P K TECHNICAL CAMPUS,CHAKAN

Mission o/' Pratap Khandebhara

A MICRO-PROJECT REPORT
ON

"DYNAMIC HOST CONFIGURATION

PROTOCOL(DHCP)"

SUBMITTED BY:-

Avishkar Khenat

UNDER GUIDANCE

Prof. Tejashri Patil

i
P K TECHNICAL CAMPUS,CHAKAN

Mission o/' Pratap Khandebharad

CERTIFICATE
A MICRO-PROJECT REPORT
ON

"DYNAMIC HOST CONFIGURATION

PROTOCOL(DHCP)"

SUBMITTED BY:-

Avishkar Khenat
The report has been approved as it satisfies the academic requirements in respect of
micro-project work prescribed for the course.

HOD
Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP)
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Prerequisite – Protocols in the Application Layer

DHCP stands for Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol. It is the critical feature on
which the users of an enterprise network communicate. DHCP helps enterprises
to smoothly manage the allocation of IP addresses to the end-user clients’ devices
such as desktops, laptops, cellphones, etc. is an application layer protocol that is
used to provide:
Subnet Mask (Option 1 - e.g., 255.255.255.0)
Router Address (Option 3 - e.g., 192.168.1.1)
DNS Address (Option 6 - e.g., 8.8.8.8)
Vendor Class Identifier (Option 43 - e.g.,
'unifi' = 192.168.1.9 ##where unifi = controller)

DHCP is based on a client-server model and based on discovery, offer, request,

and ACK.

• Why Use DHCP?

DHCP helps in managing the entire process automatically and centrally. DHCP
helps in maintaining a unique IP Address for a host using the server. DHCP
servers maintain information on TCP/IP configuration and provide configuration
of address to DHCP-enabled clients in the form of a lease offer.

➢ Components of DHCP
• The main components of DHCP include:
• DHCP Server: DHCP Server is basically a server that holds IP Addresses
and other information related to configuration.
• DHCP Client: It is basically a device that receives configuration information
from the server. It can be a mobile, laptop, computer, or any other
electronic device that requires a connection.
• DHCP Relay: DHCP relays basically work as a communication channel
between DHCP Client and Server.
• IP Address Pool: It is the pool or container of IP Addresses possessed by
the DHCP Server. It has a range of addresses that can be allocated to
devices.
• Subnets: Subnets are smaller portions of the IP network partitioned to
keep networks under control.
• Lease: It is simply the time that how long the information received from
the server is valid, in case of expiration of the lease, the tenant must have
to re-assign the lease.
• DNS Servers: DHCP servers can also provide DNS (Domain Name System)
server information to DHCP clients, allowing them to resolve domain
names to IP addresses.
• Default Gateway: DHCP servers can also provide information about the
default gateway, which is the device that packets are sent to when the
destination is outside the local network.
• Options: DHCP servers can provide additional configuration options to
clients, such as the subnet mask, domain name, and time server
information.
• Renewal: DHCP clients can request to renew their lease before it expires to
ensure that they continue to have a valid IP address and configuration
information.
• Failover: DHCP servers can be configured for failover, where two servers
work together to provide redundancy and ensure that clients can always
obtain an IP address and configuration information, even if one server
goes down.
• Dynamic Updates: DHCP servers can also be configured to dynamically
update DNS records with the IP address of DHCP clients, allowing for
easier management of network resources.
• Audit Logging: DHCP servers can keep audit logs of all DHCP transactions,
providing administrators with visibility into which devices are using
which IP addresses and when leases are being assigned or renewed.
Operation Code Hardware type Hardware length Hop count

Transition ID

Number of seconds Flags

Client IP address

Your IP address

Server IP address

Gateway IP address

Client hardware address

(16 bytes)

Server name
(64 bytes)

Boot file name

(128 bytes)

Options
( Variable length)

Fig. DHCP Packet Format

1.Hardware length:
This is an 8-bit field defining the length of the physical address in bytes. e.g for
Ethernet the value is 6.
2.Hop count:
This is an 8-bit field defining the maximum number of hops the packet can travel.
3.Transaction ID:
This is a 4-byte field carrying an integer. The transcation identification is set by
the client and is used to match a reply with the request. The server returns the
same value in its reply.
4.Number of seconds:
0 seconds of 0 secondsVolume 0%

This is a 16-bit field that indicates the number of seconds elapsed since the time
the client started to boot.
5.Flag:
This is a 16-bit field in which only the leftmost bit is used and the rest of the bit
should be set to os.
A leftmost bit specifies a forced broadcast reply from the server. If the reply were
to be unicast to the client, the destination. IP address of the IP packet is the
address assigned to the client.
6.Client IP address:
This is a 4-byte field that contains the client IP address . If the client does not
have this information this field has a value of 0.
7.Your IP address:
This is a 4-byte field that contains the client IP address. It is filled by the server at
the request of the client.
8.Server IP address:
This is a 4-byte field containing the server IP address. It is filled by the server in a
reply message.
9.Gateway IP address:
This is a 4-byte field containing the IP address of a routers. IT is filled by the
server in a reply message.
10.Client hardware address:
This is the physical address of the client .Although the server can retrieve this
address from the frame sent by the client it is more efficient if the address is
supplied explicity by the client in the request message.
11.Server name:
This is a 64-byte field that is optionally filled by the server in a reply packet. It
contains a null-terminated string consisting of the domain name of the server. If
the server does not want to fill this filed with data, the server must fill it with all
0s.
12.Boot filename:
This is a 128-byte field that can be optionally filled by the server in a reply
packet. It contains a null- terminated string consisting of the full pathname of the
boot file. The client can use this path to retrieve other booting information. If the
server does not want to fill this field with data, the server must fill it with all 0s.
13.Options:
This is a 64-byte field with a dual purpose. IT can carry either additional
information or some specific vendor information. The field is used only in a reply
message. The server uses a number, called a magic cookie, in the format of an IP
address with the value of 99.130.83.99. When the client finishes reading the
message, it looks for this magic cookie. If present the next 60 bytes are options.

➢ Working of DHCP
• The working of DHCP is as follows:
• DHCP works on the Application layer of the TCP/IP Protocol. The main
task of DHCP is to dynamically assigns IP Addresses to the Clients and
allocate information on TCP/IP configuration to Clients. For more, you can
refer to the Article Working of DHCP.
• The DHCP port number for the server is 67 and for the client is 68. It is a
client-server protocol that uses UDP services. An IP address is assigned
from a pool of addresses. In DHCP, the client and the server exchange
mainly 4 DHCP messages in order to make a connection, also called the
DORA process, but there are 8 DHCP messages in the process.
Working of DHCP

The 8 DHCP Messages:

1. DHCP discover message: This is the first message generated in the
communication process between the server and the client. This message is
generated by the Client host in order to discover if there is any DHCP
server/servers are present in a network or not. This message is broadcasted to
all devices present in a network to find the DHCP server. This message is 342 or
576 bytes long

DHCP discover message

As shown in the figure, the source MAC address (client PC) is 08002B2EAF2A, the
destination MAC address(server) is FFFFFFFFFFFF, the source IP address is
0.0.0.0(because the PC has had no IP address till now) and the destination IP
address is 255.255.255.255 (IP address used for broadcasting). As they discover
message is broadcast to find out the DHCP server or servers in the network
therefore broadcast IP address and MAC address is used.
2. DHCP offers a message: The server will respond to the host in this message
specifying the unleased IP address and other TCP configuration information. This
message is broadcasted by the server. The size of the message is 342 bytes. If
there is more than one DHCP server present in the network then the client host
will accept the first DHCP OFFER message it receives. Also, a server ID is
specified in the packet in order to identify the server.

DHCP offer message

Now, for the offer message, the source IP address is 172.16.32.12 (server’s IP
address in the example), the destination IP address is 255.255.255.255
(broadcast IP address), the source MAC address is 00AA00123456, the
destination MAC address is FFFFFFFFFFFF. Here, the offer message is broadcast
by the DHCP server therefore destination IP address is the broadcast IP address
and destination MAC address is FFFFFFFFFFFF and the source IP address is the
server IP address and the MAC address is the server MAC address.
Also, the server has provided the offered IP address 192.16.32.51 and a lease
time of 72 hours(after this time the entry of the host will be erased from the
server automatically). Also, the client identifier is the PC MAC address
(08002B2EAF2A) for all the messages.
3. DHCP request message: When a client receives an offer message, it responds
by broadcasting a DHCP request message. The client will produce a gratuitous
ARP in order to find if there is any other host present in the network with the
same IP address. If there is no reply from another host, then there is no host with
the same TCP configuration in the network and the message is broadcasted to the
server showing the acceptance of the IP address. A Client ID is also added to this
message.

DHCP request message

Now, the request message is broadcast by the client PC therefore source IP

address is 0.0.0.0(as the client has no IP right now) and destination IP address is
255.255.255.255 (the broadcast IP address) and the source MAC address is
08002B2EAF2A (PC MAC address) and destination MAC address is
FFFFFFFFFFFF.
Note – This message is broadcast after the ARP request broadcast by the PC to
find out whether any other host is not using that offered IP. If there is no reply,
then the client host broadcast the DHCP request message for the server showing
the acceptance of the IP address and Other TCP/IP Configuration.
4. DHCP acknowledgment message: In response to the request message received,
the server will make an entry with a specified client ID and bind the IP address
offered with lease time. Now, the client will have the IP address provided by the
server.

DHCP acknowledgment message

Now the server will make an entry of the client host with the offered IP address
and lease time. This IP address will not be provided by the server to any other
host. The destination MAC address is FFFFFFFFFFFF and the destination IP
address is 255.255.255.255 and the source IP address is 172.16.32.12 and the
source MAC address is 00AA00123456 (server MAC address).
5. DHCP negative acknowledgment message: Whenever a DHCP server receives a
request for an IP address that is invalid according to the scopes that are
configured, it sends a DHCP Nak message to the client. Eg-when the server has no
IP address unused or the pool is empty, then this message is sent by the server to
the client.
6. DHCP decline: If the DHCP client determines the offered configuration
parameters are different or invalid, it sends a DHCP decline message to the
server. When there is a reply to the gratuitous ARP by any host to the client, the
client sends a DHCP decline message to the server showing the offered IP address
is already in use.
7. DHCP release: A DHCP client sends a DHCP release packet to the server to
release the IP address and cancel any remaining lease time.
8. DHCP inform: If a client address has obtained an IP address manually then the
client uses DHCP information to obtain other local configuration parameters,
such as domain name. In reply to the DHCP inform message, the DHCP server
generates a DHCP ack message with a local configuration suitable for the client
without allocating a new IP address. This DHCP ack message is unicast to the
client.
Note – All the messages can be unicast also by the DHCP relay agent if the server
is present in a different network.

➢ Advantages of DHCP
• The advantages of using DHCP include:
• Centralized management of IP addresses.
• Centralized and automated TCP/IP configuration.
• Ease of adding new clients to a network.
• Reuse of IP addresses reduces the total number of IP addresses that are
required.
• The efficient handling of IP address changes for clients that must be
updated frequently, such as those for portable devices that move to
different locations on a wireless network.
• Simple reconfiguration of the IP address space on the DHCP server without
needing to reconfigure each client.
• The DHCP protocol gives the network administrator a method to configure
the network from a centralized area.
• With the help of DHCP, easy handling of new users and the reuse of IP
addresses can be achieved.
➢ Disadvantages of DHCP
• The disadvantage of using DHCP is:
• IP conflict can occur.
• The problem with DHCP is that clients accept any server. Accordingly,
when another server is in the vicinity, the client may connect with this
server, and this server may possibly send invalid data to the client.
• The client is not able to access the network in absence of a DHCP Server.
• The name of the machine will not be changed in a case when a new IP
Address is assigned.