Wireshark Lab Solution: DHCP 
 
 
 
DHCP messages are sent over UDP (User Datagram Protocol). 
Frame 2 (342 bytes on wire, 342 bytes captured) 
Ethernet II, Src: 192.168.243.92 (00:90:4b:69:dd:34), Dst: Broadcast (ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff) 
Internet Protocol, Src: 0.0.0.0 (0.0.0.0), Dst: 255.255.255.255 (255.255.255.255) 
User Datagram Protocol, Src Port: bootpc (68), Dst Port: bootps (67) 
    Source port: bootpc (68) 
    Destination port: bootps (67) 
    Length: 308 
    Checksum: 0xd1a1 [correct] 
Bootstrap Protocol 
1. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2. 
 
 
 
3. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The port numbers are the same as the example in the Lab. 
The Link Layer address of my workstation is: 00:90:4b:69:dd:34 
  
Frame 1 (342 bytes on wire, 342 bytes captured) 
Ethernet II, Src: 192.168.243.92 (00:90:4b:69:dd:34), Dst: Broadcast 
(ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff) 
    Destination: Broadcast (ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff) 
    Source: 192.168.243.92 (00:90:4b:69:dd:34) 
    Type: IP (0x0800) 
Internet Protocol, Src: 0.0.0.0 (0.0.0.0), Dst: 255.255.255.255 (255.255.255.255) 
User Datagram Protocol, Src Port: bootpc (68), Dst Port: bootps (67) 
Bootstrap Protocol 
The values which differentiate the Discover message from the Request 
Frame 1 (342 bytes on wire, 342 bytes captured) 
Ethernet II, Src: 192.168.243.92 (00:90:4b:69:dd:34), Dst: Broadcast (ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff) 
Internet Protocol, Src: 0.0.0.0 (0.0.0.0), Dst: 255.255.255.255 (255.255.255.255) 
User Datagram Protocol, Src Port: bootpc (68), Dst Port: bootps (67) 
Bootstrap Protocol 
    Message type: Boot Request (1) 
    Hardware type: Ethernet 
    Hardware address length: 6 
    Hops: 0 
    Transaction ID: 0xe6746a7d 
    Seconds elapsed: 1280 
    Bootp flags: 0x0000 (Unicast) 
    Client IP address: 0.0.0.0 (0.0.0.0) 
    Your (client) IP address: 0.0.0.0 (0.0.0.0) 
    Next server IP address: 0.0.0.0 (0.0.0.0) 
    Relay agent IP address: 0.0.0.0 (0.0.0.0) 
    Client MAC address: 192.168.243.92 (00:90:4b:69:dd:34) 
    Server host name not given 
    Boot file name not given 
    Magic cookie: (OK) 
    Option 53: DHCP Message Type = DHCP Discover 
    Option 116: DHCP Auto-Configuration (1 bytes) 
    Option 61: Client identifier 
    Option 50: Requested IP Address = 192.168.243.92 
    Option 12: Host Name = "homelt" 
    Option 60: Vendor class identifier = "MSFT 5.0" 
    Option 55: Parameter Request List 
    End Option 
    Padding 
 
Frame 3 (350 bytes on wire, 350 bytes captured) 
Ethernet II, Src: 192.168.243.92 (00:90:4b:69:dd:34), Dst: Broadcast (ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff) 
Internet Protocol, Src: 0.0.0.0 (0.0.0.0), Dst: 255.255.255.255 (255.255.255.255) 
User Datagram Protocol, Src Port: bootpc (68), Dst Port: bootps (67) 
Bootstrap Protocol 
    Message type: Boot Request (1) 
    Hardware type: Ethernet 
    Hardware address length: 6 
    Hops: 0 
    Transaction ID: 0xe6746a7d 
    Seconds elapsed: 1280 
    Bootp flags: 0x0000 (Unicast) 
    Client IP address: 0.0.0.0 (0.0.0.0) 
    Your (client) IP address: 0.0.0.0 (0.0.0.0) 
    Next server IP address: 0.0.0.0 (0.0.0.0) 
    Relay agent IP address: 0.0.0.0 (0.0.0.0) 
    Client MAC address: 192.168.243.92 (00:90:4b:69:dd:34) 
    Server host name not given 
    Boot file name not given 
    Magic cookie: (OK) 
    Option 53: DHCP Message Type = DHCP Request 
    Option 61: Client identifier 
    Option 50: Requested IP Address = 192.168.243.92 
    Option 54: Server Identifier = 192.168.243.1 
    Option 12: Host Name = "homelt" 
    Option 81: FQDN 
    Option 60: Vendor class identifier = "MSFT 5.0" 
    Option 55: Parameter Request List 
    End Option 
4. 
message are in “Option 53: DHCP Message Type”. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
No.     Time        Source                Destination           Protocol Info 
      3 5.000175    0.0.0.0               255.255.255.255       DHCP     DHCP Discover - Transaction ID 0xe6746a7d 
     27 12.075229   192.168.243.92        192.168.243.1         DHCP     DHCP Request  - Transaction ID 0xe4eff25f 
The DHCP client and server both use 255.255.255.255 as the destination 
No.     Time        Source                Destination           Protocol Info 
      1 0.000000    0.0.0.0               255.255.255.255       DHCP     DHCP Discover - Transaction ID 0xe6746a7d 
      2 0.020995    192.168.243.1         255.255.255.255       DHCP     DHCP Offer    - Transaction ID 0xe6746a7d 
      3 0.021346    0.0.0.0               255.255.255.255       DHCP     DHCP Request  - Transaction ID 0xe6746a7d 
      4 0.124018    192.168.243.1         255.255.255.255       DHCP     DHCP ACK      - Transaction ID 0xe6746a7d 
The IP address of the DHCP server is 192.168.243.1 
No.     Time        Source                Destination           Protocol Info 
      4 0.124018    192.168.243.1         255.255.255.255       DHCP     DHCP ACK      - Transaction ID 0xe6746a7d 
The value of the Transaction ID is 0xe6746a7d.  The second Transaction 
5. 
ID is 0xe4eff25f.  A Transaction ID is used so that the DHCP server can 
differentiate between client requests during the request process. 
 
 
 
 
 
6. 
address.  The client uses source IP address 0.0.0.0, while the server uses its 
actual IP address as the source. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
7. 
 
 
 
 
8. 
machine.  The DHCP message with “DHCP Message Type = DHCP Offer” 
contained the offered IP. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Frame 2 (590 bytes on wire, 590 bytes captured) 
Ethernet II, Src: 192.168.243.1 (00:08:da:50:49:c5), Dst: Broadcast (ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff) 
Internet Protocol, Src: 192.168.243.1 (192.168.243.1), Dst: 255.255.255.255 (255.255.255.255) 
User Datagram Protocol, Src Port: bootps (67), Dst Port: bootpc (68) 
Bootstrap Protocol 
    Message type: Boot Reply (2) 
    Hardware type: Ethernet 
    Hardware address length: 6 
    Hops: 0 
    Transaction ID: 0xe6746a7d 
    Seconds elapsed: 1280 
    Bootp flags: 0x0000 (Unicast) 
    Client IP address: 0.0.0.0 (0.0.0.0) 
    Your (client) IP address: 192.168.243.92 (192.168.243.92) 
    Next server IP address: 0.0.0.0 (0.0.0.0) 
    Relay agent IP address: 0.0.0.0 (0.0.0.0) 
    Client MAC address: 192.168.243.92 (00:90:4b:69:dd:34) 
    Server host name not given 
    Boot file name not given 
    Magic cookie: (OK) 
    Option 53: DHCP Message Type = DHCP Offer 
    Option 1: Subnet Mask = 255.255.255.0 
    Option 54: Server Identifier = 192.168.243.1 
    Option 51: IP Address Lease Time = 3 days 
    Option 6: Domain Name Server = 192.168.243.1 
    Option 5: Name Server = 24.29.103.10 
    Option 15: Domain Name = "nyc.rr.com" 
    Option 31: Perform Router Discover = Enabled 
    End Option 
    Padding 
The DHCP server offered the IP address 192.168.243.92 to my client 
Frame 4 (590 bytes on wire, 590 bytes captured) 
Ethernet II, Src: 192.168.243.1 (00:08:da:50:49:c5), Dst: Broadcast (ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff) 
Internet Protocol, Src: 192.168.243.1 (192.168.243.1), Dst: 255.255.255.255 (255.255.255.255) 
User Datagram Protocol, Src Port: bootps (67), Dst Port: bootpc (68) 
Bootstrap Protocol 
    Message type: Boot Reply (2) 
    Hardware type: Ethernet 
    Hardware address length: 6 
    Hops: 0 
    Transaction ID: 0xe6746a7d 
    Seconds elapsed: 1280 
    Bootp flags: 0x0000 (Unicast) 
        0... .... .... .... = Broadcast flag: Unicast 
        .000 0000 0000 0000 = Reserved flags: 0x0000 
    Client IP address: 0.0.0.0 (0.0.0.0) 
    Your (client) IP address: 192.168.243.92 (192.168.243.92) 
    Next server IP address: 0.0.0.0 (0.0.0.0) 
    Relay agent IP address: 0.0.0.0 (0.0.0.0) 
    Client MAC address: 192.168.243.92 (00:90:4b:69:dd:34) 
    Server host name not given 
    Boot file name not given 
    Magic cookie: (OK) 
    Option 53: DHCP Message Type = DHCP ACK 
    Option 54: Server Identifier = 192.168.243.1 
    Option 51: IP Address Lease Time = 3 days 
    Option 1: Subnet Mask = 255.255.255.0 
    Option 3: Router = 192.168.243.1 
    Option 6: Domain Name Server = 192.168.243.1 
    Option 5: Name Server = 24.29.103.10 
    Option 15: Domain Name = "nyc.rr.com" 
    Option 31: Perform Router Discover = Enabled 
    End Option 
9. 
DHCP Relay used.  There was no Relay Agent used in my experiment. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
10.  The router line indicates to the client what its default gateway should be.  
The subnet mask line tells the client which subnet mask it should use. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The “Relay agent IP address” is 0.0.0.0, which indicates that there is no 
Frame 4 (590 bytes on wire, 590 bytes captured) 
Ethernet II, Src: 192.168.243.1 (00:08:da:50:49:c5), Dst: Broadcast (ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff) 
Internet Protocol, Src: 192.168.243.1 (192.168.243.1), Dst: 255.255.255.255 (255.255.255.255) 
User Datagram Protocol, Src Port: bootps (67), Dst Port: bootpc (68) 
Bootstrap Protocol 
    Message type: Boot Reply (2) 
    Hardware type: Ethernet 
    Hardware address length: 6 
    Hops: 0 
    Transaction ID: 0xe6746a7d 
    Seconds elapsed: 1280 
    Bootp flags: 0x0000 (Unicast) 
        0... .... .... .... = Broadcast flag: Unicast 
        .000 0000 0000 0000 = Reserved flags: 0x0000 
    Client IP address: 0.0.0.0 (0.0.0.0) 
    Your (client) IP address: 192.168.243.92 (192.168.243.92) 
    Next server IP address: 0.0.0.0 (0.0.0.0) 
    Relay agent IP address: 0.0.0.0 (0.0.0.0) 
    Client MAC address: 192.168.243.92 (00:90:4b:69:dd:34) 
    Server host name not given 
    Boot file name not given 
    Magic cookie: (OK) 
    Option 53: DHCP Message Type = DHCP ACK 
    Option 54: Server Identifier = 192.168.243.1 
    Option 51: IP Address Lease Time = 3 days 
    Option 1: Subnet Mask = 255.255.255.0 
    Option 3: Router = 192.168.243.1 
    Option 6: Domain Name Server = 192.168.243.1 
    Option 5: Name Server = 24.29.103.10 
    Option 15: Domain Name = "nyc.rr.com" 
    Option 31: Perform Router Discover = Enabled 
    End Option 
Frame 3 (350 bytes on wire, 350 bytes captured) 
Ethernet II, Src: 192.168.243.92 (00:90:4b:69:dd:34), Dst: Broadcast (ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff) 
Internet Protocol, Src: 0.0.0.0 (0.0.0.0), Dst: 255.255.255.255 (255.255.255.255) 
User Datagram Protocol, Src Port: bootpc (68), Dst Port: bootps (67) 
Bootstrap Protocol 
    Message type: Boot Request (1) 
    Hardware type: Ethernet 
    Hardware address length: 6 
    Hops: 0 
    Transaction ID: 0xe6746a7d 
    Seconds elapsed: 1280 
    Bootp flags: 0x0000 (Unicast) 
    Client IP address: 0.0.0.0 (0.0.0.0) 
    Your (client) IP address: 0.0.0.0 (0.0.0.0) 
    Next server IP address: 0.0.0.0 (0.0.0.0) 
    Relay agent IP address: 0.0.0.0 (0.0.0.0) 
    Client MAC address: 192.168.243.92 (00:90:4b:69:dd:34) 
    Server host name not given 
    Boot file name not given 
    Magic cookie: (OK) 
    Option 53: DHCP Message Type = DHCP Request 
    Option 61: Client identifier 
    Option 50: Requested IP Address = 192.168.243.92 
    Option 54: Server Identifier = 192.168.243.1 
    Option 12: Host Name = "homelt" 
    Option 81: FQDN 
    Option 60: Vendor class identifier = "MSFT 5.0" 
    Option 55: Parameter Request List 
    End Option 
11. 
Request message. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
12.  The lease time is the amount of time the DHCP server assigns an IP 
address to a client.  During the lease time, the DHCP server will not assign the IP 
given to the client to another client, unless it is released by the client.  Once the 
lease time has expired, the IP address can be reused by the DHCP server to give 
to another client.  In my experiment, the lease time is 3 days. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
In my experiment, the host requests the offered IP address in the DHCP 
Frame 4 (590 bytes on wire, 590 bytes captured) 
Ethernet II, Src: 192.168.243.1 (00:08:da:50:49:c5), Dst: Broadcast (ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff) 
Internet Protocol, Src: 192.168.243.1 (192.168.243.1), Dst: 255.255.255.255 (255.255.255.255) 
User Datagram Protocol, Src Port: bootps (67), Dst Port: bootpc (68) 
Bootstrap Protocol 
    Message type: Boot Reply (2) 
    Hardware type: Ethernet 
    Hardware address length: 6 
    Hops: 0 
    Transaction ID: 0xe6746a7d 
    Seconds elapsed: 1280 
    Bootp flags: 0x0000 (Unicast) 
    Client IP address: 0.0.0.0 (0.0.0.0) 
    Your (client) IP address: 192.168.243.92 (192.168.243.92) 
    Next server IP address: 0.0.0.0 (0.0.0.0) 
    Relay agent IP address: 0.0.0.0 (0.0.0.0) 
    Client MAC address: 192.168.243.92 (00:90:4b:69:dd:34) 
    Server host name not given 
    Boot file name not given 
    Magic cookie: (OK) 
    Option 53: DHCP Message Type = DHCP ACK 
    Option 54: Server Identifier = 192.168.243.1 
    Option 51: IP Address Lease Time = 3 days 
    Option 1: Subnet Mask = 255.255.255.0 
    Option 3: Router = 192.168.243.1 
    Option 6: Domain Name Server = 192.168.243.1 
    Option 5: Name Server = 24.29.103.10 
    Option 15: Domain Name = "nyc.rr.com" 
    Option 31: Perform Router Discover = Enabled 
    End Option 
13.  The client sends a DHCP Release message to cancel its lease on the IP 
address given to it by the DHCP server.  The DHCP server does not send a 
message back to the client acknowledging the DHCP Release message.  If the 
DHCP Release message from the client is lost, the DHCP server would have to 
wait until the lease period is over for that IP address until it could reuse it for 
another client. 
 
 
14.  Yes, there are ARP requests made by the DHCP server.  Before offering an 
IP address to a client, the DHCP server issues an ARP request for the offered IP 
to make sure the IP address is not already in use by another workstation. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Frame 2 (60 bytes on wire, 60 bytes captured) 
Ethernet II, Src: 192.168.243.1 (00:08:da:50:49:c5), Dst: Broadcast (ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff) 
Address Resolution Protocol (request) 
    Hardware type: Ethernet (0x0001) 
    Protocol type: IP (0x0800) 
    Hardware size: 6 
    Protocol size: 4 
    Opcode: request (0x0001) 
    Sender MAC address: 192.168.243.1 (00:08:da:50:49:c5) 
    Sender IP address: 192.168.243.1 (192.168.243.1) 
    Target MAC address: 00:00:00_00:00:00 (00:00:00:00:00:00) 
    Target IP address: 192.168.243.92 (192.168.243.92)