DHCP COMMUNICATIONS CONFIGURATION SYSTEM

• US 20140052830A1
• Filed: 08/16/2012
• Published: 02/20/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 08/16/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Dell Products LP (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Dell Products LP (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Inventors: Bigall, Evan John
• Granted Patent: US 9,106,707 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/220
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0803 Configuration setting
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/5014 using dynamic host configuration protocol [DHCP] or bootstrap protocol [BOOTP]

Abstract

A Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) communications configuration system includes a client information handling system (IHS) coupled to a controller over a network. The client IHS creates a plurality of DHCP discover messages that include capability data that describes at least one hardware resource on the client IHS, and sends the plurality of DHCP discover messages over the network. The controller receives the plurality of DHCP discover messages and processes the capability data to determine configuration data for the client IHS, creates a plurality of DHCP offer messages including the configuration data for the client IHS, and sends the plurality of DHCP offer messages over the network to the client IHS. The client IHS then uses the configuration data to configure the client IHS.

Claims

1. A Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) communications configuration system, comprising

a network;

a client information handling system (IHS) that is coupled to the network and that is operable to create a plurality of DHCP discover messages that include capability data that describes at least one hardware resource on the client IHS, and send the plurality of DHCP discover messages over the network;

a controller that is coupled to the network and that is operable to receive the plurality of DHCP discover messages including the capability data, process the capability data to determine configuration data for the client IHS, create a plurality of DHCP offer messages that includes the configuration data and transmit the plurality of DHCP offer messages over the network to the client IHS; and

wherein the client IHS is further operable to use the configuration data to configure the client IHS.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the controller is further operable to:

determine that at least one of the plurality of DHCP discover messages sent by the client IHS was not received and, in response, send a DHCP offer message requesting the at least one of the plurality of DHCP discover messages that was not received.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the sending the plurality of DHCP offer messages that include the configuration data for the client IHS is performed subsequent to determining that all of the plurality of DHCP discover messages sent by the client IHS were received.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the client IHS is further operable to:

determine that at least one of the plurality of DHCP offer messages sent by the controller was not received by the client IHS and, in response, send a DHCP request message requesting the at least one of the plurality of DHCP offer messages that was not received by the client IHS.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the applying the configuration to configure the client IHS is performed upon determining that all of the plurality of DHCP offer messages sent by the controller were received by the client IHS.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the visible fields in the headers of the DHCP offer messages sent by the controller are omitted.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the client IHS is further operable, for each of the plurality of DHCP discover messages, to:

generate a key;

encrypt the capability data in the DHCP discover message with generated key; and

encrypt the generated key with a public key of the controller;

wherein the controller is further operable to decrypt the generated key with a private key and use the decrypted generated key to decrypt the capability data in the DHCP discover message.

8. An information handling system (IHS), comprising:

a processor;

a network device coupled to the processor and a network; and

a non-transitory, computer-readable medium coupled to the processor and including instruction that when executed by the processor cause the processor to;

create a plurality of DHCP discover messages that include capability data that describes a plurality of resources on the IHS;

send the plurality of DHCP discover messages over the network;

receive a plurality of DHCP offer messages from a controller through the network, wherein the plurality of DHCP offer messages include configuration data; and

use the configuration data to configure the IHS.

9. The IHS of claim 8, wherein the non-transitory, computer-readable medium further includes instruction that when executed by the processor cause the processor to:

resend at least one of the plurality of DHCP discover messages that was previously sent in response to receiving a DHCP offer message requesting the at least one of the plurality of DHCP discover messages that was previously sent but not received by the controller.

10. The IHS of claim 8, wherein the non-transitory, computer-readable medium further includes instruction that when executed by the processor cause the processor to:

determine that at least one of the plurality of DHCP offer messages sent by the controller was not received and, in response, send a DHCP request message requesting the at least one of the plurality of DHCP offer messages that was not received.

11. The IHS of claim 10, wherein the applying the configuration to configure the IHS is performed upon determining that all of the plurality of DHCP offer messages sent by the controller were received.

12. The IHS of claim 8, wherein the visible fields in the headers of the DHCP offer messages are omitted.

13. The IHS of claim 8, wherein the non-transitory, computer-readable medium further includes instruction that when executed by the processor cause the processor to:

generate a key;

encrypt the capability data in the DHCP discover message with generated key; and

encrypt the generated key with a public key of a controller that is coupled to the DHCP server.

14. The IHS of claim 8, wherein the creating the plurality of DHCP discover messages that include capability data includes storing the capability data in a vendor specific information option in each of the plurality of DHCP discover messages.

15. A method for configuring an IHS, comprising:

sending a plurality of DHCP discover messages over the network from an IHS, wherein the plurality of DHCP discover messages include capability data describing a plurality of resources on the IHS;

receiving the plurality of DHCP discover messages by a controller over the network;

processing the capability data using the controller to determine configuration data for the IHS, creating a plurality of DHCP offer messages including the configuration data for the IHS, and sending the plurality of DHCP offer messages over the network from the controller;

receiving the plurality of DHCP offer messages by the IHS over the network; and

using the configuration data to configure the IHS.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

determining that at least one of the plurality of DHCP discover messages sent by the IHS was not received by the controller and, in response, sending a DHCP offer message, from the controller to the IHS over the network, requesting the at least one of the plurality of DHCP discover messages that was not received by the controller.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the sending the plurality of DHCP offer messages that include the configuration data for the IHS is performed subsequent to determining that all of the plurality of DHCP discover messages sent by the IHS were received by the controller.

18. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

determining that at least one of the plurality of DHCP offer messages sent by the controller was not received by the IHS and, in response, sending a DHCP request message, from the IHS to the controller over the network, requesting the at least one of the plurality of DHCP offer messages that was not received by the IHS.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the using the configuration data to configure the IHS is performed upon determining that all of the plurality of DHCP offer messages sent by the controller were received by the IHS.

20. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

generating a key using the IHS;

encrypting the capability data in each of the DHCP discover messages with generated key using the IHS;

encrypting the generated key with a public key of the controller using the IHS;

decrypting the generated key with a private key using the controller; and

using the decrypted generated key to decrypt the capability data in each of the DHCP discover messages using the controller.