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In the last two days I've run into a peculiar problem that I can't seem to
nail down. I have several brand new in the box machines I need to image. I
pull a machine, 27" iMac in this case, out of the box, connect the network,
power, keyboard, and power up holding down the N key. Machine boots but
never finds the NetBoot server.



If I go to the NetBoot server I can see the machine communicating over bootp
to the server, but responding with a fake IP (169.x.x.x). A check of the
DHCP server shows the DHCP Discover packets, and what appears to be a valid
IP being assigned, but again, the machine does not boot.



If I statically assign the IP at the DHCP server, the machine NetBoots and
does its thing.



First thought was that I am out of IPs in my DHCP server, but that is not
the case. I have the following ranges set in our DHCP server:



10.87.20.1 - 10.87.22.254 / 16



And of those 760 or so addresses, less than 200 are in use right now. Oh,
and the lease time was at 3 hours and I've lowered that to 1 hour.



I've tried removing the bootpd.plist file from the NetBoot server, I've
tried extending the DHCP range, I've tried disabling NetBoot and
re-installing it, I've tried just about everything.



Anyone have any ideas? I'm copying some parts of the logs below to give
some evidence.



NetBoot server is running 10.5.8 on an XServe and is also hosting my JSS.



DHCP server is running 10.5.8 on a different XServe.



Both servers have their ethernet interfaces bonded into a virtual interface.



DHCP Server Log:
4/22/10 1:15:30 PM bootpd[11835] DHCP DISCOVER [bond0]: 1,34:15:9e:1f:2d:a0
4/22/10 1:15:30 PM bootpd[11835] replying to 10.87.20.2
4/22/10 1:15:30 PM bootpd[11835] OFFER sent <no hostname> 10.87.20.2 pktsize
300
4/22/10 1:15:30 PM bootpd[11835] service time 0.004211 seconds
4/22/10 1:15:32 PM bootpd[11835] DHCP REQUEST [bond0]: 1,34:15:9e:1f:2d:a0
4/22/10 1:15:32 PM bootpd[11835] replying to 10.87.20.2
4/22/10 1:15:32 PM bootpd[11835] ACK sent <no hostname> 10.87.20.2 pktsize
300
4/22/10 1:15:32 PM bootpd[11835] service time 0.021359 seconds
4/22/10 1:15:32 PM bootpd[11835] DHCP DISCOVER [bond0]: 1,34:15:9e:1f:2d:a0
4/22/10 1:15:32 PM bootpd[11835] replying to 10.87.20.2
4/22/10 1:15:32 PM bootpd[11835] OFFER sent <no hostname> 10.87.20.2 pktsize
300
4/22/10 1:15:32 PM bootpd[11835] service time 0.008354 seconds
4/22/10 1:15:34 PM bootpd[11835] DHCP REQUEST [bond0]: 1,34:15:9e:1f:2d:a0
4/22/10 1:15:34 PM bootpd[11835] replying to 10.87.20.2
4/22/10 1:15:34 PM bootpd[11835] ACK sent <no hostname> 10.87.20.2 pktsize
300
4/22/10 1:15:34 PM bootpd[11835] service time 0.008086 seconds
4/22/10 1:15:34 PM bootpd[11835] DHCP DISCOVER [bond0]: 1,34:15:9e:1f:2d:a0
4/22/10 1:15:34 PM bootpd[11835] replying to 10.87.20.2
4/22/10 1:15:34 PM bootpd[11835] OFFER sent <no hostname> 10.87.20.2 pktsize
300
4/22/10 1:15:34 PM bootpd[11835] service time 0.005088 seconds
4/22/10 1:15:35 PM bootpd[11835] DHCP REQUEST [bond0]: 1,34:15:9e:1f:2d:a0
4/22/10 1:15:35 PM bootpd[11835] replying to 10.87.20.2
4/22/10 1:15:35 PM bootpd[11835] ACK sent <no hostname> 10.87.20.2 pktsize
300
4/22/10 1:15:35 PM bootpd[11835] service time 0.008627 seconds
4/22/10 1:15:36 PM bootpd[11835] DHCP INFORM [bond0]: 1,34:15:9e:1f:2d:a0
4/22/10 1:15:36 PM bootpd[11835] reply ciaddr 169.254.80.172
4/22/10 1:15:36 PM bootpd[11835] ACK sent <no hostname> 169.254.80.172
pktsize 300
4/22/10 1:15:36 PM bootpd[11835] service time 0.004541 seconds
4/22/10 1:15:36 PM bootpd[11835] DHCP INFORM [bond0]: 1,34:15:9e:1f:2d:a0
4/22/10 1:15:36 PM bootpd[11835] reply ciaddr 169.254.80.172
4/22/10 1:15:36 PM bootpd[11835] ACK sent <no hostname> 169.254.80.172
pktsize 300
4/22/10 1:15:36 PM bootpd[11835] service time 0.004169 seconds
4/22/10 1:15:36 PM bootpd[11835] DHCP DISCOVER [bond0]: 1,34:15:9e:1f:2d:a0
4/22/10 1:15:36 PM bootpd[11835] replying using broadcast IP address
4/22/10 1:15:36 PM bootpd[11835] replying to 255.255.255.255
4/22/10 1:15:36 PM bootpd[11835] OFFER sent <no hostname> 10.87.20.2 pktsize
300
4/22/10 1:15:36 PM bootpd[11835] service time 0.005110 seconds
4/22/10 1:15:37 PM bootpd[11835] DHCP DISCOVER [bond0]: 1,34:15:9e:1f:2d:a0
4/22/10 1:15:37 PM bootpd[11835] replying using broadcast IP address
4/22/10 1:15:37 PM bootpd[11835] replying to 255.255.255.255
4/22/10 1:15:37 PM bootpd[11835] OFFER sent <no hostname> 10.87.20.2 pktsize
300
4/22/10 1:15:37 PM bootpd[11835] service time 0.004646 seconds
4/22/10 1:15:39 PM bootpd[11835] DHCP DISCOVER [bond0]: 1,34:15:9e:1f:2d:a0
4/22/10 1:15:39 PM bootpd[11835] replying using broadcast IP address
4/22/10 1:15:39 PM bootpd[11835] replying to 255.255.255.255
4/22/10 1:15:39 PM bootpd[11835] OFFER sent <no hostname> 10.87.20.2 pktsize
300
4/22/10 1:15:39 PM bootpd[11835] service time 0.004354 seconds
4/22/10 1:15:43 PM bootpd[11835] DHCP DISCOVER [bond0]: 1,34:15:9e:1f:2d:a0
4/22/10 1:15:43 PM bootpd[11835] replying using broadcast IP address
4/22/10 1:15:43 PM bootpd[11835] replying to 255.255.255.255
4/22/10 1:15:43 PM bootpd[11835] OFFER sent <no hostname> 10.87.20.2 pktsize
300
4/22/10 1:15:43 PM bootpd[11835] service time 0.004184 seconds



NetBoot Server log:



4/22/10 1:15:29 PM bootpd[762] can't open /etc/bootptab
4/22/10 1:15:29 PM bootpd[762] server name casper.integerdallas.com
4/22/10 1:15:29 PM bootpd[762] interface bond0: ip 10.87.10.5 mask
255.255.0.0
4/22/10 1:15:29 PM bootpd[762] bsdpd: re-reading configuration
4/22/10 1:15:29 PM bootpd[762] bsdpd: shadow file size will be set to 48
megabytes
4/22/10 1:15:29 PM bootpd[762] bsdpd: age time 00:15:00
4/22/10 1:15:30 PM bootpd[762] BSDP DISCOVER [bond0] 1,34:15:9e:1f:2d:a0
NetBoot004 arch=i386 sysid=iMac10,1
4/22/10 1:15:30 PM bootpd[762] BSDP OFFER sent [1,34:15:9e:1f:2d:a0] pktsize
375
4/22/10 1:15:32 PM bootpd[762] BSDP DISCOVER [bond0] 1,34:15:9e:1f:2d:a0
NetBoot004 arch=i386 sysid=iMac10,1
4/22/10 1:15:32 PM bootpd[762] BSDP OFFER sent [1,34:15:9e:1f:2d:a0] pktsize
375
4/22/10 1:15:34 PM bootpd[762] BSDP DISCOVER [bond0] 1,34:15:9e:1f:2d:a0
NetBoot004 arch=i386 sysid=iMac10,1
4/22/10 1:15:34 PM bootpd[762] BSDP OFFER sent [1,34:15:9e:1f:2d:a0] pktsize
375
4/22/10 1:15:36 PM bootpd[762] BSDP INFORM [bond0] 1,34:15:9e:1f:2d:a0
NetBoot004 arch=i386 sysid=iMac10,1
4/22/10 1:15:36 PM bootpd[762] NetBoot: [1,34:15:9e:1f:2d:a0] BSDP ACK[list]
sent 169.254.80.172 pktsize 305
4/22/10 1:15:36 PM bootpd[762] BSDP INFORM [bond0] 1,34:15:9e:1f:2d:a0
NetBoot004 arch=i386 sysid=iMac10,1
4/22/10 1:15:36 PM bootpd[762] NetBoot: [1,34:15:9e:1f:2d:a0] BSDP
ACK[select] sent 169.254.80.172 pktsize 378



Steve Wood
Director of IT
swood at integer.com



The Integer Group | 1999 Bryan St. | Ste. 1700 | Dallas, TX 75201
T 214.758.6813 | F 214.758.6901 | C 940.312.2475

Steve,
I have had this issue before and usually a combination of stopping and
starting the Netboot service or restarting the server typically fixes the
issue for me.
Also is your netboot image a build number equal to or higher than what
shipped with those macs?
--
Alan Benedict
?
Macintosh Technician
The Integer Group
http://www.integer.com

Tried stopping and starting, and restarting the NetBoot server. Can't
restart the DHCP server yet, but am going to try that.



The image is not the issue since it lays down fine if I boot from USB drive,
or assign a static IP on the DHCP server for the machine.



This smells like a DHCP issue, but I'm not sure what it could be. I'm at
the point where I might move my DHCP server to my Cisco ASA and be done with
it.



Steve Wood
Director of IT
swood at integer.com



The Integer Group | 1999 Bryan St. | Ste. 1700 | Dallas, TX 75201
T 214.758.6813 | F 214.758.6901 | C 940.312.2475

That 169.254.xx.xx address is a bit weird to see ­ that's a link-local
address, usually the kind of thing you see when the NIC
can't get an address & assigns itself one.



Anyway ­ I just went through issues with netboot that turned out to be due
to the configuration of the Cisco switches involved. I had to have my
server(s) listed as IP helpers, so the switches would forward the netboot
requests to the server. Everything worked great after that ­ dunno if that
helps you, but it may be worth a look.



--
Christopher Kemp
CNN-BEST
Central Engineering

perhaps the dhcp server has run out of ip numbers to hand out and
hence the 169.x.x.x number?



cv

Well, it is definitely an issue with the DHCP server. I'm starting to see
"This IP already in use" type messages, which make absolutely no sense. The
addressable space that I am using for my office is 3 Class C subnets. I
only have 120 employees here. Add up printers, iPhones and whatever else,
and there is no way we should be eating up over 700 IP addresses.



So, this weekend I'll be moving the DHCP server somewhere else. I'll post
an update if that fixes my NetBoot woes.



Steve Wood
Director of IT
swood at integer.com



The Integer Group | 1999 Bryan St. | Ste. 1700 | Dallas, TX 75201
T 214.758.6813 | F 214.758.6901 | C 940.312.2475

I ran into problems also when the 27"iMacs came in the door. I had used the same .nbi for several generations of hardware but it didn't like the 27"iMac.



So, I installed the latest OS X base on the 27" iMac, created a new .nbi using the latest Resource Kit, replaced the .nbi on my netboot server and was off to the races...Tim

Hi Steve.



Do you have any iPad's on the network? I've read that they can hold on and actively release the IP even though it's been released resulting in IP conflicts. Perhaps you could see what IP the server is trying to hand out and finding and tracking the MAC the device that is still using the IP address.



I haven't seen the iPad issue, just read about it.
http://www.net.princeton.edu/announcements/ipad-iphoneos32-stops-renewing-lease-keeps-using-IP-address.html



Just a thought.

As far as I know, I have 1 iPad on the network. Now, unless that 1 iPad was
On Tue, Apr 27, 2010 at 8:43 AM, Aaron <a.robinson.lists at gmail.com> wrote:
using up 500 IP addresses, I don't think that was the issue. :-)



I pointed out in my original post that the DHCP server was hosting an IP
range from 10.87.20.1 through 10.87.23.254 and that we are sitting on a
Class B network address space (10.87.0.0/16). For those keeping score at
home, that is roughly 762 IP addresses, and at the time less than 200 were
in use.



What I failed to mention is that I have roughly 120 users and less than 20
printers in our environment. Even if every employee had an iPhone, we would
only be using roughly 260 IP addresses out of the 762 addresses available.



As you can see from that alone, it should be near impossible for me to run
out of IP addresses when I have a 1 hour lease time and that many IPs
available.



So, an update to the saga. Over the weekend I moved the DHCP server over to
a different server (one running 10.6.3 v1.1) and changed the range
(10.87.130.1 through 10.87.135.254). I also re-created the NetBoot image
off of a brand new out of the box MacPro (thanks for the reminder Dan).



To this point I have been able to successfully NetBoot a few times and do my
installs. I have some more machines to image today, so I will keep trying.



Of course, I broke the cardinal rule of troubleshooting and changed two
variables at once, so I can not be sure which solved the issue, but my money
is on the DHCP server changes and not the NetBoot image change.



Thanks to everyone for their thoughts and ideas.



Steve Wood
Director of IT
swood at integer.com



The Integer Group | 1999 Bryan St. | Ste. 1700 | Dallas, TX 75201
T 214.758.6813 | F 214.758.6901 | C 940.312.2475

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