Why Use DHCP Reservations?
Servers, network printers, and managed switches require consistent IP addresses so users and applications can reliably find them. The traditional method is to manually type a “Static IP” directly into the device’s network adapter. However, if you change your DNS server IPs or gateway address in the future, you must manually log into every single static device to update them. DHCP Reservations solve this by instructing the central DHCP Server to always hand out the exact same specific IP address to a specific device based on its hardware MAC address. The device remains set to “Automatic (DHCP)”, allowing you to centrally manage all its network settings from the Windows Server.
Step 1: Obtain the Device’s MAC Address
Before you can create a reservation, you must know the unique physical MAC address of the device you want to reserve.
If the device is already on the network and currently has a dynamic lease, you can find it easily. Open the DHCP Management Console on your Windows Server, expand your IPv4 scope, and click on Address Leases. Locate the device in the list, and look at the “Unique ID” column. This is the MAC address.
Step 2: Create the Reservation
In the DHCP console tree, right-click the Reservations folder inside your active IPv4 Scope, and select New Reservation….
The New Reservation window will appear. Fill in the details:
- Reservation name: Give it a descriptive name (e.g., “HP-Printer-Accounting”).
- IP address: Type the specific IP address you want to permanently assign to this device (e.g.,
192.168.1.50). Note: It is best practice to choose an IP that is outside of your main dynamic distribution pool to avoid conflicts. - MAC address: Type the MAC address you found in Step 1 (do not include dashes or colons, just the raw alphanumeric string).
- Supported types: Leave it on “Both” (DHCP and BOOTP).
Click Add, and then click Close.
Step 3: Configure Custom Options (Optional)
By default, the reserved device will receive the standard Router and DNS server settings configured for the rest of the scope. However, reservations allow you to override these settings for that specific device.
Expand the Reservations folder, expand your newly created reservation, and click on Reservation Options. You can right-click and configure unique options (like assigning a different Default Gateway just for this one printer).
Step 4: Force the Device to Pull the New IP
The Windows DHCP server is now configured, but the client device will not receive the new IP address until its current lease expires or the device is rebooted.
To force the update immediately, reboot the target device. If it is a Windows PC, open its command prompt and run:
ipconfig /release
ipconfig /renew
Step 5: Verify the Reservation
Once the device comes back online, check the DHCP server. Click on Address Leases (you may need to right-click and select Refresh).
You will see the device listed with its new IP address, and the “Lease Expiration” column will explicitly state Reservation (active) instead of a date and time. Your device now has a centrally managed, permanent IP address.