Mike's PBX Cookbook

Nortel Option String

The Nortel Option String is used to pass configuration parameters to IP sets via DHCP. There are two versions: A, and B.

Nortel-i2004-A

The original "A-string" covers only a basic set of features. The format of the String for the DHCP Site Specific Option 128 is:

Nortel-i2004-A,s1ip:p1,a1,r1;s2ip:p2,a2,r2.
Where:
Nortel-i2004-A- identifies this is a Nortel "A-string" option
s1ip/s2ip- Primary/Secondary Call Server IP address
p1/p2- Port number (4100 for CS1K, 7300 for BCM)
a1/a2- Server Action Code, this is always 1
r1/r2- Server Retry Count, 5 is recommended

Notes:

  1. The IP Address must be separated from the port by a colon (:).
  2. Primary (S1) and Secondary (S2) parameters are separated by a semicolon (;).
  3. The string must end in a period (.)

For example:

Nortel-i2004-A,10.13.20.13:4100,1,5;10.13.20.14:4100,1,5.

Nortel-i2004-B

The feature expanded "B-string" syntax is different, it consists of a series of parameter=value combinations, each followed by a semicolon. The string ends with a semicolon (;)

Nortel-i2004-B,param=value;param=value;param=value;

Notes:

  1. There can be multiple Nortel-i2004-B strings to pass the full range of parameters (Options: 128, 144, 157, 191, 251).
  2. The maximum length allowed for any one DHCP option is 255 bytes.
  3. You can provision any/all of the info block parameters this way.

For example:

Nortel-i2004-B,s1ip=47.11.62.20;p1=4100;a1=1;r1=2;s2ip=47.11.62.21;p2=4100;
a2=1;r2=2;xip=47.11.62.147;xp=44443;xa=g;menulock=p;lldp=y;pk1=438A64FC24127C23;
pk2=64FC23CD24AB1413;igarp=y;srtp=y;zone=4thfloor;file=ztd;

Common B-string parameters:

s1ip/s2ip- Primary/Secondary Call Server IP address
p1/p2- Port number (4100 for CS1K, 7300 for BCM)
a1/a2- Server Action Code, this is always 1
r1/r2- Server Retry Count, 5 is recommended
vq- Voice 802.1q (usually set to [y]es)
pc- Enable/disable the PC port (y/n)
pcs- PC Network Interface Speed:[a]utomatic, [10] Mbps, [100] Mbps
pcd- PC Network Interface Duplex: [a]utomatic, [f]ull or [h]alf duplex
dq- Data 802.1q (usually [y]es)
dvid- Data VLAN ID
pcuntag- Enable stripping of tags on packets forwarded to PC port (y/n)
bt- Enable Bluetooth (y/n) (1140, 1150, 1165 IP Phones only.)
menulock- [f]ull, [p]artial, [u]nlocked; restricts access to the services/diagnostic menus
hd- headset type: [w]ired, [b]luetooth, [u]sb, [n]one (1120, 1140, 1150, 1165 IP Phones only.)
ll- Log level: [cr]itical, [ma]jor, [mi]nor, [in]formational
ssh- Enable SSH (y/n)
sshid- 4-12 character SSH login ID
sshpwd- 4-12 character SSH login password

WARNING: Passwords configured via TFTP, HTTP or DHCP are sent as clear text and can be sniffed from the network.