Patent ID: 8918531

Claim:
A data packet router, comprising: a plurality of network interfaces; one or more hardware processors coupled to the network interfaces; dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP) relay agent logic coupled to the one or more hardware processors, wherein the logic is configured to perform upon execution: receiving a DHCP initiation message on a particular interface among the plurality of network interfaces; modifying the DHCP initiation message by adding a particular first DHCP option other than a relay agent information option that signals a DHCP server to obtain router configuration data and to modify the particular first DHCP option to include the router configuration data, resulting in a modified DHCP initiation message; relaying the modified DHCP initiation message to the DHCP server; receiving, from the DHCP server, a DHCP response message that comprises the particular first DHCP option containing configuration data; relaying the DHCP response message on the particular interface toward another router.