Discovering and RECONFIGURING devices on an IPv4 network

Question

[Warning: network programming newbie here]

We manufacture embedded devices that get connected to customers networks we know nothing about. They might or might not have DHCP enabled (but usually, they haven't).

What would be the easiest way to:

• programmatically discover (I see several solutions for this) but also
• CONFIGURE these devices (for example, CHANGING their IP address and netmask)

with a setup software we would ship with these devices? Would I be able to do the "configuring" part with LLDP? Would I have to implement my own protocol on top of it?

Answer 1

Auto-configure is going to be as good as impossible if the network operator doesn't provide the facilities for it...

If you only need to communicate on the LAN then IPv6 link-local addresses are probably the easiest as they need no autoconf facilities.

LLDP is completely unrelated to what you need.