Are you looking for steps to install the DHCP server on CentOS? Take a peek at this blog.

Here at Bobcares, we have seen several such CentOS related queries as part of our Server Management Services for web hosts and online service providers.

Today we’ll see how to install DHCP on CentOS.

Know more about DHCP

Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) is a network protocol. It mainly lets the server to automatically assign an IP address and provide other related network configuration parameters to a client on a network, from a pre-defined IP pool.

It means every time a client connects to the network, it gets a dynamic IP address that changes every time while booting.

If your organization has DHCP Server deployed, then the network management would be easy.

How to install a DHCP server on CentOS

Now let’s take a look at how our Support Engineers install DHCP on CentOS.

1. First, install the DHCP server package using the DNF installer.

$ sudo dnf -y install dhcp-server

As a result, of the above command, it will install any dependency that is necessary to run the DHCP Server on CentOS 8/RHEL 8.

2. Next, configure the DHCP server by editing the DHCP server configuration file on CentOS 8 / RHEL 8.

$ sudo vi /etc/dhcp/dhcpd.conf

The configuration file will display different parameters. You can make the necessary changes in it.

Then start and enable the DHCP server once you make the necessary changes in the configuration file.

$ sudo systemctl enable --now dhcpd

In case, if you have the firewalld running then allow the service port to be accessible from your network.

$ sudo firewall-cmd --add-service=dhcp --permanent
$ sudo firewall-cmd --reload

3. Now configure the DHCP client. For that, install a DHCP client in your Linux machine to get an IP address automatically.

----------- CentOS 8 / RHEL 8 / Fedora -----------
$ sudo dnf -y install dhcp-client

----------- CentOS 7/6 -----------
$ sudo yum -y install dhcp-client

Also, you can manually request the DHCP IP address. For that run the below command.

$ sudo dhclient <interface>

For instance: $ sudo dhclient eth0

– Persist configurations – CentOS / RHEL / Fedora with systemd

Edit configurations with nmcli

ifname="eth0"
nmcli connection modify ${ifname} ipv4.method auto
nmcli connection down ${ifname}; nmcli connection up ${ifname}

Manually edit the network configuration file

$ sudo vi /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0
DEVICE="eth0"
BOOTPROTO="dhcp"
ONBOOT="yes"
TYPE="Ethernet"
PERSISTENT_DHCLIENT="yes"

Persist configurations – Debian

$ sudo nano /etc/network/interfaces
iface ens3 inet dhcp

$ sudo systemctl restart ifup@ens3

Persist configurations – Ubuntu

$ sudo nano /etc/netplan/01-netcfg.yaml
network:
version: 2
renderer: networkd
ethernets:
ens3:
dhcp4: yes

$ sudo netplan apply

[Need any further assistance with CentOS queries? – We are here to help you.]

Conclusion

In today’s writeup, we saw how our Support Engineers install a DHCP server on CentOS 8.