dhcpd (an abbreviation for "DHCP daemon") was a DHCP server program that operates as a

daemon A demon is a malevolent supernatural being, evil spirit or fiend in religion, occultism, literature, fiction, mythology and folklore. Demon, daemon or dæmon may also refer to: Entertainment Fictional entities * Daemon (G.I. Joe), a character ...

on a

server Server may refer to: Computing *Server (computing), a computer program or a device that provides requested information for other programs or devices, called clients. Role * Waiting staff, those who work at a restaurant or a bar attending custome ...

to provide

Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol The Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) is a network protocol, network management protocol used on Internet Protocol (IP) networks for automatically assigning IP addresses and other communication parameters to devices connected to the netw ...

(DHCP) service to a

network Network, networking and networked may refer to: Science and technology * Network theory, the study of graphs as a representation of relations between discrete objects * Network science, an academic field that studies complex networks Mathematics ...

. This implementation, also known as ISC DHCP, is one of the first and best known, but there are now a number of other DHCP server software implementations available. Clients may solicit an

IP address An Internet Protocol address (IP address) is a numerical label such as that is assigned to a device connected to a computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication. IP addresses serve two main functions: network interface i ...

from a DHCP server when they need one. The DHCP server then offers the "lease" of an IP address to the client, which the client is free to request or ignore. If the client requests it and the server acknowledges it, then the client is permitted to use that IP address for the "lease time" specified by the server. At some point before the lease expires, the client must re-request the same IP address if it wishes to continue to use it. Issued IP addresses are tracked by dhcpd through a record in the dhcpd.leases file. This allows the server to maintain state over restarts of the dhcp service, which could otherwise lead to duplicate IP addresses being issued when server issued the same IP address again while another client still has the right to use it. This

reference implementation In the software development process, a reference implementation (or, less frequently, sample implementation or model implementation) is a program that implements all requirements from a corresponding specification. The reference implementation ...

DHCP The Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) is a network management protocol used on Internet Protocol (IP) networks for automatically assigning IP addresses and other communication parameters to devices connected to the network using a clie ...

is developed by the

Internet Systems Consortium Internet Systems Consortium, Inc., also known as ISC, is an American non-profit corporation that supports the infrastructure of the universal, self-organizing Internet by developing and maintaining core production-quality software, protocols, and ...

and is supported on

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Mac OS X macOS, previously OS X and originally Mac OS X, is a Unix, Unix-based operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple since 2001. It is the current operating system for Apple's Mac (computer), Mac computers. With ...

FreeBSD FreeBSD is a free-software Unix-like operating system descended from the Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD). The first version was released in 1993 developed from 386BSD, one of the first fully functional and free Unix clones on affordable ...

, and Solaris. Remote access to a running instance of dhcpd is provided by the ''Object Management Application Programming Interface'' (OMAPI). This API allows manipulation of the internal state of a running instance of the dhcpd server or client. On the server side, this interface allows editing of registration information for managed

nodes In general, a node is a localized swelling (a "knot") or a point of intersection (a vertex). Node may refer to: In mathematics *Vertex (graph theory), a vertex in a mathematical graph *Vertex (geometry), a point where two or more curves, lines, ...

. Uses on the client include fetching configuration information, releasing and renewing leases, and changing which interfaces are managed by the DHCP client. ISC DHCP was declared End-of-Life in October, 2022. ISC is developing a new DHCP software system, which is intended to eventually replace it. This software,

Kea The kea ( ; ; ''Nestor notabilis'') is a species of large parrot in the Family (biology), family Strigopidae that is endemic to the forested and alpine regions of the South Island of New Zealand. About long, it is mostly olive-green, with br ...

, includes a DHCP server only (so, no client or relay yet) and is supported on the same platforms as ISC DHCP. It is distributed under the Mozilla Public License (MPL2.0). ISC DHCP adopted the Mozilla Public License (MPL2.0) with the release of 4.4.1.

References

External links

Configuring dhcpd on a wireless access point

dhcpd section in the ISC website

Official FTP repositoryOpen Gitlab repository

Knowledgebase articles on dhcpd
Servers (computing) Software using the ISC license Unix network-related software Free network-related software {{network-software-stub

See also

References

External links