Internet Control Protocols
Savera Tanwir
Internet Control Protocols
ICMP
ARP
RARP
DHCP
Overview
The IP (Internet Protocol) relies on several
other protocols to perform necessary control
and routing functions:
Control functions (ICMP)
Multicast signaling (IGMP)
Setting up routing tables (RIP, OSPF, BGP, PIM, )
ICMP
The Internet Control Message Protocol
(ICMP) is a helper protocol that supports IP
with facility for
Error reporting
Simple queries
ICMP messages are encapsulated as IP datagrams:
ICMP Query message
ICMP Request
ICMP Reply
Host
Host or router
ICMP query:
Request sent by host to a router or host
Reply sent back to querying host
Example of ICMP Queries
Type/Code:
Description
8/0 Echo Request
0/0 Echo Reply
13/0
Timestamp Request
14/0Timestamp Reply
10/0
Router Solicitation
9/0 Router Advertisement
The ping command
uses Echo Request/
Echo Reply
Example of a Query:
Echo Request and Reply
Pings are handled directly by the kernel
Each Ping is translated into an ICMP Echo
Request
The Pinged host responds with an ICMP Echo
Reply
ICMP EC
Host
Host
or
or
Router
Router
HO REQUE
ST
REPL
O
H
EC
ICMP
Host
Host
or
or
router
router
ICMP Error message
IP datagram
IP datagram
is discarded
ICMP Error
Message
Host
Host or router
ICMP error messages report error conditions
Typically sent when a datagram is discarded
Error message is often passed from ICMP to
the application program
ICMP Error message
ICMP Message
from IP datagram that triggered the error
IP header
type
ICMP header
code
IP header
8 bytes of payload
checksum
Unused (0x00000000)
ICMP error messages include the complete IP
header and the first 8 bytes of the payload
(typically: UDP, TCP)
Frequent ICMP Error message
Type Code
Description
015 Destination
Notification that an IP datagram could not be
forwarded and was dropped. The code field
contains an explanation.
03 Redirect
Informs about an alternative route for the
datagram and should result in a routing table
update. The code field explains the reason for
the route change.
11
0, 1 Time
exceeded
Sent when the TTL field has reached zero
(Code 0) or when there is a timeout for the
reassembly of segments (Code 1)
12
0, 1 Parameter
problem
Sent when the IP header is invalid (Code 0)
or when an IP header option is missing (Code
1)
unreachable
Some subtypes of the
Destination Unreachable
Code
Description
Reason for Sending
Network
Unreachable
No routing table entry is available for the destination
network.
Host
Unreachable
Destination host should be directly reachable, but
does not respond to ARP Requests.
Protocol
Unreachable
The protocol in the protocol field of the IP header is
not supported at the destination.
Port
Unreachable
The transport protocol at the destination host cannot
pass the datagram to an application.
Fragmentation
Needed
and DF Bit Set
IP datagram must be fragmented, but the DF bit in
the IP header is set.
Example: ICMP Port
Unreachable
RFC 792: If, in the destination host, the IP module cannot deliver the
datagram because the indicated protocol module
or process port is not active, the destination host may send a destination unreachable message to the source host.
Scenario:
Request
a
service
at a por
t 80
Client
Client
No process
is waiting
at port 80
Server
Server
e
t
Por achabl
e
Unr
ARP/RARP Overview
ARP and RARP
Note:
The Internet is based on IP addresses
Data link protocols (Ethernet, FDDI, ATM) may have different
(MAC) addresses
The ARP and RARP protocols perform the translation
between IP addresses and MAC layer addresses
We will discuss ARP for broadcast LANs, particularly
Ethernet LANs
IP address
(32 bit)
ARP
RARP
Ethernet MAC
address
(48 bit)
Processing of IP packets by
network device drivers
Address Translation with ARP
ARP Request:
Argon broadcasts an ARP request to all
stations on the network: What is the
hardware address of Router137?
Address Translation with ARP
ARP Reply:
Router 137 responds with an ARP Reply which
contains the hardware address
ARP Packet Format
Ethernet II header
Destination
address
Source
address
Type
0x8060
ARP Request or ARP Reply
28
10
Hardware type (2 bytes)
Hardware address
length (1 byte)
Padding
CRC
4
Protocol type (2 bytes)
Protocol address
length (1 byte)
Operation code (2 bytes)
Source hardware address*
Source protocol address*
Target hardware address*
Target protocol address*
* Note: The length of the address fields is determined by the corresponding address length fields
Example
ARP Request from Argon:
Source hardware address:
Source protocol address:
Target hardware address:
Target protocol address:
00:a0:24:71:e4:44
128.143.137.144
00:00:00:00:00:00
128.143.137.1
ARP Reply from Router137:
Source hardware address:
Source protocol address:
Target hardware address:
Target protocol address:
00:e0:f9:23:a8:20
128.143.137.1
00:a0:24:71:e4:44
128.143.137.144
ARP Cache
Since sending an ARP request/reply for each
IP datagram is inefficient, hosts maintain a
cache (ARP Cache) of current entries. The
entries expire after 20 minutes.
Contents of the ARP Cache:
(128.143.71.37) at 00:10:4B:C5:D1:15 [ether] on eth0
(128.143.71.36) at 00:B0:D0:E1:17:D5 [ether] on eth0
(128.143.71.35) at 00:B0:D0:DE:70:E6 [ether] on eth0
(128.143.136.90) at 00:05:3C:06:27:35 [ether] on eth1
(128.143.71.34) at 00:B0:D0:E1:17:DB [ether] on eth0
(128.143.71.33) at 00:B0:D0:E1:17:DF [ether] on eth0
Things to know about ARP
What happens if an ARP Request is made for a nonexisting host?
Several ARP requests are made with increasing
time intervals between requests. Eventually, ARP
gives up.
On some systems (including Linux) a host periodically
sends ARP Requests for all addresses listed in the ARP
cache. This refreshes the ARP cache content, but also
introduces traffic.
Gratuitous ARP Requests: A host sends an ARP request
for its own IP address:
Useful for detecting if an IP address has already been assigned.
Dynamic Assignment of IP
addresses
Dynamic assignment of IP addresses is
desirable for several reasons:
Three Protocols:
IP addresses are assigned on-demand
Avoid manual IP configuration
Support mobility of laptops
RARP (until 1985, no longer used)
BOOTP (1985-1993)
DHCP (since 1993)
Only DHCP is widely used today.
Solutions for dynamic
assignment of IP addresses
Reverse Address Resolution Protocol
(RARP)
RARP is no longer used
Works similar to ARP
Broadcast a request for the IP address
associated with a given MAC address
RARP server responds with an IP address
Only assigns IP address (not the default router
and subnetmask)
IP address
(32 bit)
ARP
RARP
Ethernet MAC
address
(48 bit)
DHCP
Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol
(DHCP)
Designed in 1993
An extension of BOOTP (Many similarities to BOOTP)
Same port numbers as BOOTP
Extensions:
Supports temporary allocation (leases) of IP addresses
DHCP client can acquire all IP configuration parameters
DHCP is the preferred mechanism for dynamic
assignment of IP addresses
DHCP can interoperate with BOOTP clients.
DHCP Interaction (simplified)
Argon
00:a0:24:71:e4:44
DHCP Request
00:a0:24:71:e4:44
Sent to 255.255.255.255
DHCP Server
DHCP Operation
DCHP DISCOVER
DCHP OFFER
DHCP Operation
DCHP REQUEST
At this time, the DHCP client can start to use the
IP address
Renewing a Lease
(sent when 50% of lease has expired)
If DHCP server sends DHCPNACK, then address is released.
DHCP Operation
DCHP RELEASE
At this time, the DHCP client has released the IP
address
