Introduction
Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol is an excellent tool to reduce administrative overhead. Large networks will likely deploy a server to handle this job, but smaller networks with low demand, can get away with utilizing the available "extra" processing powers of their Routers or switches.
If you are studying for your CCNA then this lab (Download lab pack here) is ideal to help you understand several components of this configuration on a Cisco IOS device. There are two main tasks that you will want to achieve. Configure the Cisco Device as a DHCP server (with all the bells and whistles) or configure the device as a DHCP client. Either way both are covered in this lab.
Instructions
In this lab R2 will act as the DHCP server for two networks.
1. The Local Area Network connected to R1 G0/1
2. The Point to Point (P2P) network for R1 G0/0 interface
In the initial network, only hostnames have been configured.
Topology
IP Table
Device | Interface | Address |
R2 | G0/0 | 10.1.2.1/24 |
R1 | G0/0 | DHCP (from P2P pool) |
R1 | G0/1 | 192.168.0.1/24 |
S1 | VLAN 1 | DHCP (from MyLAN pool) |
PC-A | Eth0 | DHCP (from MyLAN pool) |
PC-B | Eth0 | DHCP (from MyLAN pool) |
Activity
Part 1 - Configure R2
1. Configure the IP address on R2 G0/0 as indicated in the IP Table
R2#conf t
R2(config)#int g0/0
R2(config-if)#ip add 10.1.2.1 255.255.255.0
R2(config-if)#no shut
R2(config-if)#exit
R2(config)#2. Enable the DHCP Service
R2(config)#
R2(config)#service dhcp
R2(config)#3. Configure the excluded addressed for the P2P network pool. (10.1.2.0/24)
a. Exclude all addresses from
i. 10.1.2.1 up to 10.1.2.252
ii. The single address 10.1.2.254
R2(config)#
R2(config)#ip dhcp excluded-address 10.1.2.1 10.1.2.252
R2(config)#ip dhcp excluded-address 10.1.2.254
R2(config)#* Note - This range of excluded addresses is designed to demonstrate how the excluded-address command can work. The goal of this range is to exclude every address except 10.1.2.253 which R1 will be given.
4. Configure the first DHCP pool
a. Called “P2P”
b. Only the network command is required (10.1.2.0/24)
R2(config)#
R2(config)#ip dhcp pool P2P
R2(dhcp-config)#network 10.1.2.0 255.255.255.0
R2(dhcp-config)#exit
R2(config)#5. Configure the excluded addresses for the MyLAN network pool.
a. Again we want to customise what addresses can be used. Using only 3 lines can you configure so that addresses
i. 192.168.0.1 up to 192.168.0.100
ii. 192.168.0.110 up to 192.168.0.252
iii. 192.168.0.254
are all excluded.
R2(config)#
R2(config)#ip dhcp excluded-address 192.168.0.1 192.168.0.100
R2(config)#ip dhcp excluded-address 192.168.0.110 192.168.0.252
R2(config)#ip dhcp excluded-address 192.168.0.254
R2(config)#6. Configure the second DHCP Pool
a. Called “MyLAN”
b. The network 192.168.0.0/24
c. The default gateway of 192.168.0.1
d. The DNS server 10.2.3.254
e. The domain name “mymindsmadness.co.uk”
R2(config)#
R2(config)#ip dhcp pool MyLAN
R2(dhcp-config)#network 192.168.0.0 255.255.255.0
R2(dhcp-config)#default-router 192.168.0.1
R2(dhcp-config)#dns-server 10.2.3.254
R2(dhcp-config)#domain-name mymindsmadness.co.uk
R2(dhcp-config)#exit
R2(config)#7. Finally, R2 will have no idea how to get to the 192.168.0.0 network once we create it.
a. You can confirm this with the command
i. Show ip route
R2#sh ip route
Codes: L - local, C - connected, S - static, R - RIP, M - mobile, B - BGP
D - EIGRP, EX - EIGRP external, O - OSPF, IA - OSPF inter area
N1 - OSPF NSSA external type 1, N2 - OSPF NSSA external type 2
E1 - OSPF external type 1, E2 - OSPF external type 2, E - EGP
i - IS-IS, L1 - IS-IS level-1, L2 - IS-IS level-2, ia - IS-IS inter area
* - candidate default, U - per-user static route, o - ODR
P - periodic downloaded static route
Gateway of last resort is not set
ii. show ip route 192.168.0.0
R2#show ip route 192.168.0.0
% Network not in tableb. We will need to ensure that R2 knows how to get the 192.168.0.0/24 network that is connected to R1’s G0/1 interface. To keep this simple let’s use a Static Route informing R2 that to get to the 192.168.0.0/24 network it can simply leave it’s G0/0 interface
R2(config)#
R2(config)#ip route 192.168.0.0 255.255.255.0 g0/0
R2(config)#Part 2 – Configure R1 G0/0 as DHCP Client
1. Set up the interface to obtain an address via DHCP and ensure it is activated.
R1#
R1#conf t
R1(config)#int g0/0
R1(config-if)#ip address dhcp
R1(config-if)#no shut
R1(config-if)#end
R1#2. You can use the “Show in interface Brief” command to verify that the interface has been given an IP address.
a. This can take time. You should receive output on the CLI indicating that an address has been assigned.
R1#
R1#show ip int brief
Interface IP-Address OK? Method Status Protocol
GigabitEthernet0/0 unassigned YES DHCP up up
GigabitEthernet0/1 unassigned YES unset administratively down down
R1#
*Jan 5 15:37:05.824: %DHCP-6-ADDRESS_ASSIGN: Interface GigabitEthernet0/0 assigned DHCP address 10.1.2.253, mask 255.255.255.0, hostname R1
R1#
R1#show ip int brief
Interface IP-Address OK? Method Status Protocol
GigabitEthernet0/0 10.1.2.253 YES DHCP up up
GigabitEthernet0/1 unassigned YES unset administratively down down
R1#Part 3 – Configure R1 LAN interface as a DHCP Relay
1. This G0/1 interface will need to have an IP address statically assigned. Use the address in the IP Table and ensure the interface is activated
R1#
R1#conf t
R1(config)#int g0/1
R1(config-if)#ip address 192.168.0.1 255.255.255.0
R1(config-if)#no shut
R1(config-if)#2. Configure the IP Helper command to point to the IP address on R2 10.1.2.1
R1(config-if)#
R1(config-if)#ip helper-address 10.1.2.1
R1(config-if)#end
R1#Part 4 – Configure LAN hosts as DHCP Client
1. The Desktop PCs
in CML are currently set as DHCP clients. This can be verified with the command ifconfig
in Packet Tracer PCs may need to be enabled for DHCP this can be done in the "IP Configuration" window from desktop. The address can also be confirmed there but this isn't representative of a real Window OS. Being the case, it is good practice to go to the Command line Application and use the "ipconfig" command
2. This is not exactly commonplace but why the F not, lets set the switches SVI address for interface VLAN 1 to be obtained automatically.
a. Configure interface VLAN 1 to obtain an address via DHCP
S1#
S1#conf t
S1(config)#int vlan 1
S1(config-if)#ip address dhcp
S1(config-if)#no shut
S1(config-if)#end
S1#b. Like before this can be verified with the show ip int brief command
S1#
S1#show ip int brief
Interface IP-Address OK? Method Status Protocol
---[output omitted]---
Vlan1 unassigned YES DHCP up up
S1#3. This presents a small problem... No matter how long you wait, your switch will not pick up an address.
This is because the DHCP server is on a different (remote) network. For a switch to communicate directly with a remote network it requires a default gateway.
a. Configure the Default Gateway as 192.168.0.1
S1#conf t
S1(config)#
S1(config)#ip default-gateway 192.168.0.1
S1(config)#end
S1#
*Jan 5 15:47:36.463: %DHCP-6-ADDRESS_ASSIGN: Interface Vlan1 assigned DHCP address 192.168.0.103, mask 255.255.255.0, hostname S1
S1#
S1#show ip int brief
Interface IP-Address OK? Method Status Protocol
---[output omitted]---
Vlan1 192.168.0.103 YES DHCP up up
S1#Other Verifications
When configuring DHCP you may wish to verify a few things; What you have configured, what addresses are leased to who, any conflicts of addresses. This section will cover the verification
Overall DHCP configuration
Viewing your running configuration is always an easy way to reconfirm the commands you have entered. Let's use a pipe and view the DHCP section of the config.
R2#
R2#show running-config | section dhcp
ip dhcp excluded-address 10.1.2.1 10.1.2.252
ip dhcp excluded-address 10.1.2.254
ip dhcp excluded-address 192.168.0.1 192.168.0.100
ip dhcp excluded-address 192.168.0.110 192.168.0.252
ip dhcp excluded-address 192.168.0.254
ip dhcp pool P2P
network 10.1.2.0 255.255.255.0
ip dhcp pool MyLAN
network 192.168.0.0 255.255.255.0
default-router 192.168.0.1
dns-server 10.2.3.254
domain-name mymindsmadness.co.uk
R2#Although viewing the running config is one of the best tools in troubleshooting cisco IOS. Cisco like to make sure you know a few other outputs too. So, a great substitute command here is the show ip dhcp pool command, which on its own will show you every pool or you can specify which pool you want to see. for example, show ip dhcp pool MyLAN
R2#
R2#show ip dhcp pool MyLAN
Pool MyLAN :
Utilization mark (high/low) : 100 / 0
Subnet size (first/next) : 0 / 0
Total addresses : 254
Leased addresses : 3
Excluded addresses : 5
Pending event : none
1 subnet is currently in the pool
Current index IP address range Leased/Excluded/Total
192.168.0.1 192.168.0.1 - 192.168.0.254 3 / 5 / 254
R2#Bindings
To see DHCP bindings use the show ip dhcp bindings command. This will inform you of the assigned IP address and the MAC address of the device/interface it is assigned to. In bold you can see the R1 G0/0 information
R2#show ip dhcp binding
IP address Client-ID/ Lease expiration Type
Hardware address
10.1.2.253 0003.E4BB.9701 -- Automatic
192.168.0.103 0060.3E63.C96C -- Automatic
192.168.0.102 00E0.A3E3.7507 -- Automatic
192.168.0.104 000C.CFB8.A285 -- Automatic
R2#