The software described in this documentation is either in Extended Support or Sustaining Support. See https://www.oracle.com/us/support/library/enterprise-linux-support-policies-069172.pdf for more information.
Oracle recommends that you upgrade the software described by this documentation as soon as possible.
The Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) allows client systems to obtain network configuration information from a DHCP server each time that they connect to the network. The DHCP server is configured with a range of IP addresses and other network configuration parameters that clients need.
When you configure an Oracle Linux system as a DHCP client, the
client daemon, dhclient, contacts the DHCP
server to obtain the networking parameters. As DHCP is
broadcast-based, the client must be on the same subnet as either a
server or a relay agent. If a client cannot be on the same subnet
as the server, a DHCP relay agent can be used to pass DHCP
messages between subnets.
The server provides a lease for the IP address that it assigns to
a client. The client can request specific terms for the lease,
such as the duration. You can configure a DHCP server to limit the
terms that it can grant for a lease. Provided that a client
remains connected to the network, dhclient
automatically renews the lease before it expires. You can
configure the DHCP server to provide the same IP address to a
client based on the MAC address of its network interface.
The advantages of using DHCP include:
centralized management of IP addresses
ease of adding new clients to a network
reuse of IP addresses reducing the total number of IP addresses that are required
simple reconfiguration of the IP address space on the DHCP server without needing to reconfigure each client
For more information about DHCP, see RFC 2131.