcd

Install dhcpcd by running the following commands: 

make PREFIX= \
      LIBEXECDIR=/lib/dhcpcd \
      DBDIR=/var/lib/dhcpcd \
      SYSCONFDIR=/etc/dhcpcd

This package does not come with a test suite.

Now, as the root user: 

make PREFIX= \
      LIBEXECDIR=/lib/dhcpcd \
      DBDIR=/var/lib/dhcpcd \
      SYSCONFDIR=/etc/dhcpcd install

By default, a plain text lease info file isn't created but the dhcpcd provides a hook which can be used for creating such a file. Install the hook by running the following commands as the root user: 

sed -i "s;/var/lib/dhcpcd-;/var/lib/dhcpcd/dhcpcd-;g" \
       dhcpcd-hooks/50-dhcpcd-compat &&
install -v -m 644 dhcpcd-hooks/50-dhcpcd-compat /lib/dhcpcd/dhcpcd-hooks/

Configuring dhcpcd

Config Files

/etc/dhcpcd/dhcpcd.conf

Configuration Information

To configure dhcpcd, you need to first install the network service script, /etc/sysconfig/network-devices/services/dhcpcd included in the blfs-bootscripts-20090302 package (as user root): 

make install-service-dhcpcd

Whenever dhcpcd configures or shuts down a network interface, it executes hook scripts. For more details about those scripts, see the dhcpcd-run-hooks as well as the dhcpcd man page.

Finally, as the root user create the /etc/sysconfig/network-devices/ifconfig.eth0/dhcpcd configuration file using the following commands. Adjust appropriately for additional interfaces: 

install -v -d /etc/sysconfig/network-devices/ifconfig.eth0 &&
cat > /etc/sysconfig/network-devices/ifconfig.eth0/dhcpcd << "EOF"
ONBOOT="yes"
SERVICE="dhcpcd"
DHCP_START="<insert appropriate start options here>"
DHCP_STOP="-k <insert additional stop options here>"

# Set PRINTIP="yes" to have the script print
# the DHCP assigned IP address
PRINTIP="no"

# Set PRINTALL="yes" to print the DHCP assigned values for
# IP, SM, DG, and 1st NS. This requires PRINTIP="yes".
PRINTALL="no"
EOF

For more information on the appropriate DHCP_START and DHCP_STOP values, examine the man page for dhcpcd.

[Note]

Note

The default behavior of dhcpcd is to overwrite /etc/resolv.conf. All modifications on system configuration files like /etc/resolv.conf, /etc/yp.conf and /etc/ntp.conf are done by hooks which are stored in /lib/dhcpcd/dhcpcd-hooks. Setup dhcpcd by removing or adding hooks from/to that directory. The execution of hooks can be disabled by using the -C command line option.

Review the dhcpcd man page for switches to add to the DHCP_START value.

Contents

Installed Program: dhcpcd
Installed Libraries: None
Installed Directory: /lib/dhcpcd, /etc/dhcpcd

Short Descriptions

dhcpcd

is an implementation of the DHCP client specified in RFC2131.

Last updated on 2009-02-22 15:52:56 +0000