Provisioning the Device using DHCP Option 160

You can provision the device using DHCP Option 160. DHCP Option 160 provides the device with the URL address of the provisioning server from where it can download its software (.cmp) and configuration (.ini) files. The URL can also include the names of the required files to download and their folder location on the server.

If you enable DHCP client functionality with DHCP Option 160, upon a device restart or power up, the device (as a DHCP client) sends a DHCP request to the DHCP server to obtain networking information (device's IPv4 management IP address) and the URL address of the provisioning server.

The following syntax is supported for defining the URL and configuration/firmware filenames in DHCP Option 160 (on the DHCP server):

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The protocol can be HTTP, HTTPS, FTP, or TFTP. As shown above, the URL can include both the software and configuration filenames. In this case, they must be separated by a semicolon (;) and without spaces.

If the URL doesn't specify a configuration filename or the file doesn't exist on the provisioning server, the device requests from the server a "default" configuration file whose name includes the device's product name and MAC address (<Product><MAC>.ini, for example, "M800B00908f5b1035.ini"). If this "default" file also doesn't exist on the server, the device attempts to retrieve another "default" configuration file whose name includes only the device's product name (<Product>.ini, for example, "M800B.ini"). The device makes up to three attempts to download the configuration file if a failure occurs (i.e., file not exist or any other failure reason). This applies to each of the configuration files, as mentioned previously.

If the URL specifies a software file, the device makes only one attempt to download the file (even if a failure occurs). If the URL doesn't specify a software file, the device doesn't make any attempt to download a software file.

Once the device downloads the file(s), it restarts to apply the configuration and/or software. In addition, once the file(s) has been downloaded, the device ignores all future DHCP Option 160 messages. Only if the device is restored to factory defaults will it process Option 160 again (and download any required files).

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To enable provisioning using DHCP Option 160:

Make sure that the DHCP server is configured with the appropriate information (including the URL address of the provisioning server for Option 160).

Make sure that the required configuration and/or software files are located on the provisioning server.

Enable DHCP client functionality, as described in DHCP-based Provisioning

Enable the device to include DHCP Option 160 in the DHCP Parameter Request List field of the DHCP request packet that is sent to the DHCP server. Do this by loading an ini file to the device with the following parameter setting:

DhcpOption160Support = 1

Restart the device with a save-to-flash for your settings to take effect.