[Bug 192413] libdhcp : IPv6 and IPv4 DHCP client and network configuration library API

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Summary: libdhcp : IPv6 and IPv4 DHCP client and network configuration library API


https://bugzilla.redhat.com/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=192413





------- Additional Comments From dcantrel at redhat.com  2006-06-05 16:52 EST -------
(In reply to comment #32)
> How small does loader2 have to be ? Have you tried using libdhcp and found
> it to be too big ? What is the actual size limitation of loader2 ?

It's not really a hard limit, but rather a mindset.  How much memory do we want
to require during installation is a better way to think about it.

> libdhcp could also be MUCH smaller if loader2 could use shared libs - 
> why can't it ?

Because it's a PITA trying to work on a initrd.img when you have 17 thousand
things to copy in instead of just one binary.  Ooops, forgot those 30 symlinks.
 Ooops, forgot all of those things.  And so on.

Originally the requirement for a static loader was to cram everything on to a
1.44MB boot image for diskettes.  We don't make boot floppies anymore, but
having a static loader makes it WAY more easy to do development.  The installer
environment is special.

> > there are certainly things in dhclient (and the one for IPv6) that just
> > don't matter for the installer.
> 
> Which things ?  
> Everything in dhclient and dhcpv6 is required, depending on configuration 
> settings.

I'm just thinking about things supported as command line switches.  A
user-defined timeout, for example.

> > We need a minimal IPv4 and IPv6 library that can link in to loader2.
> That is what libdhcp and libdhcp{4,6}client provide.
> 
> Either we use the ISC dhclient and DHCPv6 code for anaconda, giving users a
> full featured and configurable DHCP client that they already know how to 
> configure, and allowing us to re-use the code from the FC clients, or we 
> write our own DHCPv4 and DHCPv6 clients for anaconda from scratch.
> 
> I can undertake to write DHCP and DHCPv4 clients from scratch if desired, 
> but it seems to me to be the wrong way to go when we already have tried and
> tested DHCP client code that users are familiar with and know how to configure.
> 
> Please at least give libdhcp a try - if we come across any obstacles, I can
> resolve them.

I have moved anaconda's loader to using libdhcp and friends.  I do have some
questions, concerns, *BUT* the end result is that I think this library is the
right direction to move for Fedora.  libdhcp has my vote for inclusion in FC.

Now for the questions/concerns for down-the-road things:

1) The pump compatibility layer is great right now, but down the road we want to
remove that entirely.  I know we asked for that, but just know that it's a
transition tool and we shouldn't be making other users aware of that API as
something they can rely on forever.

2) Are there plans to get the ISC client library patches integrated upstream?

3) Are there plans to merge the ISC client libraries in to one?

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