Before autoinstallation on a device can take place, the device must acquire an IP address. The protocol or protocols you choose for IP address acquisition determine the device interface to connect to the network for autoinstallation. The device detects the connected interface and requests an IP address with a protocol appropriate for the interface. Autoinstallation is supported over an Ethernet LAN interface or a serial LAN or WAN interface. Table 81 lists the protocols that the device can use on these interfaces for IP address acquisition.
Table 81: Interfaces and Protocols for IP Address Acqusition During Autoinstallation
If the server with the autoinstallation configuration file is not on the same LAN segment as the new device, or if a specific device is required by the network, you must configure an intermediate device directly attached to the new device, through which the new device can send Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP), BOOTP, and Domain Name System (DNS) requests. In this case, you specify the IP address of the intermediate device as the location to receive TFTP requests for autoinstallation.