RFC 2937 (rfc2937) - Page 1 of 5

The Name Service Search Option for DHCP

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Network Working Group                                        C. Smith
Request for Comments: 2937                     Sun Microsystems, Inc.
Category: Standards Track                              September 2000


                The Name Service Search Option for DHCP

Status of this Memo

   This document specifies an Internet standards track protocol for the
   Internet community, and requests discussion and suggestions for
   improvements.  Please refer to the current edition of the "Internet
   Official Protocol Standards" (STD 1) for the standardization state
   and status of this protocol.  Distribution of this memo is unlimited.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2000).  All Rights Reserved.

Abstract

   This document defines a new Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol
   (DHCP) option which is passed from the DHCP Server to the DHCP Client
   to specify the order in which name services should be consulted when
   resolving hostnames and other information.

Introduction

   The Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP)[1] provides a
   framework for passing configuration information to hosts on a TCP/IP
   network.  RFC 2132 [2] allows DHCP servers to specify configuration
   information for various kinds of name services to be passed to DHCP
   clients.  Many clients use multiple name services and have crafted
   their own conventions that allow an individual host to express the
   order among the various name services with which lookups are done.
   However, no search order can be specified via DHCP.  The purpose of
   this document is to allow DHCP servers to specify the search order to
   be used by DHCP clients.  To avoid the need for inventing and
   maintaining a separate name space for this option, we rely on the
   existence of previously-defined DHCP options that specify the IP
   address(es) of servers which provide name services whose order we
   wish to express.









Smith                       Standards Track
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