Converting to a New DHCP Data Store
Solaris DHCP provides a utility to convert the DHCP configuration data from one
data store to another data store. Several reasons might exist for converting to
a new data store. For example, you might have more DHCP clients, requiring
higher performance or higher capacity from the DHCP service. You also might
want to share the DHCP server duties among multiple servers. See Choosing the DHCP Data Store
for a comparison of the relative benefits and drawbacks of each type of
data store.
Note - If you upgraded from a Solaris release that is older than the Solaris
8 7/01 release, you should read this note.
When you run any Solaris DHCP tool after Solaris installation, you are prompted
to convert to the new data store. The conversion is required because the
format of the data stored in both files and NIS+ changed in the
Solaris 8 7/01 release. If you do not convert to the new data
store, the DHCP server continues to read the old data tables. However, the
server can only extend leases for existing clients. You cannot register new DHCP
clients or use DHCP management tools with the old data tables.
The conversion utility is also useful for sites that are converting from a
Sun provided data store to a third-party data store. The conversion utility looks
up entries in the existing data store and adds new entries that contain
the same data to the new data store. Data store access is
implemented in separate modules for each data store. This modular approach enables the conversion
utility to convert DHCP data from any data store format to any other
data store format. Each data store must have a module that the
DHCP service can use.
The data store conversion can be accomplished with DHCP Manager through the Data
Store Conversion wizard, or with the dhcpconfig -C command.
The initial dialog box of the Data Store Conversion wizard is shown in
the following figure.
Figure 15-19 Data Store Conversion Wizard Dialog Box in DHCP Manager
Before the conversion begins, you must specify whether to save the old data
store's tables (dhcptab and network tables). The conversion utility then stops the DHCP
server, converts the data store, and restarts the server when the conversion has
completed successfully. If you did not specify to save the old tables, the
utility deletes the tables after determining the conversion is successful. The process of
converting can be time-consuming. The conversion runs in the background with a meter
to inform you of its progress.
How to Convert the DHCP Data Store (DHCP Manager)
- In DHCP Manager, choose Convert Data Store from the Service menu.
See How to Start and Stop DHCP Manager for information about DHCP Manager.
The Data Store Conversion wizard opens.
- Answer the wizard's prompts.
If you have trouble providing the requested information, click Help to view detailed information
about each dialog box.
- Review your selections, and then click Finish to convert the data store.
The DHCP server restarts when the conversion is complete. The server immediately uses
the new data store.
How to Convert the DHCP Data Store (dhcpconfig -C)
- Become superuser or assume a role or user name that is assigned to
the DHCP Management profile.
For more information about the DHCP Management profile, see Setting Up User Access to DHCP Commands.
Roles contain authorizations and privileged commands. For more information about roles, see Configuring RBAC (Task Map) in System Administration Guide: Security Services.
- Convert the data store by typing a command of the following format:
# /usr/sbin/dhcpconfig -C -r resource -p path
- resource
is the new data store type, such as SUNWbinfiles
- path
is the path to the data, such as /var/dhcp
Note that if you want to keep the original data in the
old data store after the conversion, specify the -k option. For example, to convert
your data store to SUNWbinfiles and save the old data store, you would
type:
# /usr/sbin/dhcpconfig -C -r SUNWbinfiles -p /var/dhcp -k
See the dhcpconfig(1M) man page for more information about the dhcpconfig utility.
