DHCP Reservation

A DHCP reservation is a permanent IP address assignment. It is a specific IP address within a DHCP scope that is permanently reserved for leased use to a specific DHCP client.

Users can configure a DHCP reservation in their DHCP server when they need to reserve a permanent IP address assignment. Reservations are used for DHCP enabled devices like print and file servers or other application servers that always have the fixed IP address on the network.

A reservation consists of the following information:

Element	Description
Reservation name	Name that the administrator assigns
IP Address	IP address from the scope for the client
MAC Address	Client’s Media Access Control (MAC) address
Description	Description that the administrator assigns
Supported	DHCP reservation, Boot Protocol (BOOTP), or both

Working with DHCP Reservations in the Microsoft DHCP Server

Configuring a DHCP Reservation

• Open the DHCP console.
• In the console tree, click reservations.
• On the action menu, click new reservation.
• In the new reservation dialog box, provide the values for the following fields:
  • Reservation name.
  • IP address.
  • MAC address (without hyphens).
  • Description.
• Under supported types, select one of the following options:
  • Both
  • DHCP only
  • BOOTP only
• In the new reservations dialog box, click add then close.

Verifying the DHCP Reservation

• On the client computer, release the client’s IP address at the command prompt with the ipconfig/release command.
• On the server computer, in the DHCP console under address leases, verify that the reservation displays as inactive.
• On the client computer, renew the client’s IP address at command prompt with the ipconfig/renew command.
• On the server computer, in the DHCP console under address leases, verify that the reservation displays as active.

Client Verification

• To verify the client’s IP address, set obtain IP address automatically from TCP/IP properties.
• Use the ipconfig/all command. Verify that the DHCP server IP address for the partner network connection is the IP address of the DHCP server’s partner network connection.
• Use the ipconfig/release command to release the IP address from the DHCP server.
• Use the ipconfig/renew command to renew the IP address from DHCP server.