[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 jvdias at redhat.com  2006-05-30 14:23 EST -------
Please define "too big" - the libraries used by libdhcp are quite small:
-rw-r--r--  1 root root  761964 May 30 12:11 /usr/lib/libdhcp4client.a
-rw-r--r--  1 root root  253272 May 26 13:19 /usr/lib/libdhcp6client.a
-rw-r--r--  1 root root  118898 May 30 12:20 /usr/lib/libdhcp.a
-rw-r--r--  1 root root  345150 May 26 20:13 /usr/lib/libnl.a
 = a total size of      1479284 bytes.

This is quite small compared to the libc.a already linked in to loader2:
 
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 2667018 May 24 04:39 /usr/lib/libc.a

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 ?

The libdhcp* footprint would be MUCH smaller if libdhcp could simply 
execute the dhcp client binaries in separate processes, and use IPC
to obtain the DHCP parameters, but I was told that this was not an 
option and that a library implementation was required.

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

RE: 
> 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.

RE: 
> Pump doesn't need to be a client, we just need the library
How would you intend to obtain DHCP parameters from a DHCP server without
implementing the DHCP client protocol ?

RE: 
> 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.

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