Cannot Obtain Lease with DHCP Scopes Using Multicast Addresses (219308)

SYMPTOMS

When you have a computer running Windows NT 4.0 Server using Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP), computers on your network may not be able to obtain a lease.

In addition, computers configured as DHCP clients that have already obtained a lease may not function properly.

CAUSE

This behavior occurs when you create a DHCP scope using DHCP Manager, and specify a class D TCP/IP address (multicast group address). DHCP scopes cannot contain class D TCP/IP multicast addresses.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Windows NT 4.0. For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

152734 How to Obtainthe Latest Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article. This problem was first corrected in Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack 5.

MORE INFORMATION

In the TCP/IP address space, class D addresses are reserved for multicast groups. The address range is 224.0.0.0 to 239.255.255.255. Class D addresses are not segregated into network and host units. Some class D multicast groups are reserved.

For additional information about DHCP, scopes, and multicasting, please refer to the following Request for Comment (RFC) documents:

Dynamic RFC1541: Host Control Protocol

RFC1112: Host Extensions for IP Multicasting

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