Figure 4: Timeline diagram of messages exchanged between DHCP client and servers when allocating a new network address

Server         Client          Server
(not selected)                    (selected)

v               v               v
|               |               |
|     Begins initialization     |
|               |               |
| _____________/|\_____________ |
|/ DHCPDISCOVER | DHCPDISCOVER \|
|               |               |
Determines          |          Determines
configuration        |         configuration
|               |               |
|\              |  ____________/|
| \_________    | /DHCPOFFER    |
|  DHCPOFFER\   |/              |
|            \  |               |
|       Collects replies        |
|              \|               |
|     Selects configuration     |
|               |               |
| _____________/|\_____________ |
|/ DHCPREQUEST  |  DHCPREQUEST \|
|               |               |
|               |     Commits configuration
|               |               |
|               | _____________/|
|               |/ DHCPACK      |
|               |               |
|    Initialization complete    |
|               |               |
.               .               .
.               .               .
|               |               |
|      Graceful shutdown        |
|               |               |
|               |\_____________ |
|               |  DHCPRELEASE \|
|               |               |
|               |        Discards lease
|               |               |
v               v               v