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4
DHCP/BOOTP Client Configuration
When configuring the DHCP/BOOTP client, go to these sections for information you are interested in:
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Introduction to DHCP Client
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Introduction to BOOTP Client
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Configuring a DHCP/BOOTP Client
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Displaying DHCP/BOOTP Client Configuration
Introduction to DHCP Client
After you specify a VLAN interface as a DHCP client, the device can use DHCP to obtain parameters
such as IP address dynamically from the DHCP server, which facilitates user configuration and
management.
Refer to
Obtaining IP Addresses Dynamically
for the process of how a DHCP client dynamically obtains
an IP address through DHCP.
For S4500 series Ethernet switches (operating as DHCP clients), the vendor and device information
contained in Option 60 of DHCP requests is not configurable; instead, it is populated by the application
program of the switches
in the format of
vendor-name
.
vendor-name device-model
.
Introduction to BOOTP Client
After you specify an interface as a Bootstrap Protocol (BOOTP) client, the interface can use BOOTP to
get information (such as IP address) from the BOOTP server, which simplifies your configuration.
Before using BOOTP, an administrator needs to configure a BOOTP parameter file for each BOOTP
client on the BOOTP server. The parameter file contains information such as MAC address and IP
address of a BOOTP client. When a BOOTP client sends a request to the BOOTP server, the BOOTP
server will search for the BOOTP parameter file and return it to the client.
A BOOTP client dynamically obtains an IP address from a BOOTP server in the following way:
1) The BOOTP client broadcasts a BOOTP request, which contains its own MAC address.
2) The BOOTP server receives the request and searches for the corresponding IP address according
to the MAC address of the BOOTP client and sends the information in a BOOTP response to the
BOOTP client.
3) The BOOTP client obtains the IP address from the received response.
Because a DHCP server can interact with a BOOTP client, you can use the DHCP server to assign an
IP address to the BOOTP client, without needing to configure any BOOTP server.
