DHCP works

 Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) 


DHCP is a client-server protocol that uses DHCP servers and DHCP clients. A DHCP server is a machine that runs a service that can lease out IP addresses and other TCP/IP information to any client that requests them.


DHCP clients are client machines that run special DHCP client software enabling them to communicate with DHCP servers.

1. DHCPDISCOVER:
   The client broadcasts a request for a DHCP server.
    
2. DHCPOFFER:
   DHCP servers on the network offer an address to the client.
    
3. DHCPREQUEST:
   The client broadcasts a request to lease an address from one of the offering DHCP servers.
    
4. DHCPACK:
   The DHCP server that the client responds to acknowledges the client, assigns it any configured DHCP options, and updates its DHCP database. The client then initializes and binds its TCP/IP protocol stack and can begin network communication.
    

Here are the steps :

• Step 1: When the client computer (or device) boots up or is connected to a network, a DHCPDISCOVER message is sent from the client to the server. As there is no network configuration information on the client so the message is sent with 0.0.0.0 as source address and 255.255.255.255 as destination address. If the DHCP server is on local subnet then it directly receives the message or in case it is on different subnet then a relay agent connected on client’s  subnet is used to pass on the request to DHCP server. The transport protocol used for this message is UDP and the port number used is 67. The client enters the initializing stage during this step.
• Step 2: When the DHCP server receives the DHCPDISCOVER request message then it replies with a DHCPOFFER message. As already explained, this message contains all the network configuration settings required by the client. For example, the yaddr field of the message will contain the IP address to be assigned to client. Similarly the the subnet mask and gateway information is filled in the options field. Also, the server fills in the client MAC address in the chaddr field. This message is sent as a broadcast (255.255.255.255) message for the client to receive it directly or if DHCP server is in different subnet then this message is sent to the relay agent that takes care of whether the message is to be passed as unicast or broadcast. In this case also, UDP protocol is used at the transport layer with destination port as 68. The client enters selecting stage during this step
• Step 3: The client forms a DHCPREQUEST message in reply to DHCPOFFER message and sends it to the server indicating it wants to accept the network configuration sent in the DHCPOFFER message. If there were multiple DHCP servers that received DHCPDISCOVER then client could receive multiple DHCPOFFER messages. But, the client replies to only one of the messages by populating the server identification field with the IP address of a particular DHCP server. All the messages from other DHCP servers are implicitly declined. The DHCPREQUEST message will still contain the source address as 0.0.0.0 as the client is still not allowed to use the IP address passed to it through DHCPOFFER message. The client enters requesting stage during this step.
• Step 4: Once the server receives DHCPREQUEST from the client, it sends the DHCPACK message indicating that now the client is allowed to use the IP address assigned to it. The client enters the bound state during this step.

After the lease expires the DHCP server is free to assign the same IP address to any other host or device requesting for the same. For example, keeping lease time 8-10 hours is helpful in case of PC’s that are shut down at the end of the day.  So, lease has to be renewed from time to time. The DHCP client tries to renew the lease after half of the lease time has expired. This is done by the exchange of DHCPREQUEST and DHCPACK messages.

A host uses DHCP to obtain an IP address, among other things. But a host’s IP address is not confirmed until the end of the four-message exchange! If the IP address is not set until the end of the four-message exchange, then what values are used in the IP datagrams in the four-message exchange? For each of the four DHCP messages (Discover/Offer/Request/ACK DHCP), indicate the source and destination IP addresses that are carried in the encapsulating IP datagram.

• Discover: 0.0.0.0/255.255.255.255

• Offer: 192.168.1.1/255.255.255.255

• Request: 0.0.0.0/255.255.255.255

• ACK:192.168.1.1/255.255.255.255