Other IP Commands
5-158 Configuring the Internet Protocol

DHCP Relay Functionality

TheDHCPRelayfunctionalityisappliedwiththehelpofIPbroadcastforwarding.Atypical
situation,asshowninFigure 57,occurswhenaHostrequestsanIPaddresswithnoDHCPserver
locatedonthatsegment.
Router1canforwardtheDHCPrequest(1)totheserverlocatedonN2,ifIPforwardprotocolis
enabledforUDP,andtheaddressoftheDHCPserverisconfiguredasahelperaddressonthe
receivinginterfaceofRouter1.TheDHCPRelayfunctionwilldetecttheDHCPrequestandmake
thenecessarychangestotheheader,replacingthedestinationaddresswiththeaddressofthe
server,andthesourcewithitsownaddress,andsenditfurther(2)totheserver.Whenthe
response(3)comesfromtheserver,theDHCPRelayfunctionsendsittothehost(4).
Figure 5-7 DHCP Functionality Example

ip helper-address

Thiscommandenablesforwardingoflocalbroadcastsspecifyingthenewdestinationaddress.Itis
oneoftwocommandsusedforUDPbroadcastforwarding.Alsorefertotheip forward-
protocol commandwhichdefinestheforwardprotocolandportnumber.Youcanaddmore
thanonehelperaddressperinterface.ThecommandisalsousedtoenableBOOTPRelay.
Syntax
ip helper-address address
Syntax of the “no” Form
Thenoformdisablestheforwardingofbroadcastpacketstothespecifiedaddress:
no ip helper-address address
Mode
Interfaceconfiguration:XSR(config-if<xx>)#
Example
Inthisexample,withoneserveronnetwork191.168.1.255andtheotheronnetwork192.24.1.255,
youpermitUDPbroadcastsfromhostsoneithernetworksegmenttoreachbothservers:
Router 2 N2
Router 1
N1
Host
Destination
255.255.255.255
Global Configuration
ip forward-protocol UDP
interface ethernet 1
ip helper-address address1
1
eth 1 2
Source: 0.0.0.x
3
4
Server
addr1
INTERNET
DHCP
Relay
Function
address Destinationbroadcastorhostaddressusedwhenforwarding.