Modifying DHCP Service Options (Task Map)

You can change values for some additional features of the DHCP service, which might not have been offered during the initial configuration with DHCP Manager. To change service options, you can use the Modify Service Options dialog box in DHCP Manager. Or you can specify options with the dhcpconfig command.

The following task map shows the tasks related to service options and the procedures to use.

Task	Description	For Instructions
Change logging options.	Enable or disable logging, and select a syslog facility to use for logging DHCP transactions.	How to Generate Verbose DHCP Log Messages (DHCP Manager) How to Generate Verbose DHCP Log Messages (Command Line) How to Enable and Disable DHCP Transaction Logging (DHCP Manager) How to Enable and Disable DHCP Transaction Logging (Command Line) How to Log DHCP Transactions to a Separate syslog File
Change DNS update options.	Enable or disable server's capability to dynamically add DNS entries for clients that supply a host name. Determine the maximum time the server should spend attempting to update DNS.	How to Enable Dynamic DNS Updating for DHCP Clients
Enable or disable duplicate IP address detection.	Enable or disable the DHCP server's capability to determine that an IP address is not already in use before offering the address to a client.	How to Customize DHCP Performance Options (DHCP Manager) How to Customize DHCP Performance Options (Command Line)
Change options for the DHCP server's reading of configuration information.	Enable or disable the automatic reading of dhcptab at specified intervals, or change the interval between reads.	How to Customize DHCP Performance Options (DHCP Manager) How to Customize DHCP Performance Options (Command Line)
Change the number of relay agent hops.	Increase or decrease the number of networks a request can travel through before being dropped by the DHCP daemon.	How to Customize DHCP Performance Options (DHCP Manager) How to Customize DHCP Performance Options (Command Line)
Change the length of time an IP address offer is cached.	Increase or decrease the number of seconds that the DHCP service reserves an offered IP address before offering the address to a new client.	How to Customize DHCP Performance Options (DHCP Manager) How to Customize DHCP Performance Options (Command Line)

The following figure shows DHCP Manager's Modify Service Options dialog box.

Figure 15-3 Modify Service Options Dialog Box in DHCP Manager

Changing DHCP Logging Options

The DHCP service can log DHCP service messages and DHCP transactions to syslog. See the syslogd(1M) and syslog.conf(4) man pages for more information about syslog.

DHCP service messages logged to syslog include the following:

• Error messages, which notify you of conditions that prevent the DHCP service from fulfilling a request by a client or by you.

• Warnings and notices, which notify you of conditions that are abnormal, but do not prevent the DHCP service from fulfilling a request.

You can increase the amount of information that is reported by using the verbose option for the DHCP daemon. Verbose message output can help you troubleshoot DHCP problems. See How to Generate Verbose DHCP Log Messages (DHCP Manager).

Another useful troubleshooting technique is transaction logging. Transactions provide information about every interchange between a DHCP server or BOOTP relay and clients. DHCP transactions include the following message types:

• ASSIGN – IP address assignment

• ACK – Server acknowledges that the client accepts the offered IP address, and sends configuration parameters

• EXTEND – Lease extension

• RELEASE – IP address release

• DECLINE – Client is declining address assignment

• INFORM – Client is requesting network configuration parameters but not an IP address

• NAK – Server does not acknowledge a client's request to use a previously used IP address

• ICMP_ECHO – Server detects potential IP address is already in use by another host

BOOTP relay transactions include the following message types:

• RELAY-CLNT – Message is being relayed from the DHCP client to a DHCP server

• RELAY–SRVR – Message is being relayed from the DHCP server to the DHCP client

DHCP transaction logging is disabled by default. When enabled, DHCP transaction logging uses the local0 facility in syslog by default. DHCP transaction messages are generated with a syslog severity level of notice. This security level causes DHCP transactions to be logged to the file where other system notices are logged. However, because the local facility is used, the DHCP transaction messages can be logged separately from other notices. To log the transaction messages separately, you must edit the syslog.conf file to specify a separate log file. See the syslog.conf(4) man page for more information about the syslog.conf file.

You can disable or enable transaction logging, and you can specify a different syslog facility, from local0 through local7, as explained in How to Enable and Disable DHCP Transaction Logging (DHCP Manager). In the server system's syslog.conf file, you can also instruct syslogd to store the DHCP transaction messages in a separate file. See How to Log DHCP Transactions to a Separate syslog File for more information.

How to Generate Verbose DHCP Log Messages (DHCP Manager)

1. In DHCP Manager, choose Modify from the Service menu.

   See How to Start and Stop DHCP Manager for information about DHCP Manager.

   The Modify Service Options dialog box opens and displays the Options tab. See Figure 15-3.

2. Select Verbose Log Messages.
3. Select Restart Server.

   The Restart Server option is near the bottom of the dialog box.

4. Click OK.

   The daemon runs in verbose mode for this session and each subsequent session until you reset this option. Verbose mode can reduce daemon efficiency because of the time that is taken to display messages.

How to Generate Verbose DHCP Log Messages (Command Line)

1. Become superuser or assume a role or user name that is assigned to the DHCP Management profile.

   For more information about the DHCP Management profile, see Setting Up User Access to DHCP Commands.

   Roles contain authorizations and privileged commands. For more information about roles, see Configuring RBAC (Task Map) in System Administration Guide: Security Services.

2. Type the following command to set verbose mode:

   # /usr/sbin/dhcpconfig -P VERBOSE=true

   The next time the DHCP server starts, the server runs in verbose mode until you turn off verbose mode.

   To turn off verbose mode, type the following command:

   # /usr/sbin/dhcpconfig -P VERBOSE=

   This command sets the VERBOSE keyword to no value, which causes the keyword to be removed from the server's configuration file.

   Verbose mode can reduce daemon efficiency because of the time that is taken to display messages.

How to Enable and Disable DHCP Transaction Logging (DHCP Manager)

This procedure enables and disables transaction logging for all subsequent DHCP server sessions.

1. In DHCP Manager, choose Modify from the Service menu.

   See How to Start and Stop DHCP Manager for information about DHCP Manager.

2. Select Log Transactions to Syslog Facility.

   To disable transaction logging, deselect this option.

3. (Optional) Select a local facility from 0 to 7 to use for logging DHCP transactions.

   By default, DHCP transactions are logged to the location where system notices are logged, which depends on how syslogd is configured. If you want the DHCP transactions to be logged to a file separate from other system notices, see How to Log DHCP Transactions to a Separate syslog File.

   Message files can quickly become very large when transaction logging is enabled.

4. Select Restart Server.
5. Click OK.

   The daemon logs transactions to the selected syslog facility for this session and each subsequent session until you disable logging.

How to Enable and Disable DHCP Transaction Logging (Command Line)

1. Become superuser or assume a role or user name that is assigned to the DHCP Management profile.

   For more information about the DHCP Management profile, see Setting Up User Access to DHCP Commands.

   Roles contain authorizations and privileged commands. For more information about roles, see Configuring RBAC (Task Map) in System Administration Guide: Security Services.

2. Choose one of the following steps:
   • To enable DHCP transaction logging, type the following command:

     # /usr/sbin/dhcpconfig -P LOGGING_FACILITY=syslog-local-facility

     syslog-local-facility is a number from 0 through 7. If you omit this option, 0 is used.

     By default, DHCP transactions are logged to the location where system notices are logged, which depends on how syslogd is configured. If you want the DHCP transactions to be logged to a file separate from other system notices, see How to Log DHCP Transactions to a Separate syslog File.

     Message files can quickly become very large when transaction logging is enabled.

   • To disable DHCP transaction logging, type the following command:

     # /usr/sbin/dhcpconfig -P LOGGING_FACILITY=

     Note that you supply no value for the parameter.

How to Log DHCP Transactions to a Separate syslog File

1. Become superuser or assume an equivalent role on the DHCP server system.

   Roles contain authorizations and privileged commands. For more information about roles, see Configuring RBAC (Task Map) in System Administration Guide: Security Services.

   A role that is assigned to the DHCP Management profile might not be sufficient for this task. The role must have permission to edit syslog files.

2. Edit the /etc/syslog.conf file on the server system to add a line of the following format:

   localn.notice     path-to-logfile

   n is the syslog facility number you specified for transaction logging, and path-to-logfile is the complete path to the file to use for logging transactions.

   For example, you might add the following line:

   local0.notice /var/log/dhcpsrvc

   See the syslog.conf(4) man page for more information about the syslog.conf file.

Enabling Dynamic DNS Updates by a DHCP Server

DNS provides name-to-address and address-to-name services for the Internet. Once a DNS mapping is made, a system can be reached through its host name or its IP address. The system is also reachable from outside its domain.

The DHCP service can use DNS in two ways:

• The DHCP server can look up the host name that is mapped to an IP address that the server is assigning to the client. The server then returns the client's host name along with the client's other configuration information.

• The DHCP server can attempt to make a DNS mapping on a client's behalf, if the DHCP server is configured to update DNS. The client can supply its own host name when requesting DHCP service. If configured to make DNS updates, the DHCP server attempts to update DNS with the client's suggested host name. If the DNS update is successful, the DHCP server returns the requested host name to the client. If the DNS update is not successful, the DHCP server returns a different host name to the client.

You can enable the DHCP service to update the DNS service for DHCP clients that supply their own host names. For the DNS update feature to work, the DNS server, the DHCP server, and the DHCP client must be set up correctly. In addition, the requested host name must not be in use by another system in the domain.

The DHCP server's DNS update feature works if the following statements are true:

• The DNS server supports RFC 2136.

• The DNS software is based on BIND v8.2.2, patch level 5 or later, whether on the DHCP server system or the DNS server system.

• The DNS server is configured to accept dynamic DNS updates from the DHCP server.

• The DHCP server is configured to make dynamic DNS updates.

• DNS support is configured for the DHCP client's network on the DHCP server.

• The DHCP client is configured to supply a requested host name in its DHCP request message.

• The requested host name corresponds to a DHCP-owned address. The host name could also have no corresponding address.

How to Enable Dynamic DNS Updating for DHCP Clients

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Note - Be aware that dynamic DNS updates are a security risk.

By default, the Solaris DNS daemon (in.named) does not allow dynamic updates. Authorization for dynamic DNS updates is granted in the named.conf configuration file on the DNS server system. No other security is provided. You must carefully weigh the convenience of this facility for users against the security risk created when you enable dynamic DNS updates.

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1. On the DNS server, edit the /etc/named.conf file as superuser.
2. Find the zone section for the appropriate domain in the named.conf file.
3. Add the DHCP server's IP addresses to the allow-update keyword.

   If the allow-update keyword does not exist, insert the keyword.

   For example, if the DHCP server resides at addresses 10.0.0.1 and 10.0.0.2, a named.conf file for the dhcp.domain.com zone should be modified as follows:

   zone "dhcp.domain.com" in {
                type master;
                file "db.dhcp";
                allow-update { 10.0.0.1; 10.0.0.2; }; 
   };  
    
   zone "10.IN-ADDR.ARPA" in {
                type master;
                file "db.10"; 
                allow-update { 10.0.0.1; 10.0.0.2; };
   }; 

   Note that allow-update for both zones must be enabled to allow the DHCP server to update both A and PTR records on the DNS server.

4. On the DHCP server, start DHCP Manager.

   # /usr/sadm/admin/bin/dhcpmgr &

   See How to Start and Stop DHCP Manager for more detailed information.

5. Choose Modify from the Service menu.

   The Modify Service Options dialog box opens.

6. Select Update DNS Host Information Upon Client Request.
7. Specify the number of seconds to wait for a response from the DNS server before timing out, then click OK.

   The default value of 15 seconds should be adequate. If you have time out problems, you can increase the value later.

8. Click the Macros tab, and ensure that the correct DNS domain is specified.

   The DNSdmain option must be passed with the correct domain name to any client that expects dynamic DNS update support. By default, DNSdmain is specified in the server macro, which is used as the configuration macro bound to each IP address.

9. Set up the DHCP client to specify its host name when requesting DHCP service.

   If you use the Solaris DHCP client, see How to Enable a Solaris Client to Request a Specific Host Name. If your client is not a Solaris DHCP client, see the documentation for your DHCP client for information about how to specify a host name.

Client Host Name Registration

If you let the DHCP server generate host names for the IP addresses that you place in the DHCP service, the DHCP server can register those host names in NIS+, /etc/inet/hosts, or DNS name services. Host name registration cannot be done in NIS because NIS does not provide a protocol to allow programs to update and propagate NIS maps.

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Note - The DHCP server can update DNS with generated host names only if the DNS server and the DHCP server are running on the same system.

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If a DHCP client provides its host name and the DNS server is configured to allow dynamic updates from the DHCP server, the DHCP server can update DNS on the client's behalf. Dynamic updates can be done even if the DNS and DHCP servers are running on different systems. See Enabling Dynamic DNS Updates by a DHCP Server for more information about enabling this feature.

The following table summarizes client host name registration for DHCP client systems with the various name services.

Table 15-2 Client Host Name Registration in Name Services

	Who Registers Host Name
Name Service	DHCP-Generated Host Name	DHCP Client-Supplied Host Name
NIS	NIS Administrator	NIS Administrator
NIS+	DHCP tools	DHCP tools
/etc/hosts	DHCP tools	DHCP tools
DNS	DHCP tools, if the DNS server runs on the same system as the DHCP server DNS Administrator, if the DNS server runs on a different system	DHCP server, if configured for dynamic DNS updates DNS Administrator, if DHCP server is not configured for dynamic DNS updates

Solaris DHCP clients can request particular host names in DHCP requests if configured to do so as described in How to Enable a Solaris Client to Request a Specific Host Name. Refer to the vendor documentation for other DHCP clients to determine if the capability is supported.

Customizing Performance Options for the DHCP Server

You can change options that affect the performance of the DHCP server. These options are described in the following table.

Table 15-3 Options Affecting DHCP Server Performance

Server Option	Description	Keyword
Maximum number of BOOTP relay agent hops	If a request has traveled through more than a given number of BOOTP relay agents, the request is dropped. The default maximum number of relay agent hops is four. This number is likely to be sufficient for most networks. A network might need more than four hops if DHCP requests pass through several BOOTP relay agents before reaching a DHCP server.	RELAY_HOPS=integer
Detect duplicate addresses	By default, the server pings an IP address before offering the address to a client. A lack of response to the ping verifies that the address is not already in use. You can disable this feature to decrease the time that the server takes to make an offer. However, disabling the feature creates the risk of having duplicate IP addresses in use.	ICMP_VERIFY=TRUE/FALSE
Reload dhcptab automatically at specified intervals	The server can be set to automatically read the dhcptab at the interval, in minutes, that you specify. If your network configuration information does not change frequently, and you do not have multiple DHCP servers, you do not need to reload the dhcptab automatically. Also, note that DHCP Manager gives you the option to have the server reload the dhcptab after you make a change to the data.	RESCAN_INTERVAL=min
Cache offers of IP addresses for specified intervals	After a server offers an IP address to a client, the offer is cached. While the offer is cached, the server does not offer the address again. You can change the number of seconds for which the offer is cached. The default is 10 seconds. On slow networks, you might need to increase the offer time.	OFFER_CACHE_TIMEOUT=sec

The following procedures describe how to change these options.

How to Customize DHCP Performance Options (DHCP Manager)

1. In DHCP Manager, choose Modify from the Service menu.

   See How to Start and Stop DHCP Manager for information about DHCP Manager.

2. Change the desired options.

   See Table 15-3 for information about the options.

3. Select Restart Server.
4. Click OK.

How to Customize DHCP Performance Options (Command Line)

If you change options with this procedure, the changed options are used only after the DHCP server is restarted.

1. Become superuser or assume a role or user name that is assigned to the DHCP Management profile.

   For more information about the DHCP Management profile, see Setting Up User Access to DHCP Commands.

   Roles contain authorizations and privileged commands. For more information about roles, see Configuring RBAC (Task Map) in System Administration Guide: Security Services.

2. Modify one or more performance options:

   # /usr/sbin/dhcpconfig -P keyword=value,keyword=value...

   keyword=value can be any of the following keywords:

   RELAY_HOPS=integer

   Specifies the maximum number of relay agent hops that can occur before the daemon drops the DHCP or BOOTP datagram.

   ICMP_VERIFY=TRUE/FALSE

   Enables or disables automatic duplicate IP address detection. Setting this keyword to FALSE is not recommended.

   RESCAN_INTERVAL=minutes

   Specifies the interval in minutes that the DHCP server should use to schedule the automatic rereading of the dhcptab information.

   OFFER_CACHE_TIMEOUT=seconds

   Specifies the number of seconds the DHCP server should cache the offers that are extended to discovering DHCP clients. The default setting is 10 seconds.

Example 15-1 Setting DHCP Performance Options

The following is an example of how to specify all the command options.

# dhcpconfig -P RELAY_HOPS=2,ICMP_VERIFY=TRUE,\ RESCAN_INTERVAL=30,OFFER_CACHE_TIMEOUT=20