9.2. Configuring a DHCP Server

⁠9.2. Configuring a DHCP Server

The dhcp package contains an Internet Systems Consortium (ISC) DHCP server. Install the package as root:

~]# yum install dhcp

Installing the dhcp package creates a file, /etc/dhcp/dhcpd.conf, which is merely an empty configuration file. As root, issue the following command:

~]# cat /etc/dhcp/dhcpd.conf
#
# DHCP Server Configuration file.
#   see /usr/share/doc/dhcp/dhcpd.conf.example
#   see dhcpd.conf(5) man page
#

The example configuration file can be found at /usr/share/doc/dhcp/dhcpd.conf.example. You should use this file to help you configure /etc/dhcp/dhcpd.conf, which is explained in detail below.

DHCP also uses the file /var/lib/dhcpd/dhcpd.leases to store the client lease database. Refer to Section 9.2.2, “Lease Database” for more information.

⁠9.2.1. Configuration File

The first step in configuring a DHCP server is to create the configuration file that stores the network information for the clients. Use this file to declare options for client systems.

The configuration file can contain extra tabs or blank lines for easier formatting. Keywords are case-insensitive and lines beginning with a hash sign (#) are considered comments.

There are two types of statements in the configuration file:

Parameters — State how to perform a task, whether to perform a task, or what network configuration options to send to the client.
Declarations — Describe the topology of the network, describe the clients, provide addresses for the clients, or apply a group of parameters to a group of declarations.

The parameters that start with the keyword option are referred to as options. These options control DHCP options; whereas, parameters configure values that are not optional or control how the DHCP server behaves.

Parameters (including options) declared before a section enclosed in curly brackets ({ }) are considered global parameters. Global parameters apply to all the sections below it.

Restart the DHCP Daemon for the Changes to Take Effect

If the configuration file is changed, the changes do not take effect until the DHCP daemon is restarted with the command systemctl restart dhcpd.

Use the omshell Command

Instead of changing a DHCP configuration file and restarting the service each time, using the omshell command provides an interactive way to connect to, query, and change the configuration of a DHCP server. By using omshell, all changes can be made while the server is running. For more information on omshell, see the omshell man page.

In Example 9.1, “Subnet Declaration”, the routers, subnet-mask, domain-search, domain-name-servers, and time-offset options are used for any host statements declared below it.

For every subnet which will be served, and for every subnet to which the DHCP server is connected, there must be one subnet declaration, which tells the DHCP daemon how to recognize that an address is on that subnet. A subnet declaration is required for each subnet even if no addresses will be dynamically allocated to that subnet.

In this example, there are global options for every DHCP client in the subnet and a range declared. Clients are assigned an IP address within the range.

⁠

Example 9.1. Subnet Declaration

subnet 192.168.1.0 netmask 255.255.255.0 {
        option routers                  192.168.1.254;
        option subnet-mask              255.255.255.0;
        option domain-search              "example.com";
        option domain-name-servers       192.168.1.1;
        option time-offset              -18000;     # Eastern Standard Time
	range 192.168.1.10 192.168.1.100;
}

To configure a DHCP server that leases a dynamic IP address to a system within a subnet, modify the example values from Example 9.2, “Range Parameter”. It declares a default lease time, maximum lease time, and network configuration values for the clients. This example assigns IP addresses in the range 192.168.1.10 and 192.168.1.100 to client systems.

⁠

Example 9.2. Range Parameter

default-lease-time 600;
max-lease-time 7200;
option subnet-mask 255.255.255.0;
option broadcast-address 192.168.1.255;
option routers 192.168.1.254;
option domain-name-servers 192.168.1.1, 192.168.1.2;
option domain-search "example.com";
subnet 192.168.1.0 netmask 255.255.255.0 {
   range 192.168.1.10 192.168.1.100;
}

To assign an IP address to a client based on the MAC address of the network interface card, use the hardware ethernet parameter within a host declaration. As demonstrated in Example 9.3, “Static IP Address Using DHCP”, the host apex declaration specifies that the network interface card with the MAC address 00:A0:78:8E:9E:AA always receives the IP address 192.168.1.4.

Note that you can also use the optional parameter host-name to assign a host name to the client.

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Example 9.3. Static IP Address Using DHCP

host apex {
   option host-name "apex.example.com";
   hardware ethernet 00:A0:78:8E:9E:AA;
   fixed-address 192.168.1.4;
}

All subnets that share the same physical network should be declared within a shared-network declaration as shown in Example 9.4, “Shared-network Declaration”. Parameters within the shared-network, but outside the enclosed subnet declarations, are considered to be global parameters. The name assigned to shared-network must be a descriptive title for the network, such as using the title “test-lab” to describe all the subnets in a test lab environment.

⁠

Example 9.4. Shared-network Declaration

shared-network name {
    option domain-search              "test.redhat.com";
    option domain-name-servers      ns1.redhat.com, ns2.redhat.com;
    option routers                  192.168.0.254;
    #more parameters for EXAMPLE shared-network
    subnet 192.168.1.0 netmask 255.255.252.0 {
        #parameters for subnet
        range 192.168.1.1 192.168.1.254;
    }
    subnet 192.168.2.0 netmask 255.255.252.0 {
        #parameters for subnet
        range 192.168.2.1 192.168.2.254;
    }
}

As demonstrated in Example 9.5, “Group Declaration”, the group declaration is used to apply global parameters to a group of declarations. For example, shared networks, subnets, and hosts can be grouped.

⁠

Example 9.5. Group Declaration

group {
   option routers                  192.168.1.254;
   option subnet-mask              255.255.255.0;
   option domain-search              "example.com";
   option domain-name-servers       192.168.1.1;
   option time-offset              -18000;     # Eastern Standard Time
   host apex {
      option host-name "apex.example.com";
      hardware ethernet 00:A0:78:8E:9E:AA;
      fixed-address 192.168.1.4;
   }
   host raleigh {
      option host-name "raleigh.example.com";
      hardware ethernet 00:A1:DD:74:C3:F2;
      fixed-address 192.168.1.6;
   }
}

Using the Example Configuration File

You can use the provided example configuration file as a starting point and add custom configuration options to it. To copy this file to the proper location, use the following command as root:

~]# cp /usr/share/doc/dhcp-version_number/dhcpd.conf.example /etc/dhcp/dhcpd.conf

... where version_number is the DHCP version number.

For a complete list of option statements and what they do, see the dhcp-options(5) man page.