Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol.



DHCP is an [IETF] standard.  It defines a protocol used by client computers to obtain an [IPAddress] and other configuration information from a central server, rather than requiring the user to configure it manually.



Most AccessPoint hardware includes a DHCP server.



Grab a tarballed copy of the (ftp://ftp.isc.org/isc/dhcp/dhcp-latest.tar.gz latest release.)



Alternatively you can install a package appropriate for whatever [*NIX] distribution you have, such as dhcp-2.0pl5-8 for Redhat 7.2



Whatever you choose, you need a config file. A modified version of the following will get you on your way (using an addressing structure as described in [RFC])



 subnet 10.0.0.0 netmask 255.255.255.240 {

   option routers             10.0.0.1;

   option subnet-mask         255.255.255.0;

   option domain-name         x.suburb.mlbwire.wan;

   option domain-name-servers 10.0.0.1;

   range dynamic-bootp        10.0.0.2 10.0.0.14;

   default-lease-time         21600;

   max-lease-time             43200;

 };



The 10.x.x.x addresses would be changed appropriate to the address allocation for the node. This configuration results in address allocation to local clients, but dhcp needs to be run with appropriate options to ignore other interfaces that should not have automatically configured addresses assigned.



The domain-name-servers line should specify a real domain name server. More on that later.