Hewlett-packard Company

Sundararajan Subramaniam

Paul T Congdon

A configuration agent allows a network node seeking to be automatically configured with an IP address and a default gateway address to be configured as its own gateway. In first and second embodiments of the present invention, the configuration agent resides on a network device (such as a switch or bridge) that is coupled to two network segments, with one network segments including a node to be configured and another network segment including a server capable of automatically providing configuration parameters. In the first embodiment, the configuration agent acts as a snoopy agent. Messages from the configuration server to the node to be configured are 'snooped' to discover messages containing an IP address and a default gateway address. Such messages are altered to copy the IP addresses offered to the nodes seeking configuration to the default gateway addresses, and the messages are sent on their way, thereby causing the node seeking to be configured to be its own default gateway. In the second embodiment of the invention, the configuration acts as a proxy agent. From the point of view of the node to be configured, the proxy agent appears to be a configuration agent. From the point of view of the configuration server, the proxy agent appears to be a relay agent if the configuration server and the node to be configured are on different subnets. When the configuration server sends messages to the node to be configured (possibly treating the proxy agent as a relay agent), the proxy agent intercepts the message and copies the offered IP address to the default gateway address in the message, thereby causing the node seeking to be configured to be configured as its own gateway. The proxy agent also substitutes its IP address for the IP address of the actual configuration server, thereby causing the node seeking to be configured to treat the proxy agent as the configuration agent.

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Roseville, CA, United States of America

Sundararajan Subramaniam