3.1 Windows-specific preparation

The default set up should work for most networks. However, as noted by the guide http://tldp.org/HOWTO/DHCP/x369.html, it may not work well with Windows boxes in the same network. The reason is that Windows DHCP clients sends messages with a destination of 255.255.255.255, but Linux boxes only accepts messages that match the subnet address and mask.

First, the NIC should be set up to enable MULTICAST. This is a feature that should be supported by the kernel. Most kernels in modern distributions already have this enabled. You can use the command ifconfig to confirm the NIC is MULTICAST enabled.

Next, you need to add the following line to /etc/hosts:

Of course, this entry by itself is merely associating the network address 255.255.255.255 with the name all-ones.

The last step is to run the following command:

This command adds an entry to the routing table that says: eth0 (a NIC interface), pay attention to any packet that has a destination of 255.255.255.255.