Patent ID: 7366898

Claim:
A method of passing configuration information between a DHCP server and a DHCP client, the method comprising: forming a DHCP message having a vendor-specific portion including at least one parameter representing configuration information encoded as a triplet comprising a code field, a length field, and a value field, wherein said code field includes an indication of encryption of the value field, and said value field comprises a set of one or more name-value pairs encrypted in accordance with the code field; storing said at least one parameter of the vendor-specific portion of the DHCP message in a repository on the DHCP server; transmitting the DHCP message including the vendor-specific portion from the DHCP server to the DHCP client; editing said at least one parameter on the DHCP client; and writing the edited at least one parameter from the DHCP client into the repository for storage on the DHCP server.