#737574 isc-dhcp-server: Option definition syntax does not allow array of strings or bit fields

Package:
isc-dhcp-server
Source:
isc-dhcp
Description:
ISC DHCP server for automatic IP address assignment
Submitter:
Ben Hildred
Date:
2026-08-05 17:33:54 UTC
Severity:
wishlist
Tags:
#737574#5
Date:
2014-02-03 22:42:13 UTC
From:
To:
There are three ways to try to support BSDP on isc-dhcp-server.

The first  method involves using a binary string as the parameter to vendor-
encapsulated-options. I have read reports this works in some isolated setups,
but this is difficult to understand, hard to trouble shoot and as clear as
reading mud.

The second way is to use an encapsulated option space. This works reasonably
well except for suboption 9 where you have to use this:

option space bsdp;
option bsdp.boot_image_list             code 9 = string;
option bsdp-43 code 43 = encapsulate bsdp;

and put binary data in the string using this simple perl script:

#!/usr/bin/perl -pw
s!^(\d+)[       ]+(\d+)[        ]+(\d+|auto)[   ]+(.*)$!join q(:), grep {$_}
split /(..)/,unpack(q(H*),pack(q(CxnC/a),($1<<7)+$2,$3,$4))!e;

the third way is to do it right

option space bsdp;
#option bsdp.boot_image_list            code 9 = array of { unsigned integer 1,
unsigned integer 7, unsigned integer 24, string };
option bsdp-43 code 43 = encapsulate bsdp;

The drawback of this approach is that of course it does not work. you can't
have strings in arrays and integers must be 8,16 or 32 bits. The integer part
is only slightly annoying, but the strings are very annoying. In
http://permalink.gmane.org/gmane.network.dhcp.isc.dhcp-server/11458 Celelibi is
trying to use RFC 5970  which calls for 'option dhcp6.bootfile-param code 60 =
array of string;'

#737574#10
Date:
2014-02-04 02:14:07 UTC
From:
To:
further research shows that rfc 3004 defines option 77 as an array of
strings.

#737574#15
Date:
2026-08-05 17:31:09 UTC
From:
To:
Dear submitter,

as the package isc-dhcp has just been removed from the Debian archive
unstable we hereby close the associated bug reports.  We are sorry
that we couldn't deal with your issue properly.

For details on the removal, please see https://bugs.debian.org/1143544

The version of this package that was in Debian prior to this removal
can still be found using https://snapshot.debian.org/.

Please note that the changes have been done on the master archive and
will not propagate to any mirrors until the next dinstall run at the
earliest.

This message was generated automatically; if you believe that there is
a problem with it please contact the archive administrators by mailing
ftpmaster@ftp-master.debian.org.

Debian distribution maintenance software
pp.
Thorsten Alteholz (the ftpmaster behind the curtain)