BOOTP, Bootstrap Protocol

Description Glossary RFCs Publications Obsolete RFCs

Description:

Protocol suite: TCP/IP.
Protocol type:Application layer configuration protocol.
Related protocols: DHCP.
Ports: 67 (UDP) server.
68 (UDP) host.
SNMP MIBs:
Working groups: DHCP, Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol.
Links: IANA: BOOTP/DHCP options.

The Bootstrap Protocol allows a host to configure itself dynamically at boot time. This protocol provides 3 services:

The BOOTP packet is assumed to never fragment.


MAC header IP header UDP header BOOTP message

BOOTP message:

0001020304050607 0809101112131415 1617181920212223 2425262728293031
Opcode Hardware type Hardware address length Hop count
Transaction ID
Number of seconds Flags
Client IP address
Your IP address
Server IP address
Gateway IP address
Client hardware address :::
Server host name :::
Boot filename :::
Vendor specific info :::

Opcode. 8 bits.

ValueDescription
1BOOTREQUEST, Boot request.
2BOOTREPLY, Boot reply.

Hardware type. 8 bits.

ValueDescription
1Ethernet.
2Experimental Ethernet.
3Amateur Radio AX.25.
4Proteon ProNET Token Ring.
5Chaos.
6IEEE 802.
7ARCNET.
8Hyperchannel.
9Lanstar.
10Autonet Short Address.
11LocalTalk.
12LocalNet (IBM PCNet or SYTEK LocalNET).
13 Ultra link.
14 SMDS.
15 Frame Relay.
16 ATM, Asynchronous Transmission Mode.
17 HDLC.
18 Fibre Channel.
19 ATM, Asynchronous Transmission Mode.
20 Serial Line.
21ATM, Asynchronous Transmission Mode.
22MIL-STD-188-220.
23Metricom.
24IEEE 1394.1995.
25MAPOS.
26Twinaxial.
27EUI-64.
28HIPARP.

Hardware address length. 8 bits.

Hop count. 8 bits.

Transaction ID. 32 bits.

Number of seconds. 16 bits.
The elapsed time, in seconds since the client sent its first BOOTREQUEST message.

Flags. 16 bits.
Defined in RFC 1542.

0001020304050607 0809101112131415
B 0

B, Broadcast. 1 bit.

Client IP address. 32 bits.

Your IP address. 32 bits.

Server IP address. 32 bits.

Gateway IP address. 32 bits.

Client hardware address. 16 bytes.

Server host name. 64 bytes.

Boot filename. 128 bytes.

Vendor specific info. 64 bytes.


BOOTP/DHCP options.


Glossary:

Martian address filtering.
The technique of silently discard incoming datagrams containing illegal IP source addresses.

Relay agent.
Also known as a BOOTP forwarding agent.


RFCs:

[RFC 951] BOOTSTRAP PROTOCOL (BOOTP).

[RFC 1534] Interoperation Between DHCP and BOOTP.

[RFC 1542] Clarifications and Extensions for the Bootstrap Protocol.

[RFC 1812] Requirements for IP Version 4 Routers.

[RFC 2132] DHCP Options and BOOTP Vendor Extensions.

[RFC 2242] NetWare/IP Domain Name and Information.


Publications:


Obsolete RFCs:

[RFC 1048] BOOTP Vendor Information Extensions.

[RFC 1084] BOOTP Vendor Information Extensions.

[RFC 1395] BOOTP Vendor Information Extensions.

[RFC 1497] BOOTP Vendor Information Extensions.

[RFC 1532] Clarifications and Extensions for the Bootstrap Protocol.

[RFC 1533] DHCP Options and BOOTP Vendor Extensions.


Description Glossary RFCs Publications Obsolete RFCs