3Com V6100, User Manual Manual, Page: 395 / 496

V6100 and V7122 User Guide
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B: T
HE
B
OOT
P/TFTP C
ONFIGURATION
U
TILITY
The BootP/TFTP utility enables you to easily configure and provision our boards and media
gateways. Similar to third-party BootP/TFTP utilities (which are also supported) but with
added functionality; our BootP/TFTP utility can be installed on Windows™ 98 or Windows™
NT/2000/XP. The BootP/TFTP utility enables remote reset of the device to trigger the
initialization procedure (BootP and TFTP). It contains BootP and TFTP utilities with specific
adaptations to our requirements.
When to Use the BootP/TFTP
The BootP/TFTP utility can be used with the device as an alternative means of initializing the
gateways. Initialization provides a gateway with an IP address, subnet mask, and the default
gateway IP address. The tool also loads default software,
ini and other configuration files.
BootP Tool can also be used to restore a gateway to its initial configuration, such as in the
following instances:
ƒ
The IP address of the gateway is not known.
ƒ
The Web browser has been inadvertently turned off.
ƒ
The Web browser password has been forgotten.
ƒ
The gateway has encountered a fault that cannot be recovered using the Web browser.
The BootP is normally used to configure the device’s initial parameters. Once this
information has been provided, the BootP is no longer needed. All parameters are
stored in non-volatile memory and used when the BootP is not accessible.
An Overview of BootP
BootP is a protocol defined in RFC 951 and RFC 1542 that enables an internet device to
discover its own IP address and the IP address of a BootP on the network, and to obtain the
files from that utility that need to be loaded into the device to function.
A device that uses BootP when it powers up broadcasts a BootRequest message on the
network. A BootP on the network receives this message and generates a BootReply. The
BootReply indicates the IP address that should be used by the device and specifies an IP
address from which the unit may load configuration files using Trivial File Transfer Protocol
(TFTP) described in RFC 906 and RFC 1350.