ofw-install-server

Presentation

Minimal RARP+TFTP server for netbooting old Sun Open Firmware based computers (Sun UltaSparc64 like V240, Netra, T1000, etc.

Linux-only (uses AF_PACKET raw sockets).

It implements a rough (and vibe coded) rarp server + a TFTP server handling the "IP in Hexa" file path used by Open Firmware.

It's meant to be a simpler option than the traditional setup.

Build

make

Run

Requires root or CAP_NET_RAW capability on the binary.

# Configure an IP on the listening NIC
export BOOT_SERVER_IP=172.24.42.150
export BOOT_SERVER_NIC=enp0s25
sudo ip addr add ${BOOT_SERVER_IP}/24 dev ${BOOT_SERVER_NIC}

sudo ./ofw-install-server -iface ${BOOT_SERVER_NIC} -tftproot /srv/tftp -tftpdefault boot.img \
  -bootp -bootp-rootpath "/tftp:/netbsd-INSTALL.gz" -bootp-filename "/tftp:/netbsd-INSTALL.gz"

Options:

• -iface: interface name to be used
• -tftproot: TFTP root directory to serve files from (default: .)
• -tftpdefault: default file served in case we have the IP in Hexa file request typical of Open Firmware.
• -bootp: enable the built-in BOOTP/DHCP server (authoritative behavior)
• -bootp-rootpath: BOOTP root-path option value (optional)
• -bootp-filename: BOOTP filename/bootfile (optional)