Booting the PortMaster
2-2 PortMaster Configuration Guide
then attempts to boot itself across the network using the Trivial File Transfer
Protocol (TFTP) to download a netbootable ComOS image from the host that
replied to the RARP.
The TFTP process begins by transferring the /tftpboot/
address.typ
file, replacing
address
with the uppercase 8-character hexadecimal expression of the IP address
of the PortMaster and
typ
with the 3-character boot extension describing the
model of PortMaster, as shown in Table 2-1. If /tftpboot/
address.typ
is not
found, the PortMaster requests /tftpboot/
GENERIC.OS
.
The netbootable ComOS can also be downloaded via serial cable through the
console port. Refer to the
PortMaster Troubleshooting Guide
for details.
3. The user configuration is loaded from Flash RAM.
4. The IP address is located.
If no address is configured for the Ethernet interface and no address was obtained
from netbooting, the PortMaster sends a RARP message to discover its IP address. If
the PortMaster receives a reply to the RARP message, its IP address is set in dynamic
memory.
At this point the PortMaster is fully booted with its configuration loaded into DRAM.
This process takes less than a minute. After the PortMaster boots successfully, the status
LED is on, blinking off once every 5 seconds. Refer to the hardware installation guide
for your PortMaster for the location of the status LED and for troubleshooting
procedures if the LED is not behaving as described.
Table 2-1
Boot Extensions
Boot Extension PortMaster Model
PM3 PM3
PM2 PM-2, PM-2E, PM-2R, PM-2ER, PM-2i, PM-2Ei
IRX IRX, any model
P25 PM-25
PMO PortMaster Office Router, any model
