Obtaining an IP address dynamically
A BOOTP client dynamically obtains an IP address from a BOOTP server in the following steps:
The BOOTP client broadcasts a BOOTP request, which contains its own MAC address.
The BOOTP server receives the request and searches the configuration file for the corresponding IP address and other information according to the MAC address of the BOOTP client. The BOOTP server then returns a BOOTP response to the BOOTP client.
The BOOTP client obtains the IP address from the received response.
A DHCP server can take the place of the BOOTP server in the above mentioned dynamic IP address acquisition.