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"DHCP" redirects here. For other uses, see DHCP (disambiguation).

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The Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) is a network management protocol used

on Internet Protocol networks whereby a DHCP server dynamically assigns an IP address and
other network configuration parameters to each device on a network so they can communicate
with other IP networks.[1] A DHCP server enables computers to request IP addresses and
networking parameters automatically from the Internet service provider (ISP), reducing the need
for a network administrator or a user to manually assign IP addresses to all network devices.[1] In
the absence of a DHCP server, a computer or other device on the network needs to be manually
assigned an IP address, or to assign itself an APIPA address, which will not enable it to
communicate outside its local subnet.
DHCP can be implemented on networks ranging in size from home networks to large campus
networks and regional Internet service provider networks.[2] A router or a residential gateway can
be enabled to act as a DHCP server. Most residential network routers receive a globally unique
IP address within the ISP network. Within a local network, a DHCP server assigns a local IP
address to each device connected to the network.
 Contents

 1History
 2Overview
 3Operation
o 3.1Discovery
o 3.2Offer
o 3.3Request
o 3.4Acknowledgement
o 3.5Information
o 3.6Releasing
 4Client configuration parameters
 5Options
o 5.1Documented in RFC 2132
 5.1.1Client vendor identification
o 5.2Documented elsewhere
 5.2.1Relay agent information sub-options
 6Relaying
 7Reliability
 8Modern application
 9Security
 10IETF standards documents
 11See also
 12Notes
 13References
 14External links

History[edit]
In 1984, the Reverse Address Resolution Protocol (RARP), defined in RFC 903, was introduced
to allow simple devices such as diskless workstations to dynamically obtain a suitable IP
address. However, because it acted at the data link layer it made implementation difficult on
many server platforms, and also required that a server be present on each individual network
link. RARP was superseded by the Bootstrap Protocol (BOOTP) defined in RFC 951 in
September 1985. This introduced the concept of a relay agent, which allowed the forwarding of
BOOTP packets across networks, allowing one central BOOTP server to serve hosts on many IP
subnets.[3]
DHCP is based on BOOTP but can dynamically allocate IP addresses from a pool and reclaim
them when they are no longer in use. It can also be used to deliver a wide range of extra
configuration parameters to IP clients, including platform-specific parameters. [4] DHCP was first
defined in RFC 1531 in October 1993; but due to errors in the editorial process was almost
immediately reissued as RFC 1541.
Four years later the DHCPINFORM message type[5] and other small changes were added
by RFC 2131; which as of 2014 remains the standard for IPv4 networks.
DHCPv6 was initially described by RFC 3315 in 2003, but this has been updated by many
subsequent RFCs.[6] RFC 3633 added a DHCPv6 mechanism for prefix delegation, and stateless
address autoconfiguration was added by RFC 3736.

Overview[edit]
Internet Protocol (IP) defines how devices communicate within and across local networks on the
Internet. A DHCP server can manage IP settings for devices on its local network, e.g., by
assigning IP addresses to those devices automatically and dynamically.
DHCP operates based on the client–server model. When a computer or other device connects to
a network, the DHCP client software sends a DHCP broadcast query requesting the necessary
information. Any DHCP server on the network may service the request. The DHCP server
manages a pool of IP addresses and information about client configuration parameters such
as default gateway, domain name, the name servers, and time servers. On receiving a DHCP
request, the DHCP server may respond with specific information for each client, as previously
configured by an administrator, or with a specific address and any other information valid for the
entire network and for the time period for which the allocation (lease) is valid. A DHCP client
typically queries for this information immediately after booting, and periodically thereafter before
the expiration of the information. When a DHCP client refreshes an assignment, it initially
requests the same parameter values, but the DHCP server may assign a new address based on
the assignment policies set by administrators.
On large networks that consist of multiple links, a single DHCP server may service the entire
network when aided by DHCP relay agents located on the interconnecting routers. Such agents
relay messages between DHCP clients and DHCP servers located on different subnets.
Depending on implementation, the DHCP server may have three methods of allocating IP
addresses:
Dynamic allocation
A network administrator reserves a range of IP addresses for DHCP, and each DHCP
client on the LAN is configured to request an IP address from the DHCP server during
network initialization. The request-and-grant process uses a lease concept with a
controllable time period, allowing the DHCP server to reclaim and then reallocate IP
addresses that are not renewed.
Automatic allocation
The DHCP server permanently assigns an IP address to a requesting client from the
range defined by the administrator. This is like dynamic allocation, but the DHCP server
keeps a table of past IP address assignments, so that it can preferentially assign to a
client the same IP address that the client previously had.
Manual allocation
Also commonly called static allocation and reservations.The DHCP server issues a
private IP address dependent upon each client's client id (or, traditionally, the client MAC
address), based on a predefined mapping by the administrator. This feature is variously
called static DHCP assignment by DD-WRT, fixed-address by the dhcpd
documentation, address reservation by Netgear, DHCP reservation or static
DHCP by Cisco and Linksys, and IP address reservation or MAC/IP address binding by
various other router manufacturers. If no match for the client's client ID (if provided)
or MAC address (if no client id is provided) is found, the server may or may not optionally
fall back to either Dynamic or Automatic allocation.
DHCP is used for Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) and IPv6. While both versions
serve the same purpose, the details of the protocol for IPv4 and IPv6 differ
sufficiently that they may be considered separate protocols. [7] For the IPv6 operation,
devices may alternatively use stateless address autoconfiguration. IPv6 hosts may
also use link-local addressing to achieve operations restricted to the local network
link.

Operation[edit]
 An illustration of a typical non-renewing DHCP session; each message may be either a
broadcast or a unicast, depending on the DHCP client capabilities.[8]

The DHCP employs a connectionless service model, using the User Datagram

Protocol (UDP). It is implemented with two UDP port numbers for its operations
which are the same as for the bootstrap protocol (BOOTP). UDP port number 67 is
the destination port of a server, and UDP port number 68 is used by the client.
DHCP operations fall into four phases: server discovery, IP lease offer, IP lease
request, and IP lease acknowledgement. These stages are often abbreviated as
DORA for discovery, offer, request, and acknowledgement.
The DHCP operation begins with clients broadcasting a request. If the client and
server are on different subnets, a DHCP Helper or DHCP Relay Agent may be used.
Clients requesting renewal of an existing lease may communicate directly via
UDP unicast, since the client already has an established IP address at that point.
Additionally, there is a BROADCAST flag (1 bit in 2 byte flags field, where all other
bits are reserved and so are set to 0) the client can use to indicate in which way
(broadcast or unicast) it can receive the DHCPOFFER: 0x8000 for broadcast,
0x0000 for unicast.[8] Usually, the DHCPOFFER is sent through unicast. For those
hosts which cannot accept unicast packets before IP addresses are configured, this
flag can be used to work around this issue.

Discovery[edit]
The DHCP client broadcasts a DHCPDISCOVER message on the network subnet
using the destination address 255.255.255.255 (limited broadcast) or the specific
subnet broadcast address (directed broadcast). A DHCP client may also request its
last known IP address. If the client remains connected to the same network, the
server may grant the request. Otherwise, it depends whether the server is set up as
authoritative or not. An authoritative server denies the request, causing the client to
issue a new request. A non-authoritative server simply ignores the request, leading
to an implementation-dependent timeout for the client to expire the request and ask
for a new IP address.
For example, if HTYPE is set to 1, to specify that the medium used is Ethernet,
HLEN is set to 6 because an Ethernet address (MAC address) is 6 octets long. The
CHADDR is set to the MAC address used by the client. Some options are set as
well.

Example DHCPDISCOVER message

Ethernet: source=sender's MAC; destination=FF:FF:FF:FF:FF:FF

IP: source=0.0.0.0; destination=255.255.255.255

UDP: source port=68; destination port=67

Octet 0 Octet 1 Octet 2 Octet 3

OP HTYPE HLEN HOPS
0x01 0x01 0x06 0x00
XID
0x3903F326
SECS FLAGS
0x0000 0x0000
CIADDR (Client IP address)
0x00000000
YIADDR (Your IP address)
0x00000000
SIADDR (Server IP address)
0x00000000
GIADDR (Gateway IP address)
0x00000000
CHADDR (Client hardware address)
0x00053C04
0x8D590000
0x00000000
0x00000000
192 octets of 0s, or overflow space for additional
options; BOOTP legacy.
Magic cookie
0x63825363
DHCP options
0x350101 53: 1 (DHCP Discover)
0x3204c0a80164 50: 192.168.1.100 requested
0x370401030f06 55 (Parameter Request List):

 1 (Request Subnet Mask),

  3 (Router),
 15 (Domain Name),
 6 (Domain Name Server)
0xff 255 (Endmark)

Offer[edit]
When a DHCP server receives a DHCPDISCOVER message from a client, which is
an IP address lease request, the DHCP server reserves an IP address for the client
and makes a lease offer by sending a DHCPOFFER message to the client. This
message contains the client's client id (traditionally a MAC address), the IP address
that the server is offering, the subnet mask, the lease duration, and the IP address of
the DHCP server making the offer. The DHCP server may also take notice of the
hardware-level MAC address in the underlying transport layer: according to
current RFCs the transport layer MAC address may be used if no client ID is
provided in the DHCP packet.
The DHCP server determines the configuration based on the client's hardware
address as specified in the CHADDR (client hardware address) field. Here the
server, 192.168.1.1, specifies the client's IP address in the YIADDR (your IP
address) field.

DHCPOFFER message

Ethernet: source=sender's MAC; destination=client mac

address

IP: source=192.168.1.1; destination=255.255.255.255

UDP: source port=67; destination port=68

Octet 0 Octet 1 Octet 2 Octet 3

OP HTYPE HLEN HOPS

0x02 0x01 0x06 0x00

XID

0x3903F326

SECS FLAGS

0x0000 0x0000

CIADDR (Client IP address)

0x00000000

YIADDR (Your IP address)

0xC0A80164 (192.168.1.100)
SIADDR (Server IP address)
 0xC0A80101 (192.168.1.1)
GIADDR (Gateway IP address)
0x00000000
CHADDR (Client hardware address)
0x00053C04
0x8D590000
0x00000000
0x00000000
192 octets of 0s; BOOTP legacy.
Magic cookie
0x63825363
DHCP options
53: 2 (DHCP Offer)
1 (subnet mask): 255.255.255.0
3 (Router): 192.168.1.1
51 (IP address lease time): 86400s (1 day)
54 (DHCP server): 192.168.1.1
6 (DNS servers):

 9.7.10.15,
 9.7.10.16,
 9.7.10.18

Request[edit]
In response to the DHCP offer, the client replies with a DHCPREQUEST message,
broadcast to the server,[a] requesting the offered address. A client can receive DHCP
offers from multiple servers, but it will accept only one DHCP offer. Based on
required server identification option in the request and broadcast messaging, servers
are informed whose offer the client has accepted. [10]:Section 3.1, Item 3 When other DHCP
servers receive this message, they withdraw any offers that they have made to the
client and return the offered IP address to the pool of available addresses.

DHCPREQUEST message

Ethernet: source=sender's MAC; destination=FF:FF:FF:FF:FF:FF

IP: source=0.0.0.0; destination=255.255.255.255; [a]

UDP: source port=68; destination port=67

Octet 0 Octet 1 Octet 2 Octet 3

OP HTYPE HLEN HOPS

0x01 0x01 0x06 0x00

 XID
0x3903F326
SECS FLAGS
0x0000 0x0000
CIADDR (Client IP address)
0x00000000
YIADDR (Your IP address)
0x00000000
SIADDR (Server IP address)
0xC0A80101 (192.168.1.1)
GIADDR (Gateway IP address)
0x00000000
CHADDR (Client hardware address)
0x00053C04
0x8D590000
0x00000000
0x00000000
192 octets of 0s; BOOTP legacy.
Magic cookie
0x63825363
DHCP options
53: 3 (DHCP Request)
50: 192.168.1.100 requested
54 (DHCP server): 192.168.1.1