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Linux-powered networking, Part 2: Set up a DHCP server to manage IP addresses

Keith Robertson (keithrob@us.ibm.com), Software Engineer, IBM
Keith Robertson is an Advisory Software Engineer at IBM in Research Triangle Park, NC. He is pursuing a master's degree in computer networking at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, NC. His background includes experience with networking technologies and software-development techniques. He has a working knowledge of low-level telecom networking protocols (such as SIP and MEGACO) and IP networking management protocols (such as SNMP and ICMP). He is also skilled at C/C++ and the Java programming language. You can contact Keith at keithrob@us.ibm.com.

Summary:  The second in a three-part series on how to leverage Linux® to get the most from your network, this tutorial shows how to set up a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server with Internet Systems Consortium (ISC) DHCP. Sample code and configuration files are provided throughout to aid understanding.

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Date:  30 Nov 2004
Level:  Introductory
PDF:  A4 and Letter (43 KB | 8 pages)Get Adobe® Reader®

Activity:  8600 views
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Before you start

About this tutorial

Setting up and running a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server has many advantages for the system administrator:

  • You can dynamically assign IP addresses to network clients.
  • You can inform clients of the default gateway and closest WINS server.
  • You can broadcast all sorts of important network service information to clients.

By maximizing ISC DHCP's many configuration options, you can broadcast different information to different hosts based on their physical address, deny certain devices information, or give certain devices (such as printers) the same IP address for each request, making them appear as a static address. Combined, these properties can help reduce the number of times that you need to visit the hundreds or even thousands of machines you are responsible for.

This tutorial is the second in a three-part series, designed to demonstrate how to leverage Linux to get the most from your network. With sample code and configuration files, this tutorial shows how to set up a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server with the Internet Systems Consortium (ISC) DHCP.

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Prerequisites

For this tutorial, we'll build upon the network described in Part 1 of this tutorial series. If you haven't read that tutorial, you should before proceeding with this Part 2.

The network described in this tutorial series is intentionally small so that you can easily duplicate the examples on a home or lab network. It's shown in the following diagram. In this tutorial, we will use a DHCP daemon from the Internet Systems Consortium.


Figure 1. The network's layout
The network's layout

The ISC software is free and you can get it in a number of ways. I recommend that you get a precompiled version (via RPM, for example) from your Linux vendor's FTP mirror. You can also download the source from the Internet Systems Consortium.

This tutorial is intended for readers with moderate UNIX® or Linux familiarity and an understanding of basic IP networking concepts.

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TutorialTitle=Linux-powered networking, Part 2: Set up a DHCP server to manage IP addresses
publish-date=11302004
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