DHCP

Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol

CIS 856: TCP/IP and Upper Layer Protocols

Presented by Kyle Getz
October 20, 2005

Motivation for DHCP

Configuration parameters for network

hosts

IP address
Router
Subnet Mask
Many more

Before DHCP

Manual assignment
RARP
BOOTP

DHCP Features

Protocol for providing configuration

parameters to hosts over network
Dynamic allocation of IP addresses
Minimal human intervention

Sample Network
DHCP
Server

DHCP
Clients

UDP Port
68

UDP Port
68

UDP Port
68

UDP Port
67

Route
r

Interne
t

Preliminaries

(DHCP) Message = DHCP-PDU (A-PDU)

Client = DHCP Client
Server = DHCP Server
Well-known port numbers

DHCP Server: UDP port 67

DHCP Client: UDP port 68
No ephemeral ports

Broadcast and unicast used for PDUs in

both directions

Broadcast: link and IP addresses are broadcast

Unicast: link and IP addresses are unicast

Initial Message Flow

Server A

Client
DHCPDISCOVE
R
DHCPOFFE
R

Server B
DHCPDISCOVE
R
DHCPOFFE
R

Client attempts to discover

available DHCP servers

Servers reply with offers

Client collects offers and

decides which offer to accept

DHCPREQUES
T
Configuration complete

DHCPREQUES
T
DHCPAC
K

Graceful shutdown

DHCPRELEAS
E

Client broadcasts request for

one of the received offers

Server acknowledges clients

use of IP address

Client explicitly releases

use of IP address

DHCP Message Types

DHCP
Message

Use

DHCPDISCOVER

Client broadcast to locate available servers

DHCPOFFER

Server to client response offering configuration

parameters

DHCPREQUEST

Client broadcast requesting offered parameters

DHCPDECLINE

Client to server notification that IP address is in use

DHCPACK

Server to client response confirming a request

DHCPNAK

Server to client response denying a request

DHCPRELEASE

Client to server request to relinquish IP address

DHCPINFORM

Client to server request for configuration parameters

Lease Renewal Times

(Client)
T1 < T2 < Lease time
T1 default value = 1/2 of lease time
T2 default value = 7/8 of lease time
Communicated via DHCPOFFER, DHCPACK
Client actions when times elapse

T1: client must renew address with the DHCP

server
T2: client must renew address with any DHCP
server
Lease time: client must stop using IP address

Renewal Message Flow

Server A

Client

Server B

T1 elapses

DHCPREQUES
T
Configuration complete

DHCPACK

Client unicasts request to

continue using IP address
Server acknowledges
request and updates lease

T1 elapses

T2 elapses

DHCPREQUES
T
DHCPAC
K

DHCPREQUES
T

DHCPREQUES
T
Configuration complete

Client unicasts request to

continue using IP address

Client broadcasts request to

continue using IP address
Server acknowledges request
and updates lease

Client FSM (Simplified)

INIT
DHCPNAK,
Lease
expires/ Stop
using IP
address
DHCPNAK/
Discard
offer

RENEWIN
G

T2/Broadcast
DHCPREQUEST

REBINDIN
G

DHCPACK (in
use)/
DHCPDECLINE

-/DHCPDISCOV
ER

DHCPACK/Set
T1,T2

DHCPACK/Set
T1,T2

REQUESTIN
G
Select
offer/DHCPREQUEST

SELECTIN
G

DHCPNAK/
Stop using IP
address

DHCPOFFER/
Process offer

T1/
Unicast
DHCPREQUES
T

DHCPACK/Set
T1,T2

BOUN
D

Retransmissions

Client responsible for all retransmissions

Retransmission strategy

Exponential backoff
Randomized

Recommendations

Base delay doubled for each retransmission

Random number picked from [-1,+1]
Maximum base delay: 64 seconds

Server Storage

Permanent storage

Pool of available IP addresses

Local configuration parameters
Mapping between clients and leases

Flexibility concerning storage update

When DHCPOFFER sent

When DHCPACK sent

Server Logic (Simplified)

Event
DHCPDISCOVER

Action Taken
If current lease for client exists, send DHCPOFFER
Else, if IP address available, send DHCPOFFER
Else, do nothing

DHCPREQUEST

If IP address available, send DHCPACK

Else, send DHCPNAK

DHCPDECLINE

Mark IP address unavailable, notify network

administrator

DHCPRELEASE

Mark IP address available, delete lease

DHCPINFORM

Send DHCPACK with configuration parameters

Lease
expiration

Mark IP address available, delete lease

DHCP PDU Format

Operation Code

Hardware Type

32
Bits

Hardware Length

Hop Count

Transaction ID
Seconds Elapsed

B
Client IP address
Your IP address
Server IP address
Relay agent IP address
Client hardware address
(16 bytes)
Server host name
(64 bytes)
Boot file name
(128 bytes)

Magic
Cookie

Options
(up to 312 bytes)

Must Be Zero (MBZ)

DHCP Options
Magic Cookie:

99

130

83

99

4
bytes

Option format:

Code

Length

1 byte

1 byte

Data
Length
bytes

Subnet Mask:

255

One-byte options:

0
255

Padding
End of options

255

255

Another Sample Network

DHCP
Clients

Relay Agent
within

Interne
t

Route
r

DHCP
Server

Relay Agents

Remove restriction of having DHCP

server on every network
Listen for DHCP messages and transmit
them to appropriate machine
Client to server relay

Broadcast from client Unicast to server(s)

Server to client relay

Broadcast from server Broadcast to client

Unicast from server Unicast to client

Demonstration

Advanced Topics

Lease times
Dynamic DNS
Reliability
Security

Lease Times
Anywhere from 15 minutes 1 year
Common lease times & rationales

15 minutes: Maximum number of

addresses free
3 days: Microsoft default
4 months: Students can keep lease over
summer

Tradeoff

Dynamic DNS

If IP address changes due to DHCP, DNS

entry is wrong
Client or server can update DNS
Option 81: Client FQDN

81

Length

1 byte

1 byte

Flags

rcode1
Length
bytes

rcode2

Name

Reliability

Two synchronized DHCP servers on the same

network: Primary, Secondary
Permanent storage constantly communicated
Failure: Secondary server takes over

DHCP
Clients

Primar
y
Server

Seconda
ry Server

Security

Potentially unauthorized clients

Malicious client could exhaust address
pool
Malicious server (Rogue server)

Supply incorrect configuration parameters

Supply malicious configuration parameters