DHCP: An IP address range should be defined for all scopes

  • Article

Applies To: Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012

This topic is intended to address a specific issue identified by a Best Practices Analyzer scan. You should apply the information in this topic only to computers that have had the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol Best Practices Analyzer run against them and are experiencing the issue addressed by this topic. For more information about best practices and scans, see Best Practices Analyzer (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=122786).

Operating System

Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012

Product/Feature

Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP)

Severity

Warning

Category

Configuration

Issue

A scope does not have an IP address range defined.

Impact

Without an IP address range, a scope is unusable.

Resolution

Configure an IP address range for the scope using the DHCP MMC.

Before Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) clients can use a DHCP server for dynamic Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) configuration, you must define and activate scopes for your DHCP clients. A scope is the full, consecutive range of possible Internet Protocol (IP) addresses for a subnet. The IP addresses in a scope define a single subnet on which DHCP services are offered. DHCP servers use scopes to manage network IP address distribution and the configuration of DHCP options.

Membership in the Administrators or DHCP Administrators group is the minimum required to complete this procedure.

To configure a scope IP address range

  1. Click Start, point to Administrative Tools and then click DHCP.

  2. In the console tree, expand the applicable DHCP server, expand IPv4 or IPv6, right-click the applicable scope and then click Properties.

  3. Create the range by entering an IP address in Start IP address and End IP address and then click OK.

Additional references

For updated detailed IT pro information about DHCP and selectively enabling or disabling DHCP server bindings, see the Windows Server 2008 R2 documentation on the Microsoft TechNet Web site.