PXE DHCP support for Option-82

Products

• Deployment Solution
• Ghost Solution Suite

Issue/Introduction

Many PXE and BOOTP servers including those offered with Ghost Solution Suite and Deployment Solution's NBS service do not support DHCP Option-82.

Some network environments require and enforce Option-82 for DHCP offers.

As a result, the PXE DHCP offer may be dropped by the DHCP Relay or network equipment. This will cause network booting to fail.

Environment

Ghost Solution Suite 3.3 RU10 and earlier did not have support Option-82
Ghost Solution Suite 3.3 RU11 and later do have support Option-82

Deployment Solution 8.7 GA and earlier did not have support Option-82
Deployment Solution 8.7.1 and later do have support Option-82

Cause

This was not a bug but a limitation with PXE

Resolution

For those using GSS 3.3 RU10 or earlier versions and those using DS 8.7 GA or earlier versions, workarounds include not enforcing Option-82 in DHCP relay or installing PXE and DHCP on the same server. It may also be possible to configure DHCP scope options to resolve the limitation in certain environments.

Ghost Solution Suite 3.3 RU11 now has support for Option-82 as documented in the Release Notes: Ghost Solution Suite 3.3 RU11 Release Notes

ITMS 8.7.1 now has support for Option-82 as documented in the Release Notes: ITMS 8.7.1 What's New in This Release