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Lab ips-01 - IOS XE as a DHCP Server

Lab ips-01 - IOS XE as a DHCP Server - PingLabz Labs article title card

Cisco IOS XE can act as a DHCP server, handing out IP addresses to clients on a LAN. Not as feature-rich as a dedicated DHCP server (no high availability, no DDNS, simpler reservation), but more than capable for small offices, lab environments, and branch sites. This lab configures R1 as the DHCP server for the LAN segment and verifies HOST1 receives an IP automatically.

What you will learn

  • The ip dhcp pool syntax with network, default-router, dns-server, lease, domain-name
  • How to exclude addresses from the pool (for static-assigned hosts, gateway IPs, etc.)
  • How to read show ip dhcp pool and show ip dhcp binding
  • The DHCP lease lifecycle visible from the server's perspective

What this lab does NOT cover

  • DHCP relay (next lab, ips-02)
  • DHCP options beyond the canonical ones (option 43, option 82, vendor classes)
  • DHCP failover and high availability

Topology

Download the CCNA Base Topology .yaml

3 iol-xe routers + 1 alpine + 1 ioll2-xe managed switch + 1 unmanaged switch. The reusable foundation for the PingLabz CCNA Labs library.

Download CCNA Base Topology

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