MacTCP: Does not support DHCP (5/96)

There is an option in the MacTCP control panel called "Dynamic". Does this mean that MacTCP supports the industry-standard Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) found on Windows NT servers?
MacTCP does not support the DHCP protocol. Most DHCP servers can support BootP protocol simultaneously. MacTCP used in server mode can work with a BootP server. The Open Transport networking architecture includes a TCP/IP protocol stack that supports DHCP.

MacTCP's dynamic addressing is analagous to AppleTalk's dynamic addressing scheme. When the machine boots, it picks a random IP address and then checks the network to see if another machine has that address. When MacTCP was written, DHCP did not exist. It has since become an industry-standard, so Apple has dropped support for its proprietary dynamic-addressing scheme in favor of the industry standard DHCP.

Published Date: Feb 18, 2012