Os X compatible tftp server article

[mduling]

I have a proposed article, but I see no wiki formatting and both text and html types on the article submission page munges my text. I pasted it below and I see by the preview it looks fine here. Is this worth submitting as an article, and how can I keep the formatting? Thanks.

A good tftp server is a requirement for Cisco administrators. A very good open source tftp server that supports large files (greater than 16 MB) is tftp-hpa. It is a command line utility, but it is easy to install and use when you install it with MacPorts, and it is sandboxed from Apple’s bits that way too.

To install MacPorts, see http://macports.org. To install tftp-hpa for occasional use (manual start), simply execute “sudo port install tftp-hpa” To install it for continuous use, install it with the server variant so you’ll have a startupitem to use: “sudo port install tftp-hpa +server”

After installing tftp-hpa, MacPorts displays a text block that tells you all you need to know to use it. That text block is pasted below so you can see what is involved.

***** Setup Instructions *****

NOTE: By default, tftp-hpa listens to the tftp port specified in /etc/services (port 69)
on all local addresses.

To run tftpd manually for download only access, use this command:
sudo tftpd -L -s

To run tftpd manually and support tftp uploads, add \”-c\” to the command:
sudo tftpd -L -c -s

You may run tftpd at system boot on OS X 10.4 or 10.5 if you installed tftp-hpa
using the server variant; if so, you may load it using launchctl:
sudo launchctl load -w /Library/LaunchDaemons/org.macports.tftpd.plist

NOTE: When loading tftp-hpa using launchctl, make sure to place the files you want to serve
in /opt/local/var/tftp-hpa/, because that is the location set in the StartupItem.

*******************************

[mduling]

The reasons I don’t try to use Apple’s tftpd are:

1) It stops transferring files after it hits 16MB. I suppose the stock FreeBSD tftpd must do that too.
2) Something extra needs to be done to make it work but I’m not sure what, and I don’t care since it won’t transfer most of my Cisco images anyway because they are > 16MB.
3) Even if Apple’s tftpd worked as I needed it to, I don’t like messing with Apple’s bits unless Apple provided a way to mess with the bits (for ftp there’s a pref pane). The same reason I don’t install open source software manually anymore. Either way, over time all the installs or mods pollutes your drive with new or changed bits that can’t be undone so you end up wiping the drive to get back to a known good state. Using ports sandboxes open source software and I don’t have that problem.

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