Editing Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (section)

==History==
The [[Reverse Address Resolution Protocol]] (RARP) was defined in 1984 for the configuration of simple devices, such as [[diskless workstation]]s, with a suitable IP address.{{Ref RFC|903}} Acting in the [[data link layer]], it made implementation difficult on many server platforms. It required that a server be present on each individual network link. RARP was superseded by the [[Bootstrap Protocol]] (BOOTP) defined in September 1985.{{Ref RFC|951}} This introduced the concept of a relay agent, which allowed the forwarding of BOOTP packets across networks, allowing one central BOOTP server to serve hosts on many IP subnets.

DHCP was first defined in October 1993.{{Ref RFC|1531}}{{Ref RFC|1541}} It is based on BOOTP, but can dynamically allocate IP addresses from a pool and reclaim them when they are no longer in use. It can also be used to deliver a wide range of extra configuration parameters to IP clients, including platform-specific parameters.<ref name="Network+ certification">Network+ Certification 2006 Published By Microsoft Press.</ref>

Four years later, the DHCPINFORM message type (used for [[Web Proxy Autodiscovery Protocol|WPAD]]) and other small changes were added. This definition, from 1997,{{Ref RFC|2131}} remains the core of the standard for IPv4 networks.

[[DHCPv6]] was initially defined in 2003.{{Ref RFC|3315}}  After updates by many subsequent RFCs, its definition was replaced in 2018,{{Ref RFC|8415}} where [[prefix delegation]] and [[stateless address autoconfiguration]] were now merged.