Is a DHCP server “supposed to” be able to support a BOOTP client?
The RFC on such interoperability (1534) is clear: “In summary, a DHCP server: … MAY support BOOTP clients,” (section 2). The word “MAY” indicates such support, however useful, is left as an option. A source of confusion on this point is the following statement in section 1.5 of RFC 1541: “DHCP must provide service to existing BOOTP clients.” However, this statement is one in a list of “general design goals for DHCP”, i.e. what the designers of the DHCP protocol set as their own goals. It is not in a list of requirements for DHCP servers. • Is a DHCP client “supposed to” be able to use a BOOTP server? The RFC on such interoperability (1534) is clear: “A DHCP client MAY use a reply from a BOOTP server if the configuration returned from the BOOTP server is acceptable to the DHCP client.” (section 3). The word “MAY” indicates such support, however useful, is left as an option. • Can a DHCP client or server make a DNS server update the client’s DNS entry to match the client’s dynamically
