What DHCP server are you using? reddit / freebsd ---------------------------------------------------------------------- darkempath · 2023-12-27 09:15 I've been using ISC-DHCP-server since 2004, and it Just Works™ and it's been great. I've got it configured with reservations and assigning different DNS etc depending on device (e.g. my partner's Kindle won't connect to the Amazon server if it uses my Pi-Hole for DNS). But in my efforts to re-evaluate my setup as I move to 14, I discovered ISC-DHCP-server was [discontinued in 2022](https://www.isc.org/dhcp/) and is no longer being maintained by the ISC! They are now recommending Kea, which I must confess I've never heard of. What are you using? I don't expect ISC-DHCP-server to be removed from ports any time soon, but I'm thinking I should move to an actively maintained DHCP server ***now*** before I'm forced to move later. I'll probably move to Kea, but has anybody had any issues with it? Is it still a bit immature? Does anybody have any other preference? What do you like about your choice? Should I just stick with ISC-DHCP- server until the release of FreeBSD 15? (I'm only interested in running a DHCP server, if you don't run one or just want to tell me to use my router's DHCP or whatever I don't care. Please don't post unless you have an opinion on which DHCP server should be run on FreeBSD.) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- dewyke · 2023-12-27 09:33 Dnsmasq works well for small installations. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Xzenor · 2023-12-27 09:36 Why not use the built-in dhcp server of your pihole? Like, honest question. I assume you considered it but found something not matching with your requirements.. So I wonder what ---------------------------------------------------------------------- darkempath · 2023-12-27 09:40 Because I want to use my FreeBSD server. I don't like linux, and I only use it on my Pis because the wifi doesn't work under FreeBSD. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- darkempath · 2023-12-27 09:41 Hmm. I always associated dnsmasq with DNS, not DHCP. I hadn't considered it. I'll take a look, thanks! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Xzenor · 2023-12-27 09:42 Perfectly viable answer imho. (That's NOT sarcasm btw) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- driesmp · 2023-12-27 09:52 Kea works great, I have transitioned away from isc-dhcpd a while back, no issues at all on my FreeBSD box. It even supports dhcpv6 ;) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- bufandatl · 2023-12-27 11:23 Atm ISC-dhcp-server with failover peer configuration. But started to test ISC-kea. As the dhcp-server sadly is eol. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- mloiterman · 2023-12-27 14:14 I started using Kea about a year ago and it works well with tons of features. I don’t recall the specifics of what was improved, but the bottom line is that dhcp-server is going away no matter what. So, I would say to just bite the bullet and start to change over now. I’ve made a lot of other changes to my network, but my recollection is that the config files are somewhat different. So that’s probably going to take some time for you to sort out. pfSense has started making the transition too. So you might want to look at their GitHub page to see if they have any scripts that make converting your config file easier or possibly entirely automated. Let me know if if you have any questions and I can dig up my old and new files to see how I I handled certain aspects of the conversion. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ChunkyBezel · 2023-12-27 15:19 I've been using Kea for a year or two now, given that isc-dhcpd is discontinued. It works well. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- darkempath · 2023-12-27 16:08 Excellent, thank you. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- darkempath · 2023-12-27 16:09 Cool, that's the way I was headed as well. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- darkempath · 2023-12-27 16:11 Thank you, I assumed I'd go that way, I'm very happy to hear you've had no issues. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- didact · 2023-12-27 16:49 IIRC pfsense uses dnsmasq, so that's what I'm doing. Annoyingly, pfsense doesn't give you the buttons to configure it for networks to which it isn't directly connected. If you were to run it independently and write the config, however, you could get that working. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- darkempath · 2023-12-27 16:56 I ***really*** noticed the change in formatting. Apparently Kea is in JSON format, which I have no experience with. My first reaction was "Shit! I'm scared of things that are different!" But the general consensus is that Kea is a natural successor to ISC- DHCP-server, and that it works quite well. I think I'm going to move to Kea before I head back to work next week. And of course, once configured, I don't have to mess with it often (just when I need to add a new reservation). That's something I can do. Thank you for your response, and your offer, it's very very much appreciated. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- CSI_Tech_Dept · 2023-12-27 17:32 It is both, but it was designed to be simple for simple use cases, but it might be good enough for you. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- sus3k · 2023-12-27 18:20 I too am currently using ISC-DHCP-Server and have been for probably 20 years as well. I've never had to worry about it but now that you mention it has dropped support I guess I'm going to have to keep my eye out and get ready to switch, if need be. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- johnklos · 2023-12-27 18:36 Personally, I don't care if software is abandoned so long as it's actively used. If a vulnerability came out for ISC `dhcpd`, I'm certain it would get local (to the BSDs) patches immediately. The IT / software world is largely unfamiliar with the concept of "finished" software, but it is a thing - it's something that works darned well, doesn't need new features, and is both common enough and understood well enough that security issues will be fixed regardless of the state of the project. Software that doesn't have active maintainers isn't necessarily going to magically become insecure if left alone. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- OwnPomegranate5906 · 2023-12-27 19:44 I somewhat agree. You can in fact get to a point where the software does everything it is intended to do, AND has been in use long enough and so thoroughly tested through that usage that it literally has no need for more code changes unless you just want to change stuff for the sake of change. I feel that single use software services like DHCP, DNS, NTP (etc), should have been in that state for quite a long time by now. Granted, they may need updates over time as the underlying platforms they run on top of get changed, or libraries that they rely on change over time, and that is where having something that is actively maintained can be handy, but otherwise, if it works, does one or two things and does them well, the need to change to something else is greatly diminished. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- andrewm659 · 2023-12-27 21:31 I recently tried Kea using a few howtos on the web. It did not go well. I want to use it. But I want the Web/API portion to work as well. I don't think that was part of the FreeBSD package. I can't remember. ​ I plan to give it another try....soon?? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- s2r_ · 2023-12-27 21:43 Which of the alternatives integrates well with Samba (AD) ? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- linkoid01 · 2023-12-28 00:39 This is a big nuisance to me that I cannot setup my pfsense router to hand out IPs for networks that have the SVI on a L3 switch. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- PkHolm · 2023-12-28 01:42 Just FYN. Jq (json query) is a fantastic tool to handle Json in scripts. Should be handy with kea ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Portbragger2 · 2023-12-28 05:12 i am running freebsd based opnsense as a router/firewall. but even with 25+ network devices i went for a completely statically configured network. it makes integrating new devices a more decisive act. it adds an additional layer of control and also i like to reliably know my machines by unique immutable ip... ---------------------------------------------------------------------- didact · 2023-12-28 21:05 Yup... I've got my core setup probably the way you do, with an L3 switch. Couple of pfsense instances all peered up with OSPF so that I can reboot/upgrade them at will and not lose any connectivity. DHCP is single threaded on a third instance... Totally needs to be fixed. pfsync will also not transfer over the leases, so if you have to light up DHCP on an alternate host it's all chaos at renewal time. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- darkempath · 2023-12-29 02:23 I could probably get away with dnsmasq, but I think I'll go with Kea. Once I wrap my head around the JSON config format, I'll be fine. But thanks very much for your response. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- darkempath · 2023-12-29 02:27 Ah, thanks for this, it's something I hadn't thought about. I doubt that's something I'll need any time soon (I wasn't doing anything like that with ISC-dhcp-server), but it's something to know, thankyou. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- darkempath · 2023-12-29 02:32 I have no idea! I'm using ports, and I've compiled Samba *without* AD, so it's really not a consideration for me. But I've had lots of good responses, and this is one. I'm hoping anybody else who has a similar question about DHCP will be given a bunch of things to thing about :-) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- andrewm659 · 2023-12-29 03:46 There is an ansible role for this as well.