Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) is a protocol used by networked devices (clients) to obtain the parameters necessary for operation in an Internet Protocol network. This protocol reduces system administration workload, allowing devices to be added to the network with little or no manual configurations.
Applicability
Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol is a way to manage network parameter assignment from a single DHCP server, or a group of DHCP servers arranged in a fault-tolerant manner. Even in small networks, Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol is useful because it can make it easy to add new machines to the local network.
DHCP is also recommended even in the case of servers whose addresses rarely change, so that if a server needs to be readdressed (RFC2071), changes can be made in as few places as possible. For devices such as routers and firewalls, that should not use DHCP, it can be useful to put Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP) or SSH servers on the same machine that runs DHCP, which also serves to centralize administration.
DHCP can be used to assign addresses directly to servers and desktop machines, and, through a Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) proxy, to dialup and broadband on-demand hosts, as well as for residential Network address translation (NAT) gateways and routers. DHCP is generally not appropriate for infrastructure such as non-edge routers and DNS servers.
History
DHCP emerged as a standard protocol in October 1993 as defined in RFC 1531, succeeding the BOOTP protocol. The next update, RFC 2131 released in 1997 is the current DHCP definition. The latest proposed standard for DHCP over IPv6 (DHCPv6) can be found in RFC 3315.
Basic protocol operation
The Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) automates the assignment of IP addresses, subnet masks, default gateway, and other IP parameters. [1]
When a DHCP-configured client (be it a computer or any other network-aware device) connects to a network, the DHCP client sends a broadcast query requesting necessary information from a DHCP server. The DHCP server manages a pool of IP addresses and information about client configuration parameters such as the default gateway, the domain name, the DNS servers, other servers such as time servers, and so forth. Upon receipt of a valid request the server will assign the computer an IP address, a lease (the length of time for which the allocation is valid), and other IP configuration parameters, such as the subnet mask and the default gateway. The query is typically initiated immediately after booting and must be completed before the client can initiate IP-based communication with other hosts.
DHCP provides three modes for allocating IP addresses. The best-known mode is dynamic, in which the client is provided a "lease" on an IP address for a period of time. Depending on the stability of the network, this could range from hours (a wireless network at an airport) to months (for desktops in a wired lab). At any time before the lease expires, the DHCP client can request renewal of the lease on the current IP address. A properly-functioning client will use the renewal mechanism to maintain the same IP address throughout its connection to a single network, otherwise it may risk losing its lease while still connected, thus disrupting network connectivity while it renegotiates with the server for its original or a new IP address.
The two other modes for allocation of IP addresses are automatic (also known as DHCP Reservation), in which the address is permanently assigned to a client, and manual, in which the address is selected by the client (manually by the user or any other means) and the DHCP protocol messages are used to inform the server that the address has been allocated.
The automatic and manual methods are generally used when finer-grained control over IP address is required (typical of tight firewall setups), although typically a firewall will allow access to the range of IP addresses that can be dynamically allocated by the DHCP server.
The process of address allocation is known as ROSA. R-Request, O-Offer, S-Send, A-Accept.
Security
Having been standardized before network security became a significant issue, the basic DHCP protocol includes no security features, and is potentially vulnerable to two types of attacks:[2]
Unauthorized DHCP Servers: as you cannot specify the server you want, an unauthorized server can respond to client requests, sending client network configuration values that are beneficial to the attacker. As an example, a hacker can hijack the DHCP process to configure clients to use a malicious DNS server or router (see also DNS cache poisoning).
Unauthorized DHCP Clients: By masquerading as a legitimate client, an unauthorized client can gain access to network configuration and an IP address on a network it should otherwise not be allowed to use. Also, by flooding the DHCP server with requests for IP addresses, it is possible for an attacker to exhaust the pool of available IP addresses, disrupting normal network activity (a denial of service attack).
To combat these threats RFC 3118 ("Authentication for DHCP Messages") introduced authentication information into DHCP messages allowing clients and servers to reject information from invalid sources. Although support for this protocol is widespread, a large number of clients and servers still do not fully support authentication, thus forcing servers to support clients that do not support this feature. As a result, other security measures are usually implemented around the DHCP server (such as IPsec) to ensure that only authenticated clients and servers are granted access to the network.
Wherever possible, DHCP-assigned addresses should be dynamically linked to a secure DNS server, to allow troubleshooting by name rather than by a potentially unknown address. Effective DHCP-DNS linkage requires having a file of either MAC addresses or local names that will be sent to DNS that uniquely identifies physical hosts, IP addresses, and other parameters such as the default gateway, subnet mask, and IP addresses of DNS servers from a DHCP server. The DHCP server ensures that all IP addresses are unique, i.e., no IP address is assigned to a second client while the first client's assignment is valid (its lease has not expired). Thus IP address pool management is done by the server and not by a network administrator..
IP address allocation
Depending on implementation, the DHCP server may have three methods of allocating IP-addresses, plus a fourth mode of operation ("manual") in which the client (rather than the DHCP server) assigns an IP address. (WARNING--the terminology below differs from the terminology above in Basic Control Operation):
dynamic allocation
A network administrator assigns a range of IP addresses to DHCP, and each client computer on the LAN has its IP software 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 (dynamic re-use of IP addresses).
automatic allocation
The DHCP server permanently assigns a free 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.
static allocation
The DHCP server allocates an IP address based on a table with MAC address/IP address pairs, which are manually filled in (perhaps by a network administrator). Only requesting clients with a MAC address listed in this table will be allocated an IP address. This feature (which is not supported by all routers) is variously called "Static DHCP Assignment" (by DD-WRT), "fixed-address" (by the dhcpd documentation), "DHCP reservation" or "Static DHCP" (by Cisco/Linksys), and "IP reservation" or "MAC/IP binding" (by various other router manufacturers).
manual allocation: The DHCP server does not assign the IP address; instead, the client is configured with a user-specified static IP address.
Many DHCP servers can manage hosts by more than one of the above methods. For example, the known hosts on the network can be assigned an IP address based on their MAC address (static allocation) whereas "guest" computers (such as laptops via WiFi) are allocated a temporary IP address out of a pool compatible with the network to which they're attached (dynamic allocation).
DHCP and firewalls
Firewalls usually have to permit DHCP traffic explicitly. Specification of the DHCP client-server protocol describes several cases when packets must have the source address of 0x00000000 or the destination address of 0xffffffff. Anti-spoofing policy rules and tight inclusive firewalls often stop such packets. Multi-homed DHCP servers require special consideration and further complicated configuration.
To allow DHCP, network administrators need to allow several types of packets through the server-side firewall. All DHCP packets travel as UDP datagrams; all client-sent packets have source port 68 and destination port 67; all server-sent packets have source port 67 and destination port 68. For example, a server-side firewall should allow the following types of packets:
Incoming packets from 0.0.0.0 or dhcp-pool to dhcp-ip
Incoming packets from any address to 255.255.255.255
Outgoing packets from dhcp-ip to dhcp-pool or 255.255.255.255
where dhcp-ip represents any address configured on a DHCP server host and dhcp-pool stands for the pool from which a DHCP server assigns addresses to clients
Technical details
Schema of a typical DHCP sessionDHCP uses the same two IANA assigned ports as BOOTP: 67/udp for the server side, and 68/udp for the client side.
DHCP operations fall into four basic phases. These phases are IP discovery, IP lease offer, IP request, and IP lease acknowledgement.
After the client obtained an IP address, the client may start an address resolution (ARP) query to prevent IP conflicts caused by address pool overlapping of DHCP servers.
DHCP discovery
The client broadcasts on the physical subnet to find available servers. Network administrators can configure a local router to forward DHCP packets to a DHCP server on a different subnet. This client-implementation creates a UDP packet with the broadcast destination of 255.255.255.255 or subnet broadcast address.
A client can also request its last-known IP address (in the example below, 192.168.1.100). If the client is still in a network where this IP is valid, the server might grant the request. Otherwise, it depends whether the server is set up as authoritative or not. An authoritative server will deny the request, making the client ask for a new IP immediately. A non-authoritative server simply ignores the request, leading to an implementation-dependent timeout for the client to give up on the request and ask for a new IP address.
DHCP offers
When a DHCP server receives an IP lease request from a client, it extends an IP lease offer. This is done by reserving an IP address for the client and sending a DHCPOFFER message across the network to the client. This message contains the client's MAC address, followed by 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 server determines the configuration, based on the client's hardware address as specified in the CHADDR field. Here the server, 192.168.1.1, specifies the IP address in the YIADDR field.
DHCP acknowledgement
When the DHCP server receives the DHCPREQUEST message from the client, it initiates the final phase of the configuration process. This acknowledgement phase involves sending a DHCPACK packet to the client. This packet includes the lease duration and any other configuration information that the client might have requested. At this point, the IP configuration process is complete.
The server acknowledges the request and sends the acknowledgement to the client. The system as a whole expects the client to configure its network interface with the supplied options.
DHCP information
The client to the DHCP server: either to request more information than the server sent with the original DHCPACK; or to repeat data for a particular application - for example, browsers use DHCP Inform to obtain web proxy settings via WPAD. Such queries do not cause the DHCP server to refresh the IP expiry time in its database.
DHCP releasing
The client sends a request to the DHCP server to release the DHCP and the client unconfigures its IP address. As clients usually do not know when users may unplug them from the network, the protocol does not mandate the sending of DHCP Release.
Client configuration parameters
A DHCP server can provide optional configuration parameters to the client. RFC 2132 describes the available DHCP options defined by Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) - DHCP and BOOTP PARAMETERS.
Options
To identify the vendor and functionality of a DHCP client. The information is a variable-length string of characters or octets which has a meaning specified by the vendor of the DHCP client. One method that a DHCP client can utilize to communicate to the server that it is using a certain type of hardware or firmware is to set a value in its DHCP requests called the Vendor Class Identifier (VCI) (Option 60). This method allows a DHCP server to differentiate between the two kinds of client machines and process the requests from the two types of modems appropriately. Some types of set-top boxes also set the VCI (Option 60) to inform the DHCP server about the hardware type and functionality of the device. The value that this option is set to gives the DHCP server a hint about any required extra information that this client needs in a DHCP response.
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