Enterasys D-Series CLI Reference 16-1
16
DHCP Server Configuration
ThischapterdescribesthecommandstoconfiguretheIPv4DHCPserverfunctionalityonaD
Seriesswitch.

DHCP Overview

DynamicHostConfigurationProtocol(DHCP)forIPv4isanetworklayerprotocolthat
implementsautomaticormanualassignmentofIPaddressesandotherconfigurationinformation
toclientdevicesbyservers.ADHCPservermanagesauserconfiguredpoolofIPaddressesfrom
whichitcanmakeassignmentsuponclientrequests.ArelayagentpassesDHCPmessages
betweenclientsandserverswhichareondifferentphysicalsubnets.

DHCP Server

DHCPserverfunctionalityallowstheDSeriesswitchtoprovidebasicIPconfiguration
informationtoaclientonthenetworkwhorequestssuchinformationusingtheDHCPprotocol.
DHCPprovidesthefollowingmechanismsforIPaddressallocationbyaDHCPserver:
• Automatic—DHCPserverassignsanIPaddresstoaclientforalimitedperiodoftime(or
untiltheclientexplicitlyrelinquishestheaddress)fromadefinedpoolofIPaddresses
configuredontheserver.
•ManualAclient’sIPaddressisassignedbythenetworkadministrator,andDHCPisused
simplytoconveytheassignedaddresstotheclient.Thisismanagedbymeansof“static”
addresspoolsconfiguredontheserver.
TheamountoftimethataparticularIPaddressisvalidforasystemiscalledalease.TheDSeries
maintainsaleasedatabasewhichcontainsinformationabouteachassignedIPaddress,theMAC
addresstowhichitisassigned,theleaseexpiration,andwhethertheaddressassignmentis
dynamic(automatic)orstatic(manual).TheDHCPleasedatabaseisstoredinflashmemory.
InadditiontoassigningIPaddresses,theDHCPservercanalsobeconfiguredtoassignthe
followingtorequestingclients:
•Defaultrouter(s)
•DNSserver(s)anddomainname
•NetBIOSWINSserver(s)andnodename
For information about... Refer to page...
DHCP Overview 16-1
Configuring General DHCP Server Parameters 16-3
Configuring IP Address Pools 16-11