How to Import a BOOTP Database into DHCP (157596)

SUMMARY

Windows NT Server version 4.0 Service Pack 2 includes new DHCP server functionality that provides the ability to respond to BOOTP clients. This article explains how to import a text file of BOOTP reservations into the DHCP database.

NOTE: Service Pack 2 for Windows NT Server 4.0 is required to respond to BOOTP requests. Versions of Windows NT Server earlier than 4.0 Service Pack 2 only respond to DHCP client requests. Additionally, the Windows NT Resource kit utility Dhcpcmd.exe is required to perform DHCP Manager options from the command line (this article provides more information on this).

MORE INFORMATION

NOTE: In Windows NT Server 4.0 Service Pack 2, BOOTP addresses currently must be reserved in advance by creating an IP address reservation. Future versions of Microsoft DHCP server will be capable of leasing dynamic addresses to BOOTP clients.

The Windows 4.0 Resource Kit utility Dhcpcmd.exe provides the ability to view and modify the DHCP database from the command line. One of the Dhcpcmd.exe command-line options is AddReservedIp. The AddReservedIp parameter adds a reserved IP address to an already existing scope.

For more information on Dhcpcmd.exe, see the Dhcpcmd.txt file in the Windows NT Resource Kit.

The following is the syntax for the DHCPCMD AddReservedIP switch:

AddReservedIp <scope address> <reserved ip> <hardware string>

The following is an example that reserves IP address 11.101.13.53 in the 11.101.0.0 scope to a client with a hardware address of 08002B30369B:

dhcpcmd AddReservedIP 11.101.0.0 11.101.13.53 08002B30369B

It is possible to use the DHCPCMD utility to create a batch file. One way to create this batch file is to perform the following steps:

Import the text file containing the BOOTP client information into a spreadsheet.
Add a column with the text "DHCPCMD AddReservedIP" (without the quotation marks) to the left of the columns that contain the additional required parameters, which are:
- Scope address.
- IP address of client.
- Hardware (media access control) address.
  
  NOTE: The text "DHCPCMD AddReservedIP" must appear in each row for which you have data. Each line should be similar to the example shown above.
Save the file in a text format and rename it to a .bat file.
Run the .bat file.
Use DHCP Manager to verify that the reservations were entered correctly.