Dynamic IP on 10.4 (changing IPs)

crewer

Registered
Changing an IP address on my old 10.2 server created a disaster that required me to reinstall the entire system (told to me by Apple support). They explained to me that the IP address is mapped throughout the system, and that changing it from the network preference pane would lock up the system. So I learned my lesson. No changing the IP address once it's configured.

So on a recent call to Apple regarding the new 10.4 server system, I asked if that had been corrected. I was told, once again, that changing the IP address in the network preference pane will cause the system to lock up. So I asked him why it's an option to dynamically configure the network preferences. If the router, at some point, assigned a new IP number to the server, wouldn't it lock up the sytem? He said that it would.

So, if that's the case, why is DHCP an option? Am I being misinformed here?
 
You never want to set up a server with a dynamic IP. It causes many issues, especially when running things like Open Directory.

You could create a static reservation in your DHCP server and leave your server as a DHCP client, thus getting the same IP at all times.

If you need to change the IP of your server, there are built in, command line tools to allow you to do so.
 
Yeah, its horrible to have Dynamic IP's on a server - here's the problem, if you have all of your computer's setup on an IP address and that IP address that they connect to expires, ouch, you have to reconfigure EVERY machine again for the correct IP.
 
Well, there's that and the fact that OS X Server hard codes IP interface info into the system. You'll break things like Open Directory by improperly changing IPs. This is why Apple included the changeip command line tool that allows you to properly change IP addresses and hostnames. :)
 
I'd like to set up my old G4 as my home network gateway/router. Unfortunately, SBC is pretty good at expiring DHCP leases fairly rapidly. Can I get around this problem by using dyndns.org?
 
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