Standard Address Discovery Process in DHCP

When a client uses the DHCP to configure the IP address automatically, it has to pass through the six states namely, INITIALIZE, SELECT, REQUEST, BOUND, RENEW and REBIND. The events and messages which cause the client to change the states is what the level of stages mean to the discovery process. Every label on the transition lists the incoming message or the event which basically causes the transmission which is then followed by the slash and the message of the which the client sends in the message to the DHCP server and then to the hosting protocol which is present in the client side. So, when a client boots the system, it boots in the INITIALIZE state. So, then it starts to acquire the IP address of the client and then it contacts all the DHCP servers present in the given network after which it sends in the broadcast message for discovering the DHCP DISCOVER message and moves the state labeled SELECT. Here, all the DHCP servers present on the local network receive the message and the servers which have configured will respond to the particular client and sends the DHCPOFFER message. Thus a client may receive the zero or more responses and then it has to select the particular server.
While in this state of the SELECT, the client collects the DHCPOFFER responses from the DHCP Servers. Here each offer contains the configuration server information about the IP address which is being leased to the client by the server. Here the client must choose one of the responses and negotiate the same to the respective server for the DHCP offer. For doing so, the client sends in the DHCREQUEST page message and then it enters the REQUEST state. To acknowledge the receipt or the request and start the lease, the server responds to the DHCPACK which is sent to acknowledge the request message to the client, the process of the address acquisition completes and then the client moves into the BOUND state to use the assigned fixed IP address.


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