kea-dhcp4(8)
ISC Kea DHCPv4 server for assigning IPv4 addresses and network configuration to clients.
Synopsis
kea-dhcp4 [-v] [-V] [-W] [-d] [-c FILE] [-p PORT]Description
kea-dhcp4 is the ISC Kea Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server for IPv4 networks. It assigns IP addresses and provides network configuration parameters (DNS servers, gateways, etc.) to DHCP clients on the network.
Kea is a modern, modular DHCP server designed to be more flexible and maintainable than ISC DHCP. It reads configuration from a JSON file and supports advanced features like hooks, host reservations, and high availability.
The server runs as a daemon and listens on UDP port 67 by default. It can be controlled via the control socket or REST API if enabled in the configuration.
Common options
| Flag | What it does |
|---|---|
-v | Print version number and exit |
-V | Print extended version information and exit |
-W | Display copyright and license information |
-d | Run in debug mode (do not daemonize, verbose logging to stdout) |
-c FILE | Use FILE as the configuration file (JSON format) |
-p PORT | Override the port number for DHCPv4 server communication |
-t | Test the configuration file and exit without starting the server |
-u USERNAME | Run the server as the specified user (if running as root) |
Examples
Start the Kea DHCPv4 server using the default configuration file
kea-dhcp4 -c /etc/kea/kea-dhcp4.confRun in debug mode without daemonizing; useful for testing and troubleshooting
kea-dhcp4 -d -c /etc/kea/kea-dhcp4.confValidate the JSON configuration file syntax without starting the server
kea-dhcp4 -t -c /etc/kea/kea-dhcp4.confStart the Kea DHCPv4 server using systemd
systemctl start kea-dhcp4Display the version number and exit
kea-dhcp4 -vQuery the running DHCPv4 server for its current configuration
kea-shell --service dhcp4 -- dhcp4-get-config