Networking For Dummies

The exact steps to follow when you configure and manage a DHCP server depend on the network operating system or router you're using. The following procedures show you how to work with a DHCP server in Windows Server 2003. The procedures for other operating systems are similar.

If you haven't already installed the DHCP server on the server, open the Manage Your Server application (choose Start Administrative Tools Manage Your Server), click Add or Remove a Role, select DHCP Server from the list of roles, click Next, and then complete the New Scope Wizard to create the first scope for the DHCP server. This wizard asks you to enter a name and description for the scope. Then it asks for the basic IP address range information for the scope, as shown in Figure 6-2.

Figure 6-2: Specifying the scope's address range and subnet mask.

After you enter the starting and ending IP addresses for the range and the subnet mask used for your network, click Next. The wizard then asks for any IP addresses you want to exclude from the scope, the lease duration (the default is 8 days), the IP address of your gateway router, the domain name for your network, and the IP addresses for the DNS servers you want the client computers to use. After you complete the wizard, the DHCP server is properly configured. It doesn't start running, however, until you authorize it, as described in the next section.

After you set up a DHCP server, you can manage it from the DHCP management console by choosing Start Administrative Tools DHCP or by clicking Manage This DHCP Server from the Manage Your Server application. Either way, the DHCP management console appears, as shown in Figure 6-3.

Figure 6-3: The DHCP management console.

From the DHCP console, you have complete control over the DHCP server's configuration and operation. The following paragraphs summarize some of the things you can do from the DHCP console:

• Authorize the DHCP server, which allows it to begin assigning client IP addresses: To authorize a server, select the server, choose Action Manage Authorized Servers, and click Authorize.

• Add another scope: Right-click the server in the tree and choose the New Scope command from the menu that appears. This action opens the New Scope Wizard so that you can create a new scope.

• Activate or deactivate a scope: Right-click the scope in the tree and choose the Activate or Deactivate command.

• Change scope settings: Right-click the scope and choose the Properties command. This action opens the Scope Properties dialog box, which lets you change the scope's starting and ending IP addresses, subnet mask, and DNS configuration.

• Change the scope exclusions: Click Address Pool under the scope in the tree. This action lists each range of addresses that's included in the scope. You can add or delete a range by right-clicking the range and choosing the Delete command from the menu that appears. You can also add a new exclusion range by right-clicking Address Pool in the tree and choosing Add New Exclusion from the pop-up menu.

• View or change reservations: Click Reservations in the tree.

• View a list of the addresses that are currently assigned: Click Address Leases in the tree.