RFC4039
Network Working Group S. Park Request for Comments: 4039 P. Kim Category: Standards Track SAMSUNG Electronics
B. Volz
Cisco Systems
March 2005
Rapid Commit Option for the
Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol version 4 (DHCPv4)
Status of This Memo
This document specifies an Internet standards track protocol for the Internet community, and requests discussion and suggestions for improvements. Please refer to the current edition of the "Internet Official Protocol Standards" (STD 1) for the standardization state and status of this protocol. Distribution of this memo is unlimited.
Copyright Notice
Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2005).
Abstract
This document defines a new Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol version 4 (DHCPv4) option, modeled on the DHCPv6 Rapid Commit option, for obtaining IP address and configuration information using a 2-message exchange rather than the usual 4-message exchange, expediting client configuration.
Contents
Introduction
In some environments, such as those in which high mobility occurs and the network attachment point changes frequently, it is beneficial to rapidly configure clients. And, in these environments it is possible to more quickly configure clients because the protections offered by the normal (and longer) 4-message exchange may not be needed. The 4-message exchange allows for redundancy (multiple DHCP servers) without wasting addresses, as addresses are only provisionally assigned to a client until the client chooses and requests one of the provisionally assigned addresses. The 2-message exchange may therefore be used when only one server is present or when addresses are plentiful and having multiple servers commit addresses for a client is not a problem.
This document defines a new Rapid Commit option for DHCPv4, modeled on the DHCPv6 Rapid Commit option RFC3315, which can be used to initiate a 2-message exchange to expedite client configuration in some environments. A client advertises its support of this option by sending it in DHCPDISCOVER messages. A server then determines whether to allow the 2-message exchange based on its configuration information and can either handle the DHCPDISCOVER as defined in RFC2131 or commit the client's configuration information and advance to sending a DHCPACK message with the Rapid Commit option as defined herein.
Requirements
The keywords MUST, MUST NOT, REQUIRED, SHALL, SHALL NOT, SHOULD, SHOULD NOT, RECOMMENDED, MAY, and OPTIONAL, when they appear in this document, are to be interpreted as described in RFC2119.
Client/Server Operations
If a client that supports the Rapid Commit option intends to use the rapid commit capability, it includes a Rapid Commit option in DHCPDISCOVER messages that it sends. The client MUST NOT include it in any other messages. A client and server only use this option when configured to do so.
A client that sent a DHCPDISCOVER with Rapid Commit option processes responses as described in RFC2131. However, if the client receives a DHCPACK message with a Rapid Commit option, it SHOULD process the DHCPACK immediately (without waiting for additional DHCPOFFER or DHCPACK messages) and use the address and configuration information contained therein.
A server that supports the Rapid Commit option MAY respond to a DHCPDISCOVER message that included the Rapid Commit option with a DHCPACK that includes the Rapid Commit option and fully committed address and configuration information. A server MUST NOT include the Rapid Commit option in any other messages.
The Rapid Commit option MUST NOT appear in a Parameter Request List option RFC2132.
All other DHCP operations are as documented in RFC2131.
Detailed Flow
The following is revised from Section 3.1 of RFC2131, which includes handling of the Rapid Commit option.
1. The client broadcasts a DHCPDISCOVER message on its local
physical subnet. If the client supports the Rapid Commit
option and intends to use the rapid commit capability, it
includes a Rapid Commit option in the DHCPDISCOVER message.
The DHCPDISCOVER message MAY include options that suggest
values for the network address and lease duration. BOOTP relay
agents may pass the message on to DHCP servers not on the same
physical subnet.
2. Each server may respond with either a DHCPOFFER message or a
DHCPACK message with the Rapid Commit option (the latter only
if the DHCPDISCOVER contained a Rapid Commit option and the
server's configuration policies allow use of Rapid Commit).
These would include an available network address in the
'yiaddr' field (and other configuration parameters in DHCP
options). Servers sending a DHCPOFFER need not reserve the
offered network address, although the protocol will work more
efficiently if the server avoids allocating the offered network
address to another client. Servers sending the DHCPACK message
commit the binding for the client to persistent storage before
sending the DHCPACK. The combination of 'client identifier' or
'chaddr' and assigned network address constitute a unique
identifier for the client's lease and are used by both the
client and server to identify a lease referred to in any DHCP
messages. The server transmits the DHCPOFFER or DHCPACK
message to the client, if necessary by using the BOOTP relay
agent.
When allocating a new address, servers SHOULD check that the
offered network address is not already in use; e.g., the server
may probe the offered address with an ICMP Echo Request.
Servers SHOULD be implemented so that network administrators
MAY choose to disable probes of newly allocated addresses.
Figure 3 in RFC2131 shows the flow for the normal 4-message exchange. Figure 1 below shows the 2-message exchange.
Server Client Server
(not selected) (selected)
v v v
| | |
| Begins initialization |
| | |
| _____________/|\____________ |
|/DHCPDISCOVER | DHCPDISCOVER \|
| w/Rapid Commit| w/Rapid Commit|
| | |
Determines | Determines
configuration | configuration
| | Commits configuration
| Collects replies |
|\ | ____________/|
| \________ | / DHCPACK |
| DHCPOFFER\ |/w/Rapid Commit|
| (discarded) | |
| Initialization complete |
| | |
. . .
. . .
| | |
| Graceful shutdown |
| | |
| |\_____________ |
| | DHCPRELEASE \|
| | |
| | Discards lease
| | |
v v v
Figure 1 Timeline diagram when Rapid Commit is used
3. The client receives one or more DHCPOFFER or DHCPACK (if the
Rapid Commit option is sent in DHCPDISCOVER) messages from one
or more servers. If a DHCPACK (with the Rapid Commit option)
is received, the client may immediately advance to step 5 below
if the offered configuration parameters are acceptable. The
client may choose to wait for multiple responses. The client
chooses one server from which to request or accept
configuration parameters, based on the configuration parameters
offered in the DHCPOFFER and DHCPACK messages. If the client
chooses a DHCPACK, it advances to step 5. Otherwise, the
client broadcasts a DHCPREQUEST message that MUST include the
'server identifier' option to indicate which server it has
selected, the message MAY include other options specifying
desired configuration values. The 'requested IP address'
option MUST be set to the value of 'yiaddr' in the DHCPOFFER
message from the server. This DHCPREQUEST message is broadcast
and relayed through DHCP/BOOTP relay agents. To help ensure
that any BOOTP relay agents forward the DHCPREQUEST message to
the same set of DHCP servers that received the original
DHCPDISCOVER message, the DHCPREQUEST message MUST use the same
value in the DHCP message header's 'secs' field and be sent to
the same IP broadcast address as was the original DHCPDISCOVER
message. The client times out and retransmits the DHCPDISCOVER
message if the client receives no DHCPOFFER messages.
4. The servers receive the DHCPREQUEST broadcast from the client.
Servers not selected by the DHCPREQUEST message use the message
as notification that the client has declined those servers'
offers. The server selected in the DHCPREQUEST message commits
the binding for the client to persistent storage and responds
with a DHCPACK message containing the configuration parameters
for the requesting client. The combination of 'client
identifier' or 'chaddr' and assigned network address constitute
a unique identifier for the client's lease and are used by both
the client and server to identify a lease referred to in any
DHCP messages. Any configuration parameters in the DHCPACK
message SHOULD NOT conflict with those in the earlier DHCPOFFER
message to which the client is responding. The server SHOULD
NOT check the offered network address at this point. The
'yiaddr' field in the DHCPACK messages is filled in with the
selected network address.
If the selected server is unable to satisfy the DHCPREQUEST
message (e.g., the requested network address has been
allocated), the server SHOULD respond with a DHCPNAK message.
A server MAY choose to mark addresses offered to clients in
DHCPOFFER messages as unavailable. The server SHOULD mark an
address offered to a client in a DHCPOFFER message as available
if the server receives no DHCPREQUEST message from that client.
5. The client receives the DHCPACK message with configuration
parameters. The client SHOULD perform a final check on the
parameters (e.g., ARP for allocated network address), and it
notes the duration of the lease specified in the DHCPACK
message. At this point, the client is configured. If the
client detects that the address is already in use (e.g.,
through the use of ARP), the client MUST send a DHCPDECLINE
message to the server, and it restarts the configuration
process. The client SHOULD wait a minimum of ten seconds
before restarting the configuration process to avoid excessive
network traffic in case of looping.
If the client receives a DHCPNAK message, the client restarts
the configuration process.
The client times out and retransmits the DHCPREQUEST message if
the client receives neither a DHCPACK nor a DHCPNAK message.
The client retransmits the DHCPREQUEST according to the
retransmission algorithm in section 4.1 of RFC2131. The
client should choose to retransmit the DHCPREQUEST enough times
to give an adequate probability of contacting the server
without causing the client (and the user of that client) to
wait too long before giving up; e.g., a client retransmitting
as described in section 4.1 of RFC2131 might retransmit the
DHCPREQUEST message four times, for a total delay of 60
seconds, before restarting the initialization procedure. If
the client receives neither a DHCPACK nor a DHCPNAK message
after employing the retransmission algorithm, the client
reverts to INIT state and restarts the initialization process.
The client SHOULD notify the user that the initialization
process has failed and is restarting.
6. The client may choose to relinquish its lease on a network
address by sending a DHCPRELEASE message to the server. The
client identifies the lease to be released with its 'client
identifier' or 'chaddr' and network address in the DHCPRELEASE
message. If the client used a 'client identifier' when it
obtained the lease, it MUST use the same 'client identifier' in
the DHCPRELEASE message.
Administrative Considerations
Network administrators MUST only enable the use of Rapid Commit on a DHCP server if one of the following conditions is met:
1. The server is the only server for the subnet.
2. When multiple servers are present, they may each commit a
binding for all clients, and therefore each server must have
sufficient addresses available.
A server MAY allow configuration for a different (likely shorter) initial lease time for addresses assigned when Rapid Commit is used to expedite reclaiming addresses not used by clients.
Rapid Commit Option Format
The Rapid Commit option is used to indicate the use of the two- message exchange for address assignment. The code for the Rapid Commit option is 80. The format of the option is:
Code Len
+-----+-----+
| 80 | 0 |
+-----+-----+
A client MUST include this option in a DHCPDISCOVER message if the client is prepared to perform the DHCPDISCOVER-DHCPACK message exchange described earlier.
A server MUST include this option in a DHCPACK message sent in a response to a DHCPDISCOVER message when completing the DHCPDISCOVER- DHCPACK message exchange.
IANA Considerations
IANA has assigned value 80 for the Rapid Commit option code in accordance with RFC2939.
Security Considerations
The concepts in this document do not significantly alter the security considerations for DHCP (see RFC2131 and RFC3118). However, use of this option could expedite denial of service attacks by allowing a mischievous client to consume all available addresses more rapidly or to do so without requiring two-way communication (as injecting DHCPDISCOVER messages with the Rapid Commit option is sufficient to cause a server to allocate an address).
References
Normative References
RFC2119 Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119, March 1997.
RFC2131 Droms, R., "Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol", RFC
2131, March 1997.
Informative References
RFC2132 Alexander, S. and R. Droms, "DHCP Options and BOOTP Vendor
Extensions", RFC 2132, March 1997.
RFC2939 Droms, R., "Procedures and IANA Guidelines for Definition
of New DHCP Options and Message Types", BCP 43, RFC 2939, September 2000.
RFC3118 Droms, R. and W. Arbaugh, "Authentication for DHCP
Messages", RFC 3118, June 2001.
RFC3315 Droms, R., Bound, J., Volz, B., Lemon, T., Perkins, C.,
and M. Carney, "Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol for
IPv6 (DHCPv6)", RFC 3315, July 2003.
Acknowledgements
Special thanks to Ted Lemon and Andre Kostur for their many valuable comments. Thanks to Ralph Droms for his review comments during WGLC. Thanks to Noh-Byung Park and Youngkeun Kim for their supports on this work.
Particularly, the authors would like to acknowledge the implementation contributions by Minho Lee of SAMSUNG Electronics.
Authors' Addresses
Soohong Daniel Park Mobile Platform Laboratory SAMSUNG Electronics 416, Maetan-3dong, Yeongtong-Gu Suwon, Korea
Phone: +82-31-200-4508 EMail: [email protected]
Pyungsoo Kim Mobile Platform Laboratory SAMSUNG Electronics 416, Maetan-3dong, Yeongtong-Gu Suwon, Korea
Phone: +82-31-200-4635 EMail: [email protected]
Bernie Volz Cisco Systems, Inc. 1414 Massachusetts Ave. Boxborough, MA 01719 USA
Phone: +1-978-936-0382 EMail: [email protected]
Full Copyright Statement
Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2005).
This document is subject to the rights, licenses and restrictions contained in BCP 78, and except as set forth therein, the authors retain all their rights.
This document and the information contained herein are provided on an "AS IS" basis and THE CONTRIBUTOR, THE ORGANIZATION HE/SHE REPRESENTS OR IS SPONSORED BY (IF ANY), THE INTERNET SOCIETY AND THE INTERNET ENGINEERING TASK FORCE DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTY THAT THE USE OF THE INFORMATION HEREIN WILL NOT INFRINGE ANY RIGHTS OR ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
Intellectual Property
The IETF takes no position regarding the validity or scope of any Intellectual Property Rights or other rights that might be claimed to pertain to the implementation or use of the technology described in this document or the extent to which any license under such rights might or might not be available; nor does it represent that it has made any independent effort to identify any such rights. Information on the procedures with respect to rights in RFC documents can be found in BCP 78 and BCP 79.
Copies of IPR disclosures made to the IETF Secretariat and any assurances of licenses to be made available, or the result of an attempt made to obtain a general license or permission for the use of such proprietary rights by implementers or users of this specification can be obtained from the IETF on-line IPR repository at http://www.ietf.org/ipr.
The IETF invites any interested party to bring to its attention any copyrights, patents or patent applications, or other proprietary rights that may cover technology that may be required to implement this standard. Please address the information to the IETF at ietf- [email protected].
Acknowledgement
Funding for the RFC Editor function is currently provided by the Internet Society.
