%
% Sorry to barge in with a technical, standards-related question. It
% seems that there is a common practice that when a host asks for an
% IPv4 address, such as through DHCP, but the host isn't attached to
% the network, that the software gives it an address of 169.254.x.y. Is
% this documented in any RFC? Should it be?
%
% --Paul Hoffman, Director
% --VPN Consortium
%
It was documented a year after its delegation in a now expired draft
by Richard Troll. There is an RFC that describes problems with auto
configuration using this prefix. There is also a current draft in/from
zeroconf that talks about this prefix. I've had a draft that describes
this prefix killed a couple of times by the IESG/IAB.
The prefix was originally delegated after the LA IETF. You'll find a
brief mention of the action on the last page fo the DHCP wg minutes.
--
--bill