| dhclient(8) | System Manager's Manual | dhclient(8) |
dhclient - Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol Client
dhclient [ -4 | -6 ] [ -S ] [ -N [ -N... ] ] [ -T [ -T... ] ] [ -P [ -P... ] ] -R ] [ -i ] [ -I ] [ -4o6 port ] [ -D LL|LLT ] [ -p port-number ] [ -d ] [ -df duid-lease-file ] [ -e VAR=value ] [ -q ] [ -1 ] [ -r | -x ] [ -lf lease-file ] [ -pf pid-file ] [ --no-pid ] [ -cf config-file ] [ -sf script-file ] [ -s server-addr ] [ -g relay ] [ -n ] [ -nw ] [ -w ] [ --dad-wait-time seconds ] [ --prefix-len-hint length ] [ --decline-wait-time seconds ] [ -v ] [ --version ] [ if0 [ ...ifN ] ]
The Internet Systems Consortium DHCP Client, dhclient, provides a means for configuring one or more network interfaces using the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol, BOOTP protocol, or if these protocols fail, by statically assigning an address.
The DHCP protocol allows a host to contact a central server which maintains a list of IP addresses which may be assigned on one or more subnets. A DHCP client may request an address from this pool, and then use it on a temporary basis for communication on network. The DHCP protocol also provides a mechanism whereby a client can learn important details about the network to which it is attached, such as the location of a default router, the location of a name server, and so on.
There are two versions of the DHCP protocol DHCPv4 and DHCPv6. At startup the client may be started for one or the other via the -4 or -6 options.
On startup, dhclient reads the dhclient.conf for configuration instructions. It then gets a list of all the network interfaces that are configured in the current system. For each interface, it attempts to configure the interface using the DHCP protocol.
In order to keep track of leases across system reboots and server restarts, dhclient keeps a list of leases it has been assigned in the dhclient.leases file. On startup, after reading the dhclient.conf file, dhclient reads the dhclient.leases file to refresh its memory about what leases it has been assigned.
When a new lease is acquired, it is appended to the end of the dhclient.leases file. In order to prevent the file from becoming arbitrarily large, from time to time dhclient creates a new dhclient.leases file from its in-core lease database. The old version of the dhclient.leases file is retained under the name dhclient.leases~ until the next time dhclient rewrites the database.
Old leases are kept around in case the DHCP server is unavailable when dhclient is first invoked (generally during the initial system boot process). In that event, old leases from the dhclient.leases file which have not yet expired are tested, and if they are determined to be valid, they are used until either they expire or the DHCP server becomes available.
A mobile host which may sometimes need to access a network on which no DHCP server exists may be preloaded with a lease for a fixed address on that network. When all attempts to contact a DHCP server have failed, dhclient will try to validate the static lease, and if it succeeds, will use that lease until it is restarted.
A mobile host may also travel to some networks on which DHCP is not available but BOOTP is. In that case, it may be advantageous to arrange with the network administrator for an entry on the BOOTP database, so that the host can boot quickly on that network rather than cycling through the list of old leases.
The names of the network interfaces that dhclient should attempt to configure may be specified on the command line. If no interface names are specified on the command line dhclient will normally identify all network interfaces, eliminating non-broadcast interfaces if possible, and attempt to configure each interface.
It is also possible to specify interfaces by name in the dhclient.conf file. If interfaces are specified in this way, then the client will only configure interfaces that are either specified in the configuration file or on the command line, and will ignore all other interfaces.
The client normally prints no output during its startup sequence. It can be made to emit verbose messages displaying the startup sequence events until it has acquired an address by supplying the -v command line argument. In either case, the client logs messages using the syslog(3) facility.
--version Print version number and exit.
Options available for DHCPv6 mode:
Note well: enabling this may prevent the client from using any leases it receives if the servers aren't configured to supply all of the items.
Modifying default file locations: The following options can be used to modify the locations a client uses for its files. They can be particularly useful if, for example, /var/lib/dhcp or /var/run have not been mounted when the DHCP client is started.
During operations the client may use multiple UDP ports to provide different functions. Which ports are opened depends on both the way you compiled your code and the configuration you supply. The following should provide you an idea of what ports may be in use.
Normally a DHCPv4 client will open a raw UDP socket to receive and send most DHCPv4 packets. It also opens a fallback UDP socket for use in sending unicast packets. Normally these will both use the well known port number for BOOTPC.
For DHCPv6 the client opens a UDP socket on the well known client port and a fallback UDP socket on a random port for use in sending unicast messages. Unlike DHCPv4 the well known socket doesn't need to be opened in raw mode.
If you have included an omapi port statement in your configuration file then the client will open a TCP socket on that port to listen for OMPAI connections. When something connects another port will be used for the established connection.
When DDNS is enabled at compile time (see includes/site.h) the client will open both a v4 and a v6 UDP socket on random ports. These ports are not opened unless/until the client first attempts to do an update. If the client is not configured to do updates, the ports will never be opened.
The syntax of the dhclient.conf(5) file is discussed separately.
The DHCP client provides some ability to control it while it is running, without stopping it. This capability is provided using OMAPI, an API for manipulating remote objects. OMAPI clients connect to the client using TCP/IP, authenticate, and can then examine the client's current status and make changes to it.
Rather than implementing the underlying OMAPI protocol directly, user programs should use the dhcpctl API or OMAPI itself. Dhcpctl is a wrapper that handles some of the housekeeping chores that OMAPI does not do automatically. Dhcpctl and OMAPI are documented in dhcpctl(3) and omapi(3). Most things you'd want to do with the client can be done directly using the omshell(1) command, rather than having to write a special program.
The control object allows you to shut the client down, releasing all leases that it holds and deleting any DNS records it may have added. It also allows you to pause the client - this unconfigures any interfaces the client is using. You can then restart it, which causes it to reconfigure those interfaces. You would normally pause the client prior to going into hibernation or sleep on a laptop computer. You would then resume it after the power comes back. This allows PC cards to be shut down while the computer is hibernating or sleeping, and then reinitialized to their previous state once the computer comes out of hibernation or sleep.
The control object has one attribute - the state attribute. To shut the client down, set its state attribute to 2. It will automatically do a DHCPRELEASE. To pause it, set its state attribute to 3. To resume it, set its state attribute to 4.
The following environment variables may be defined to override the builtin defaults for file locations. Note that use of the related command-line options will ignore the corresponding environment variable settings.
/sbin/dhclient-script, /etc/dhcp/dhclient.conf, /var/lib/dhcp/dhclient.leases, /var/run/dhclient.pid, /var/lib/dhcp/dhclient.leases~.
dhcpd(8), dhcrelay(8), dhclient-script(8), dhclient.conf(5), dhclient.leases(5), dhcp-eval(5).
dhclient(8) To learn more about Internet Systems Consortium, see https://www.isc.org
This client was substantially modified and enhanced by Elliot Poger for use on Linux while he was working on the MosquitoNet project at Stanford.
The current version owes much to Elliot's Linux enhancements, but was substantially reorganized and partially rewritten by Ted Lemon so as to use the same networking framework that the Internet Systems Consortium DHCP server uses. Much system-specific configuration code was moved into a shell script so that as support for more operating systems is added, it will not be necessary to port and maintain system-specific configuration code to these operating systems - instead, the shell script can invoke the native tools to accomplish the same purpose.