Catalyst 2960 Switch Software Configuration Guide, Rel. 12.2(44)SE

Configuring DHCP Features

Note To use DHCP features, the switch must be running the LAN Base image.

This chapter describes how to configure DHCP snooping and the option-82 data insertion features on the Catalyst 2960 switch.

Note For complete syntax and usage information for the commands used in this chapter, see the command reference for this release, and see the "DHCP Commands" section in the Cisco IOS IP Command Reference, Volume 1 of 3: Addressing and Services, Release 12.2 from the Cisco.com page under Documentation > Cisco IOS Software > 12.2 Mainline > Command References.

This chapter consists of these sections:

•Understanding DHCP Features

•Configuring DHCP Features

•Displaying DHCP Snooping Information

Understanding DHCP Features

DHCP is widely used in LAN environments to dynamically assign host IP addresses from a centralized server, which significantly reduces the overhead of administration of IP addresses. DHCP also helps conserve the limited IP address space because IP addresses no longer need to be permanently assigned to hosts; only those hosts that are connected to the network consume IP addresses.

These sections contain this information:

•DHCP Server

•DHCP Relay Agent

•DHCP Snooping

•Option-82 Data Insertion

•DHCP Snooping Binding Database

For information about the DHCP client, see the "Configuring DHCP" section of the "IP Addressing and Services" section of the Cisco IOS IP Configuration Guide, Release 12.2 from the Cisco.com page under Documentation > Cisco IOS Software > 12.2 Mainline > Configuration Guides.

DHCP Server

The DHCP server assigns IP addresses from specified address pools on a switch or router to DHCP clients and manages them. If the DHCP server cannot give the DHCP client the requested configuration parameters from its database, it forwards the request to one or more secondary DHCP servers defined by the network administrator.

DHCP Relay Agent

A DHCP relay agent is a Layer 3 device that forwards DHCP packets between clients and servers. Relay agents forward requests and replies between clients and servers when they are not on the same physical subnet. Relay agent forwarding is different from the normal Layer 2 forwarding, in which IP datagrams are switched transparently between networks. Relay agents receive DHCP messages and generate new DHCP messages to send on output interfaces.

DHCP Snooping

DHCP snooping is a DHCP security feature that provides network security by filtering untrusted DHCP messages and by building and maintaining a DHCP snooping binding database, also referred to as a DHCP snooping binding table. For more information about this database, see the "Displaying DHCP Snooping Information" section.

DHCP snooping acts like a firewall between untrusted hosts and DHCP servers. You use DHCP snooping to differentiate between untrusted interfaces connected to the end user and trusted interfaces connected to the DHCP server or another switch.

Note For DHCP snooping to function properly, all DHCP servers must be connected to the switch through trusted interfaces.

An untrusted DHCP message is a message that is received from outside the network or firewall. When you use DHCP snooping in a service-provider environment, an untrusted message is sent from a device that is not in the service-provider network, such as a customer's switch. Messages from unknown devices are untrusted because they can be sources of traffic attacks.

The DHCP snooping binding database has the MAC address, the IP address, the lease time, the binding type, the VLAN number, and the interface information that corresponds to the local untrusted interfaces of a switch. It does not have information regarding hosts interconnected with a trusted interface.

In a service-provider network, a trusted interface is connected to a port on a device in the same network. An untrusted interface is connected to an untrusted interface in the network or to an interface on a device that is not in the network.

When a switch receives a packet on an untrusted interface and the interface belongs to a VLAN in which DHCP snooping is enabled, the switch compares the source MAC address and the DHCP client hardware address. If the addresses match (the default), the switch forwards the packet. If the addresses do not match, the switch drops the packet.

The switch drops a DHCP packet when one of these situations occurs:

•A packet from a DHCP server, such as a DHCPOFFER, DHCPACK, DHCPNAK, or DHCPLEASEQUERY packet, is received from outside the network or firewall.

•A packet is received on an untrusted interface, and the source MAC address and the DHCP client hardware address do not match.

•The switch receives a DHCPRELEASE or DHCPDECLINE broadcast message that has a MAC address in the DHCP snooping binding database, but the interface information in the binding database does not match the interface on which the message was received.

•A DHCP relay agent forwards a DHCP packet that includes a relay-agent IP address that is not 0.0.0.0, or the relay agent forwards a packet that includes option-82 information to an untrusted port.

If the switch is an aggregation switch supporting DHCP snooping and is connected to an edge switch that is inserting DHCP option-82 information, the switch drops packets with option-82 information when packets are received on an untrusted interface. If DHCP snooping is enabled and packets are received on a trusted port, the aggregation switch does not learn the DHCP snooping bindings for connected devices and cannot build a complete DHCP snooping binding database.

When an aggregation switch can be connected to an edge switch through an untrusted interface and you enter the ip dhcp snooping information option allow-untrusted global configuration command, the aggregation switch accepts packets with option-82 information from the edge switch. The aggregation switch learns the bindings for hosts connected through an untrusted switch interface. The DHCP security features can still be enabled on the aggregation switch while the switch receives packets with option-82 information on untrusted input interfaces to which hosts are connected. The port on the edge switch that connects to the aggregation switch must be configured as a trusted interface.

Option-82 Data Insertion

In residential, metropolitan Ethernet-access environments, DHCP can centrally manage the IP address assignments for a large number of subscribers. When the DHCP option-82 feature is enabled on the switch, a subscriber device is identified by the switch port through which it connects to the network (in addition to its MAC address). Multiple hosts on the subscriber LAN can be connected to the same port on the access switch and are uniquely identified.

Note The DHCP option-82 feature is supported only when DHCP snooping is globally enabled and on the VLANs to which subscriber devices using this feature are assigned.

Figure 19-1 is an example of a metropolitan Ethernet network in which a centralized DHCP server assigns IP addresses to subscribers connected to the switch at the access layer. Because the DHCP clients and their associated DHCP server do not reside on the same IP network or subnet, a DHCP relay agent (the Catalyst switch) is configured with a helper address to enable broadcast forwarding and to transfer DHCP messages between the clients and the server.

Figure 19-1 DHCP Relay Agent in a Metropolitan Ethernet Network

When you enable the DHCP snooping information option 82 on the switch, this sequence of events occurs:

•The host (DHCP client) generates a DHCP request and broadcasts it on the network.

•When the switch receives the DHCP request, it adds the option-82 information in the packet. The remote-ID suboption is the switch MAC address, and the circuit-ID suboption is the port identifier, vlan-mod-port, from which the packet is received.

•If the IP address of the relay agent is configured, the switch adds this IP address in the DHCP packet.

•The switch forwards the DHCP request that includes the option-82 field to the DHCP server.

•The DHCP server receives the packet. If the server is option-82-capable, it can use the remote ID, the circuit ID, or both to assign IP addresses and implement policies, such as restricting the number of IP addresses that can be assigned to a single remote ID or circuit ID. Then the DHCP server echoes the option-82 field in the DHCP reply.

•The DHCP server unicasts the reply to the switch if the request was relayed to the server by the switch. The switch verifies that it originally inserted the option-82 data by inspecting the remote ID and possibly the circuit ID fields. The switch removes the option-82 field and forwards the packet to the switch port that connects to the DHCP client that sent the DHCP request.

When the described sequence of events occurs, the values in these fields in Figure 19-2 do not change:

•Circuit-ID suboption fields

–Suboption type

–Length of the suboption type

–Circuit-ID type

–Length of the circuit-ID type

•Remote-ID suboption fields

–Suboption type

–Length of the suboption type

–Remote-ID type

–Length of the remote-ID type

In the port field of the circuit-ID suboption, the port numbers start at 3. For example, on a switch with 24 10/100 ports and small form-factor pluggable (SFP) module slots, port 3 is the Fast Ethernet 0/1 port, port 4 is the Fast Ethernet 0/2 port, and so forth. Port 27 is the SFP module slot 0/1, and so forth.

Figure 19-2 shows the packet formats for the remote-ID suboption and the circuit-ID suboption. The switch uses the packet formats when you globally enable DHCP snooping and enter the ip dhcp snooping information option global configuration command.

Figure 19-2 Suboption Packet Formats

DHCP Snooping Binding Database

When DHCP snooping is enabled, the switch uses the DHCP snooping binding database to store information about untrusted interfaces. The database can have up to 8192 bindings.

Each database entry (binding) has an IP address, an associated MAC address, the lease time (in hexadecimal format), the interface to which the binding applies, and the VLAN to which the interface belongs. The database agent stores the bindings in a file at a configured location. At the end of each entry is a checksum that accounts for all the bytes from the start of the file through all the bytes associated with the entry. Each entry is 72 bytes, followed by a space and then the checksum value.

To keep the bindings when the switch reloads, you must use the DHCP snooping database agent. If the agent is disabled and only DHCP snooping is enabled, the switch does not lose its connectivity, but DHCP snooping might not prevent DHCP spoofing attacks.

When reloading, the switch reads the binding file to build the DHCP snooping binding database. The switch updates the file when the database changes.

When a switch learns of new bindings or when it loses bindings, the switch immediately updates the entries in the database. The switch also updates the entries in the binding file. The frequency at which the file is updated is based on a configurable delay, and the updates are batched. If the file is not updated in a specified time (set by the write-delay and abort-timeout values), the update stops.

This is the format of the file with bindings:

<initial-checksum> 

TYPE DHCP-SNOOPING 

VERSION 1 

BEGIN 

<entry-1> <checksum-1> 

<entry-2> <checksum-1-2> 

... 

... 

<entry-n> <checksum-1-2-..-n> 

END 

Each entry in the file is tagged with a checksum value that the switch uses to verify the entries when it reads the file. The initial-checksum entry on the first line distinguishes entries associated with the latest file update from entries associated with a previous file update.

This is an example of a binding file:

2bb4c2a1

TYPE DHCP-SNOOPING

VERSION 1

BEGIN

192.1.168.1 3 0003.47d8.c91f 2BB6488E Fa0/4 21ae5fbb

192.1.168.3 3 0003.44d6.c52f 2BB648EB Fa0/4 1bdb223f

192.1.168.2 3 0003.47d9.c8f1 2BB648AB Fa0/4 584a38f0

END

When the switch starts and the calculated checksum value equals the stored checksum value, the switch reads entries from the binding file and adds the bindings to its DHCP snooping binding database. The switch ignores an entry when one of these situations occurs:

•The switch reads the entry and the calculated checksum value does not equal the stored checksum value. The entry and the ones following it are ignored.

•An entry has an expired lease time (the switch might not remove a binding entry when the lease time expires).

•The interface in the entry no longer exists on the system.

•The interface is a routed interface or a DHCP snooping-trusted interface.

Configuring DHCP Features

These sections contain this configuration information:

•Default DHCP Configuration

•DHCP Snooping Configuration Guidelines

•Configuring the DHCP Relay Agent

•Enabling DHCP Snooping and Option 82

•Enabling the DHCP Snooping Binding Database Agent

Default DHCP Configuration

Table 19-1 shows the default DHCP configuration.

DHCP Snooping Configuration Guidelines

These are the configuration guidelines for DHCP snooping.

•You must globally enable DHCP snooping on the switch.

•DHCP snooping is not active until DHCP snooping is enabled on a VLAN.

•Before globally enabling DHCP snooping on the switch, make sure that the devices acting as the DHCP server and the DHCP relay agent are configured and enabled.

•When you globally enable DHCP snooping on the switch, these Cisco IOS commands are not available until snooping is disabled. If you enter these commands, the switch returns an error message, and the configuration is not applied.

–ip dhcp relay information check global configuration command

–ip dhcp relay information policy global configuration command

–ip dhcp relay information trust-all global configuration command

–ip dhcp relay information trusted interface configuration command

•Before configuring the DHCP snooping information option on your switch, be sure to configure the device that is acting as the DHCP server. For example, you must specify the IP addresses that the DHCP server can assign or exclude, or you must configure DHCP options for these devices.

•If the DHCP relay agent is enabled but DHCP snooping is disabled, the DHCP option-82 data insertion feature is not supported.

•If a switch port is connected to a DHCP server, configure a port as trusted by entering the ip dhcp snooping trust interface configuration command.

•If a switch port is connected to a DHCP client, configure a port as untrusted by entering the no ip dhcp snooping trust interface configuration command.

•Follow these guidelines when configuring the DHCP snooping binding database:

–Because both NVRAM and the flash memory have limited storage capacity, we recommend that you store the binding file on a TFTP server.

–For network-based URLs (such as TFTP and FTP), you must create an empty file at the configured URL before the switch can write bindings to the binding file at that URL. See the documentation for your TFTP server to determine whether you must first create an empty file on the server; some TFTP servers cannot be configured this way.

–To ensure that the lease time in the database is accurate, we recommend that you enable and configure NTP. For more information, see the "Configuring NTP" section.

–If NTP is configured, the switch writes binding changes to the binding file only when the switch system clock is synchronized with NTP.

•Do not enter the ip dhcp snooping information option allow-untrusted command on an aggregation switch to which an untrusted device is connected. If you enter this command, an untrusted device might spoof the option-82 information.

•Starting with Cisco IOS Release 12.2(37)SE, you can display DHCP snooping statistics by entering the show ip dhcp snooping statistics user EXEC command, and you can clear the snooping statistics counters by entering the clear ip dhcp snooping statistics privileged EXEC command.

Configuring the DHCP Relay Agent

Beginning in privileged EXEC mode, follow these steps to enable the DHCP relay agent on the switch:

To disable the DHCP server and relay agent, use the no service dhcp global configuration command.

See the "Configuring DHCP" section of the "IP Addressing and Services" section of the Cisco IOS IP Configuration Guide, Release 12.2 from the Cisco.com page under Documentation > Cisco IOS Software > 12.2 Mainline > Configuration Guides for these procedures:

•Checking (validating) the relay agent information

•Configuring the relay agent forwarding policy

Enabling DHCP Snooping and Option 82

Beginning in privileged EXEC mode, follow these steps to enable DHCP snooping on the switch:

To disable DHCP snooping, use the no ip dhcp snooping global configuration command. To disable DHCP snooping on a VLAN or range of VLANs, use the no ip dhcp snooping vlan vlan-range global configuration command. To disable the insertion and removal of the option-82 field, use the no ip dhcp snooping information option global configuration command. To configure an aggregation switch to drop incoming DHCP snooping packets with option-82 information from an edge switch, use the no ip dhcp snooping information option allow-untrusted global configuration command.

This example shows how to enable DHCP snooping globally and on VLAN 10 and to configure a rate limit of 100 packets per second on a port:

Switch(config)# ip dhcp snooping

Switch(config)# ip dhcp snooping vlan 10

Switch(config)# ip dhcp snooping information option

Switch(config)# interface gigabitethernet0/1

Switch(config-if)# ip dhcp snooping limit rate 100

Enabling the Cisco IOS DHCP Server Database

For procedures to enable and configure the Cisco IOS DHCP server database, see the "DHCP Configuration Task List" section in the "Configuring DHCP" chapter of the Cisco IOS IP Configuration Guide, Release 12.2 from the Cisco.com page under Documentation > Cisco IOS Software > 12.2 Mainline > Configuration Guides.

Enabling the DHCP Snooping Binding Database Agent

Beginning in privileged EXEC mode, follow these steps to enable and configure the DHCP snooping binding database agent on the switch:

To stop using the database agent and binding files, use the no ip dhcp snooping database global configuration command. To reset the timeout or delay values, use the ip dhcp snooping database timeout seconds or the ip dhcp snooping database write-delay seconds global configuration command.

To clear the statistics of the DHCP snooping binding database agent, use the clear ip dhcp snooping database statistics privileged EXEC command. To renew the database, use the renew ip dhcp snooping database privileged EXEC command.

To delete binding entries from the DHCP snooping binding database, use the no ip dhcp snooping binding mac-address vlan vlan-id ip-address interface interface-id privileged EXEC command. Enter this command for each entry that you want to delete.

Displaying DHCP Snooping Information

To display the DHCP snooping information, use the privileged EXEC commands in Table 19-2:

Note If DHCP snooping is enabled and an interface changes to the down state, the switch does not delete the statically configured bindings.