WELCOME TO THE DHCP SERVER

A DHCP Server assigns IP addresses to client computers. This is very often used in enterprise networks to reduce configuration efforts. All IP addresses of all computers are stored in a database that resides on a server machine.

This is a very simple and easy to use implementation of a DHCP Server for Windows based systems supporting all Windows operating systems from Windows 98 to Windows 7.

The configuration data as well as the client “database” is kept in an INI file. See description of INI file. The DHCP Server runs instantly without any installation as a service or application. See running the DHCP Server.

  



DHCP Server assigns IP addresses to multiple clients
Download now, it’s free.

Newest Version V2.4, V2.3, V2.2, V2.1, V2.0, V1.9, V1.8, V1.7, V1.6,  V1.5,  V1.4

The DHCP Server is free software: it can be used and redistributed for both academic and commercial purposes at absolutely no cost. There are no royalties or GNU-like "copyleft" restrictions. There is no requirements such as including copyright messages or logos involved in using the software. The software is provided "as is", without warranty of any kind.

You are welcome to donate whatever you think the software is worth to you to my paypal account.

HISTORY

  • V2.4 released 02/24/2013. New in V2.4: Fixed bugs in handling relative root paths in http and tftp function. Fixed bugs with comments in the INI file not being recognized as such in all places. Fixed bug in wizard not putting VENDORCLASS in the right section. Fixed bugs with respect to multiple scopes and relay agent when subnet mask of local network is different from the served network behind the relay agent. New extension in custom option definition to allow compact CIDR syntax and grouped sub-options with auto len tagging. Added SERVERNAME setting to define the sname field content. Redefined the virtual web pages which are created on the fly for the status page as not-cached.
  • V2.3.4 released 10/20/2012. New in V2.3.5.1: Fixed bug in Web server interface not showing the current clients after the latest update.
  • V2.3.4 released 10/20/2012. New in V2.3.5: Fixed bug in DHCP Wizard handling sub-options and added a preview to the generated INI file. Fixed bug in DHCP Server that prevented IP scopes to work, when a database file is configured. Fixed bug in resolving INI file variables in database file. Added inistring to the string-expression syntax of IPSCOPE syntax.
  • V2.3.4 released 10/20/2012. New in V2.3.4: Fixed bug with respect to mulitple IPs per NIC. Added setting AddStandardEntires. The IPSCOPE syntax now has a new simple-bool-expression keyword: isKnownClient.
  • V2.3.3 released 10/14/2012. New in V2.3.3: Added setting [HTTP-Settings] DefaultFile. Fixed bugs in handling relay agent requests, IPSCOPE handling and increased robustness when client id (option 61) includes non printable characters. Added support to report more than one record in DNS requests.
  • V2.3.2 released 7/21/2012. New in V2.3.2: Added setting ClearClientsOnStartup. Fixed bug in class A/B style handling.
  • V2.3.1 released 2/19/2012. New in V2.3.1: Fixed bugs in tftp retransmission, allow timeout option also in write requests of tftp. Allow to enter class A/B style IP address pool definitions. Computer name (host name) option extended to 255 characters. Fixed bug in IPSCOPE_n evaluation. Fixed bug that shows static entries as expired in the status web page. Support configfirewall / removefirewall command line options. Add support for %ip0 through %ip3 macros in wildcard client sections. Wizard now allows to switch on / off the Trace setting.
  • V2.3 released 11/21/2011. New in V2.3: Support of multiple scopes with scope selection syntax (IPSCOPE_n). Fixed bug in http server: allows mulitple reads of the same file, now.
  • V2.2.3 released 11/10/2011. New in V2.2.3: Fixed bug in http server with respect to large file downloads with wget. Removed a few unnecessary traces. Added interpretation of option 55 and 77 in the capture page of the web server, Added MaxBlockSize to tftp-settings to limit the maximum number of bytes in one UDP packet. Added the setting SingleInstanceApp to have only one instance of the DHCP Server when running in application mode.
  • V2.2.2 released 10/31/2011. New in V2.2.2: Fixed bug with multiple TFTP options and with DHCPDECLINE handling on duplicate address allocation.
  • V2.2.1 released 09/27/2011. New in V2.2.1: Added NAKMessage setting for info text with DHCPNAK message. Fixed bug related to extended characters in hostname.
  • V2.2 released 08/14/2011. New in V2.2: Improved robustness against malformed DHCP requests. If the verification identifies requests falsly as malformed, then it can be switched of with the new PacketValidation setting. Added package capture view as Web Server page for advanced diagnostics. Please notice the capture link. It brings you to a list of the last 16 DHCP packages transmitted.
  • V2.1.4 released 07/31/2011. New in V2.1.4: Improved the DNS forwarding to be more responsive.
  • V2.1.3 released 06/05/2011. New in V2.1.3: Improved the relay agent functionality to work with other DHCP servers. Added RelayAgentAdvanced setting.
  • V2.1.2 released 05/21/2011. New in V2.1.2: Fixed bug in handling custom options on first offer. Fixed bug in relay agent functionality. Improved TFTP speed.
  • V2.1.1 released 03/01/2011. New in V2.1.1: Fixed bug in http module to eliminate illegal text in xml file.
  • V2.1 released 02/09/2011. New in V2.1: Service installation and firewall exceptions now supported including administrator elevation. Changed user interface dialog in wizard and dhcpsrv for that. Added configurable icon, fixed bug in non keep-alive http communication.
  • V2.0.2 released 01/31/2011. Fixed bug in handling HTTP 1.0 request (needed to successfully run apache benchmark program).
  • V2.0.1 released 01/27/2011. Fixed bug that caused a crash when no IPBIND settings are found.
  • V2.0 released 01/26/2011. New in V2.0: Added HTTP Server with diagnostic page for current server status along with a menu item to open web browser. Added $(section\name) syntax in INI file. Added configration wizard for first time setup of INI file. Addded relay agent functionality in conjunction with the support of multiple scopes. Fixed bugs in expired lease handling when DeleteOnRelease=0 and in error handling for service installation. Fixed bugs related to filenames with spaces.
  • V1.9.4 released 12/08/2010. New in V1.9.4: Fixed bugs in the expired lease handling and allowing comments after TraceFile. Added ExpiredLeaseTimeout setting.
  • V1.9.3 released 10/30/2010. New in V1.9.3: Basic load balancing support (HBA), AllowDNSQuery setting to further enhance the DNS security mechanism, automatically deleting clients after lease is expired and notifications on DHCPDECLINE messages to indicate IP address conflicts. Fixed a bug in TFTP module.
  • V1.9.2 released 10/16/2010. New in V1.9.2: Hostname is updated on every request to have an updated record after name changes on the client side. [General] and [General_x] section can now also be put into the config file. Database file is checked first and if no info found then config file is used. Fixed bugs in TFTP module.
  • V1.9.1 released 08/14/2010. New in V1.9.1: Fixed bugs in packet retransmission of TFTP and in DHCPRELEASE handling. Added TransferWindow speed improvement for TFTP. Added EnableSendRawUnicast and OverwriteBroadcastFlag for special handling of unicast responses.
  • V1.9 released 06/26/2010. New in V1.9: Integrated tftp server, option for keeping clients in the database even after DHCPRELEASE, enhanced IPPOOL_x syntax and configurable service name. Bug fixed with memory leaks in the DNS request handling. Smaller corrections.
  • V1.8.1 released 04/09/2010. New in V1.8.1: Bug fix with service installation (error 0x41d).
  • V1.8 released 03/01/2010. New in V1.8: Binding by adapter name (instead of IP address), support for multiple instances, improved BOOTP support, integrated DNS server and some smaller improvements and error corrections.
  • V1.7 released 03/22/2009. New in V1.7: Customized Options, support of client-identifier (option 61), command line options, support of DHCPINFORM message and a couple of smaller improvements. Such as balloon messages in application mode and more settings to control the behavior of the DHCP server.
  • V1.6.5 released 02/22/2009. Following fixes: DNS_X and WINS_x now support range from 0-9. Relay agent support now works as expected. Target address of response packet algorithm reworked. DHCP server ports are configurable (PORT_67 and PORT_68). DHCP server assigns IP address only in same subnet as NIC.
  • V1.6.4 released 01/01/2008. Minor bug fixes plus support of the AssociateBindsToPools option which allows to have IP Pools dedicated to a particular subnet. Updated Web Site with new design.
  • V1.6.1 released 12/22/2007. Supports fully dynamic IP Pools including correct handling of the lease time and reuse of expired leases.
  • V1.5.3 released 3/21/2004. Minor bug fix concerning reaction on bad packets.
  • V1.5.2 released 4/18/2003. Minor bug fixes plus the support of TraceFile and LEASETIME options.
  • V1.5 released 4/17/2003. Supports IP pools for auto configuration. A feature that has been asked for about a million times.
  • V1.4 released 9/4/2000. Supports binding to particular NIC cards and a silent mode for unknown clients.
  • V1.3.0.1 released 2/24/2000. The new Windows 2000 functions are loaded dynamically. It turned out that the DLL's are not available or do not contain the new functions on Windows NT 4.
  • V1.3 released 2/12/2000. V1.3 comes with two major enhancements: It runs as a Windows NT/2000 service and it supports Windows 2000 plug and play.
  • V1.2 released at 10/3/1999. I'm proud to announce that the version 1.2 has a bug fix that allows the support of Windows 98 clients. It turned out that Windows 98 clients didn't work, at all. This was related to a wrong port number that the DHCP server was using.It also has an option to print a trace of the activity of the server.
  • V1.1 released at 9/25/1999. This version fixes a bug that occures on Windows 95 and 98. The DHCP server was not able to terminate correctly. It alway kept running, even if the tray icon was already gone. There are no other changes to the code.
  • V1.0 release at 08/14/1999. This is the very first version that I put on the Web. It was running in my configuration (Windows NT 4.0 SP3 as server and client machine) and I was just curious whether somebody else is interested in that or not.
  • I've started in early summer of 1999 to investigate the Web to find a DHCP server that would allow me to just hook my notebook onto my tiny home network (a crossed cable!) without reconfiguring it every time. I could find only very large programs that had a DHCP server as one of many parts in it. Or I could find unix sources that were not that easy to port to windows. Since, I'm a curios guy, I started do develop it myself. It turned out to be quite easy and it was running within three days, or so.

You are welcome to E-Mail me if you have any questions or suggestions.