Patent ID: 8387112

Claim:
A method comprising: transmitting, by a network device and to another device, a request indicating that the network device does not currently have an assigned network address or that a lease of the assigned network address is about to expire; receiving, by the network device and from the other device, an offer message that offers a new network address to the network device, the offer message including software update information and location information that are inserted into a particular portion of the offer message, the software update information identifying an up-to-date software that the network device should have installed, and the location information identifying a location from which to retrieve the up-to-date software; determining, by the network device, that the software update information is different from corresponding software information that identifies software currently installed on the network device; retrieving, by the network device and from the location, the up-to-date software after determining that the software update information is different from the corresponding software information; and installing, by the network device, the up-to-date software.