Configuring the Microsoft Windows DHCP Server
- Opening the Microsoft Management Console
- Accessing the DHCP Service
- Set Server Scope Options
- Authorize & Activate the DHCP Scope
- Create A DHCP Scope
- Set Lease Duration
- Set/Change a Scope's IP address range
- Set the Default Gateway
- Set the DNS server information
- Set the WINS/NetBIOS information
- Set Scope IP reservations
- Set Scope Exclusion Ranges
Opening the Microsoft Management Console (MMC)
- On the Windows server right click on "My Computer" and select "Manage"
- Select "Services and Applications" in the MIcrosoft Management Console (MMC)
- Select the DHCP service
Configure Scope Options (Server-wide)
This is where all global scope options are set for scopes served by this DHCP
server. If you configure more than one scope on a server, you will need to
set the scope options specific to each scope individually on the .
- In the MMC under DHCP will be a folder named "Server Options"
- Right click on the "Server Options" and select "Configure Options"
- This sets the default server options for all scopes created on this server
including:
- General Tab
Under this tab is a list of DHCP values that will be sent to all clients which connect to the network and attempt to use DHCP to aquire an IP address.
- Time Offset
- This sets the offset from the UCT time zone in Greenwich, UK. This allows a host to calculate which time zone it is in from DHCP alone.
- Router
- This setting is required if you have more than 1 subnet and/or need to reach the Internet. This is the default gateway. It is a list of all routers listed in the order they should be used. Windows hosts will try the first host, if it is unavailable, it will switch to the second after 45 seconds. Note that this only works properly in Windows 2000 and later, and not all non-Windows systems support this option.
- Time Server
- This is a list of the IP addresses of Windows Time servers on the network listed in order of preference.
- Name Servers
- DNS Servers
- List of servers performing Domain Name Service for the hosts in this scope.
- Log Servers
- Log servers act as a central location to forward all logging information to. This can be useful for tracking network wide errors and spotting patterns such as intrusion or tampering.
- Cookie Servers
- Coffee Servers
- Just kidding. This is no such setting, but there should be, considering there ARE cookie servers!!
- LPR Servers
- This is a list of IP's to which which a Unix print request may be sent.
- Impress Servers
- Resource Location Servers
- Host Name
- Name of the local host
- Merit Dump File
- This is a legacy function used mostly by computers belonging to the obsolete Merit Network. It states where on the filesystem to place a crash dump file.
- DNS Domain Name
- This is the DNS domain name which contains the hosts in this DHCP scope. Example: corporation.com.
- Swap Server
- Root Path
- Extensions Path
- IP Layer Forwarding
- Nonlocal Source Routing
- Policy Filter Masks
- Maximum DG Reassembly Size
- Default Time To Live
- How long packets are allowed to live on the network.
- Path MTU Aging Timeout
- Path MTU Plateu Table
- MTU Option
- Sets the Maximum Transmission Unit size. MTU defines the maximum size of a packet of data on the network.
- All Subnets Local
- This causes Microsoft computers to treat all hosts as being part of the local network.
- Broadcast Address
- The address in the network protocol used to contact all hosts. The address must be a broadcast address in thenetwork layer protocol.
- Perform Mask Discovery
- This causes the host to decipher/calculate the appropriate mask for the network.
- Mask Supplier Option
- Perform Router Discovery
- This instructs the DHCP client to learn the address of more than one default gateway. This allows the host to decide which default gateway is still reachable and will automatically reroute the data to the other default gateway if the first one fails.
- Router Solicitation Address
- Static Route Option
- Trailer Encapsulation
- ARP Cache Timeout
- This option defines how long a MAC address entry remains in the DHCP client's ARP cache.
- Ethernet Encapsulation
- TCP Default Time-to-Live
- Default time to live for all TCP connections (this is not measured in seconds, it is measured in hops).
- Keepalive Interval
- The interval between transmission of keepalive packets in protocols requiring keepalive messages.
- Keepalive Garbage
- NIS Domain Name
- NIS Servers
- A list of all the Unix NIS servers.
- NTP Servers
- This is a list of Network Time Protocol servers listed in the order of preference
- Vendor Specific Information
- This is a little oddball option made available for various products. This allows a network administrator to set a value to be read by some third party application that isn't currently supported.
- WINS/NBNS Servers
- This is a list of Windows Internet Name Server (WINS) servers. This should not be confused with Domain Name Service servers. WINS provides name-resolution for WINDOWS computers ONLY.
- NetBIOS over TCP/IP NBDD
- WINS/NBT Node Type
- This sets the NetBIOS Broadcast Type. Hosts should typically use the Hybrid setting as this is more efficient and less wasteful of network bandwidth. Possible values are:
- NetBIOS Scope ID
- If running NetBIOS, this sets the Scope ID (note that NetBIOS is still not a routable protocol).
- X Window System Font
- Default font for DHCP clients to use with X-11/X-motif
- X Window System Display
- NIS+ Domain Name
- The NIS+ domain hosts belong to. Microsoft hosts do not support NIS+ without the installation of third party software.
- NIS+ Servers
- A list of the Unix NIS+ servers.
- Boot Server Host Name
- The host containing bootstrap information. This is used primarilly in modern networks to enable functions such as Solaris' Jumpstart.
- Bootfile Name
- Name of the default boot file on the bootstrap server for that DHCP client.
- Mobile IP Home Agents
- Simple Mail Transport Protocol Servers
- List of Internet Mail (SMTP) servers.
- Post Office Protocol Servers
- Network News Transport Protocol Servers
- World Wide Web Servers
- List of websites in the domain. Rarely used.
- Finger Servers
- Street Talk Servers
- Street Talk Directory Assistance Servers
- General Tab
AUTHORIZE & ACTIVATE DHCP SERVER
- On the Windows server right click on "My Computer" and select "Manage"
- Select "Services and Applications" in the MIcrosoft Management Console (MMC)
- Select DHCP
- Select the appropriate Scope
- Right click on the scope and select "Properties"
- Select the "General" tab
- Set the correct number of days hours and minutes
Set/Change the Scope's IP Address range
- On the Windows server right click on "My Computer" and select "Manage"
- Select "Services and Applications" in the MIcrosoft Management Console (MMC)
- Select DHCP
- Select the appropriate Scope
- Right click on the scope and select "Properties"
- Select the "General" tab
- Set the new Start IP address
- Set the new End IP address
- Verify the mask and length
- On the Windows server right click on "My Computer" and select "Manage"
- Select "Services and Applications" in the MIcrosoft Management Console (MMC)
- Select DHCP
- Select the appropriate Scope MMC
- Right click on "Scope Options" in the MMC and select "Properties"