Using Groups to Administer DHCP Servers in a Domain

Applies To: Windows Server 2008

When you add a user or group to DHCP Users or DHCP Administrators on a DHCP server, the rights of the DHCP group member do not apply to all of the DHCP servers in the domain. The rights apply only to the DHCP service on the local computer. To assign rights to a user or group that will apply to all of the DHCP servers in the domain, you can add the user or group to the DHCP Administrators group on each DHCP server in the domain. This approach is practical only on a small network with one or two DHCP servers.

An alternative approach is to add the user or group to the global group called Domain Admins. Members of the Domain Admins group can administer all of the DHCP servers in the domain. However, the administrative rights of Domain Admins are not limited to the DHCP service on each DHCP server. Domain Admins have complete administrative rights on all of the computers in the domain. For this reason, we recommend that you do not add users or groups to the Domain Admins group only because you want to assign administrative rights for the DHCP service on all of the DHCP servers in the domain.

To add groups or users for administrative access, use the following procedures:

• Add a Group or User as a DHCP Administrator at a Domain Controller

• Add a Group or User as a DHCP Administrator at a Member Server

• Add a Group or User as a DHCP User at a Domain Controller

• Add a Group or User as a DHCP User at a Member Server

For more information about delegating administrative credentials, see Delegate Ability to Authorize DHCP Servers to a Non-Enterprise Administrator.