


dhclient.conf(5)                                 dhclient.conf(5)


NNAAMMEE
       dhclient.conf - DHCP client configuration file

DDEESSCCRRIIPPTTIIOONN
       The dhclient.conf file contains configuration information for _d_h_c_l_i_e_n_t_,
       the Internet Systems Consortium DHCP Client.

       The dhclient.conf file is a free-form ASCII text file.   It  is  parsed
       by  the  recursive-descent  parser  built into dhclient.   The file may
       contain extra tabs and newlines for formatting purposes.   Keywords  in
       the file are case-insensitive.   Comments may be placed anywhere within
       the file (except within quotes).   Comments begin with the #  character
       and end at the end of the line.

       The  dhclient.conf  file  can be used to configure the behaviour of the
       client  in  a  wide  variety  of  ways:  protocol  timing,  information
       requested from the server, information required of the server, defaults
       to use if the server does not provide certain information, values  with
       which  to  override  information  provided  by the server, or values to
       prepend or append to information provided by the server.  The  configu-
       ration  file  can  also be preinitialized with addresses to use on net-
       works that don't have DHCP servers.

PPRROOTTOOCCOOLL TTIIMMIINNGG
       The timing behaviour of the client need not be configured by the  user.
       If no timing configuration is provided by the user, a fairly reasonable
       timing behaviour will be used by default - one which results in  fairly
       timely updates without placing an inordinate load on the server.

       The  following statements can be used to adjust the timing behaviour of
       the DHCP client if required, however:

       _T_h_e ttiimmeeoouutt _s_t_a_t_e_m_e_n_t

       ttiimmeeoouutt _t_i_m_e ;;

       The _t_i_m_e_o_u_t statement determines the amount  of  time  that  must  pass
       between the time that the client begins to try to determine its address
       and the time that it decides that it's not going to be able to  contact
       a  server.    By  default,  this  timeout is sixty seconds.   After the
       timeout has passed, if there are any static leases defined in the  con-
       figuration  file,  or  any  leases remaining in the lease database that
       have not yet  expired,  the  client  will  loop  through  these  leases
       attempting  to  validate  them,  and if it finds one that appears to be
       valid, it will use that lease's address.   If there are no valid static
       leases  or  unexpired  leases  in  the  lease database, the client will
       restart the protocol after the defined retry interval.

       _T_h_e rreettrryy _s_t_a_t_e_m_e_n_t

        rreettrryy _t_i_m_e;;

       The _r_e_t_r_y statement determines the time that must pass after the client
       has  determined  that  there  is no DHCP server present before it tries



                                                                1





dhclient.conf(5)                                 dhclient.conf(5)


       again to contact a DHCP server.   By default, this is five minutes.

       _T_h_e sseelleecctt--ttiimmeeoouutt _s_t_a_t_e_m_e_n_t

        sseelleecctt--ttiimmeeoouutt _t_i_m_e;;

       It is possible (some might say desirable) for there to be more than one
       DHCP  server  serving any given network.   In this case, it is possible
       that a client may be sent more than one offer in response to  its  ini-
       tial  lease  discovery message.   It may be that one of these offers is
       preferable to the other (e.g., one  offer  may  have  the  address  the
       client previously used, and the other may not).

       The  _s_e_l_e_c_t_-_t_i_m_e_o_u_t  is the time after the client sends its first lease
       discovery request at which it stops waiting for  offers  from  servers,
       assuming  that  it has received at least one such offer.   If no offers
       have been received by the time  the  _s_e_l_e_c_t_-_t_i_m_e_o_u_t  has  expired,  the
       client will accept the first offer that arrives.

       By  default,  the  select-timeout is zero seconds - that is, the client
       will take the first offer it sees.

       _T_h_e rreebboooott _s_t_a_t_e_m_e_n_t

        rreebboooott _t_i_m_e;;

       When the client is restarted, it first  tries  to  reacquire  the  last
       address  it  had.    This  is  called the INIT-REBOOT state.   If it is
       still attached to the same network it was attached to when it last ran,
       this  is  the  quickest way to get started.   The _r_e_b_o_o_t statement sets
       the time that must elapse after the client first tries to reacquire its
       old  address  before  it  gives up and tries to discover a new address.
       By default, the reboot timeout is ten seconds.

       _T_h_e bbaacckkooffff--ccuuttooffff _s_t_a_t_e_m_e_n_t

        bbaacckkooffff--ccuuttooffff _t_i_m_e;;

       The client uses an exponential backoff algorithm with some  randomness,
       so  that  if many clients try to configure themselves at the same time,
       they will not make their requests  in  lockstep.    The  _b_a_c_k_o_f_f_-_c_u_t_o_f_f
       statement  determines  the  maximum  amount  of time that the client is
       allowed to back off,  the  actual  value  will  be  evaluated  randomly
       between  1/2  to  1  1/2 times the _t_i_m_e specified.   It defaults to two
       minutes.

       _T_h_e iinniittiiaall--iinntteerrvvaall _s_t_a_t_e_m_e_n_t

        iinniittiiaall--iinntteerrvvaall _t_i_m_e;;

       The _i_n_i_t_i_a_l_-_i_n_t_e_r_v_a_l statement sets the  amount  of  time  between  the
       first  attempt  to  reach  a  server  and the second attempt to reach a
       server.  Each time a message is sent, the interval between messages  is
       incremented by twice the current interval multiplied by a random number



                                                                2





dhclient.conf(5)                                 dhclient.conf(5)


       between zero and one.  If it is greater than the backoff-cutoff amount,
       it is set to that amount.  It defaults to ten seconds.

LLEEAASSEE RREEQQUUIIRREEMMEENNTTSS AANNDD RREEQQUUEESSTTSS
       The  DHCP protocol allows the client to request that the server send it
       specific information, and not send it other information that it is  not
       prepared  to  accept.    The  protocol also allows the client to reject
       offers from servers if they don't contain information the client needs,
       or if the information provided is not satisfactory.

       There  is  a variety of data contained in offers that DHCP servers send
       to DHCP clients.  The data that can be specifically requested  is  what
       are called _D_H_C_P _O_p_t_i_o_n_s.  DHCP Options are defined in
        ddhhccpp--ooppttiioonnss((55)).

       _T_h_e rreeqquueesstt _s_t_a_t_e_m_e_n_t

        rreeqquueesstt [[ _o_p_t_i_o_n ] [,, _._._. _o_p_t_i_o_n ];;

       The  request  statement  causes  the  client to request that any server
       responding to the client send the client its values for  the  specified
       options.    Only  the  option  names should be specified in the request
       statement - not  option  parameters.    By  default,  the  DHCP  server
       requests  the  subnet-mask,  broadcast-address,  time-offset,  routers,
       domain-name, domain-name-servers and host-name options.

       In some cases, it may be desirable to send no parameter request list at
       all.    To  do  this, simply write the request statement but specify no
       parameters:

            request;

       _T_h_e rreeqquuiirree _s_t_a_t_e_m_e_n_t

        rreeqquuiirree [[ _o_p_t_i_o_n ] [,, _._._. _o_p_t_i_o_n _];;

       The require statement lists options that must be sent in order  for  an
       offer  to  be  accepted.    Offers  that  do not contain all the listed
       options will be ignored.

       _T_h_e sseenndd _s_t_a_t_e_m_e_n_t

        sseenndd {{ [[ _o_p_t_i_o_n _d_e_c_l_a_r_a_t_i_o_n ] [,, _._._. _o_p_t_i_o_n _d_e_c_l_a_r_a_t_i_o_n ]}}

       The send statement causes the client to send the specified  options  to
       the  server  with the specified values.  These are full option declara-
       tions as described in ddhhccpp--ooppttiioonnss((55)).  Options that are always sent in
       the  DHCP protocol should not be specified here, except that the client
       can specify  a  rreeqquueesstteedd--lleeaassee--ttiimmee  option  other  than  the  default
       requested  lease  time,  which is two hours.  The other obvious use for
       this statement is to send information to the server that will allow  it
       to  differentiate  between  this  client  and other clients or kinds of
       clients.




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dhclient.conf(5)                                 dhclient.conf(5)


DDYYNNAAMMIICC DDNNSS
       The client now has some very limited support for doing DNS updates when
       a  lease  is  acquired.   This is prototypical, and probably doesn't do
       what you want.   It also only works if you happen to have control  over
       your DNS server, which isn't very likely.

       To  make  it  work,  you  have to declare a key and zone as in the DHCP
       server (see ddhhccppdd..ccoonnff(5) for details).   You also  need  to  configure
       the fqdn option on the client, as follows:

         send fqdn.fqdn "grosse.fugue.com.";
         send fqdn.encoded on;
         send fqdn.server-update off;

       The  _f_q_d_n_._f_q_d_n option MMUUSSTT be a fully-qualified domain name.   You MMUUSSTT
       define a zone statement for the zone to be updated.   The  _f_q_d_n_._e_n_c_o_d_e_d
       option  may  need  to be set to _o_n or _o_f_f, depending on the DHCP server
       you are using.

       _T_h_e ddoo--ffoorrwwaarrdd--uuppddaatteess _s_t_a_t_e_m_e_n_t

        ddoo--ffoorrwwaarrdd--uuppddaatteess [[ _f_l_a_g ] ;;

       If you want to do DNS updates in the DHCP client script (see  ddhhcclliieenntt--
       ssccrriipptt((88)))  rather  than  having the DHCP client do the update directly
       (for example, if you want to use SIG(0) authentication,  which  is  not
       supported  directly by the DHCP client, you can instruct the client not
       to do the update using the ddoo--ffoorrwwaarrdd--uuppddaatteess statement.   _F_l_a_g  should
       be  ttrruuee if you want the DHCP client to do the update, and ffaallssee if you
       don't want the DHCP client to do the update.    By  default,  the  DHCP
       client will do the DNS update.

OOPPTTIIOONN MMOODDIIFFIIEERRSS
       In  some  cases, a client may receive option data from the server which
       is not really appropriate for that client, or may not receive  informa-
       tion  that  it needs, and for which a useful default value exists.   It
       may also receive information which is useful, but  which  needs  to  be
       supplemented  with  local information.   To handle these needs, several
       option modifiers are available.

       _T_h_e ddeeffaauulltt _s_t_a_t_e_m_e_n_t

        ddeeffaauulltt [[ _o_p_t_i_o_n _d_e_c_l_a_r_a_t_i_o_n ] ;;

       If for some option the client should use  the  value  supplied  by  the
       server, but needs to use some default value if no value was supplied by
       the server, these values can be defined in the ddeeffaauulltt statement.

       _T_h_e ssuuppeerrsseeddee _s_t_a_t_e_m_e_n_t

        ssuuppeerrsseeddee [[ _o_p_t_i_o_n _d_e_c_l_a_r_a_t_i_o_n ] ;;

       If for some option the client should always  use  a  locally-configured
       value  or  values rather than whatever is supplied by the server, these



                                                                4





dhclient.conf(5)                                 dhclient.conf(5)


       values can be defined in the ssuuppeerrsseeddee statement.

       _T_h_e pprreeppeenndd _s_t_a_t_e_m_e_n_t

        pprreeppeenndd [[ _o_p_t_i_o_n _d_e_c_l_a_r_a_t_i_o_n ] ;;

       If for some set of options the client should use a  value  you  supply,
       and  then  use  the values supplied by the server, if any, these values
       can be defined in the pprreeppeenndd statement.   The  pprreeppeenndd  statement  can
       only  be  used for options which allow more than one value to be given.
       This restriction is not enforced - if you ignore it, the behaviour will
       be unpredictable.

       _T_h_e aappppeenndd _s_t_a_t_e_m_e_n_t

        aappppeenndd [[ _o_p_t_i_o_n _d_e_c_l_a_r_a_t_i_o_n ] ;;

       If  for some set of options the client should first use the values sup-
       plied by the server, if any, and then use values you supply, these val-
       ues  can be defined in the aappppeenndd statement.   The aappppeenndd statement can
       only be used for options which allow more than one value to  be  given.
       This restriction is not enforced - if you ignore it, the behaviour will
       be unpredictable.

LLEEAASSEE DDEECCLLAARRAATTIIOONNSS
       _T_h_e lleeaassee _d_e_c_l_a_r_a_t_i_o_n

        lleeaassee {{ _l_e_a_s_e_-_d_e_c_l_a_r_a_t_i_o_n [ ... _l_e_a_s_e_-_d_e_c_l_a_r_a_t_i_o_n _] }}

       The DHCP client may decide after some period of time (see PPRROOTTOOCCOOLL TTIIMM--
       IINNGG)  that it is not going to succeed in contacting a server.   At that
       time, it consults its own database of old leases  and  tests  each  one
       that  has not yet timed out by pinging the listed router for that lease
       to see if that lease could work.   It is possible to define one or more
       _f_i_x_e_d  leases in the client configuration file for networks where there
       is no DHCP or BOOTP service, so that the client can still automatically
       configure its address.   This is done with the lleeaassee statement.

       NOTE:  the  lease statement is also used in the dhclient.leases file in
       order to record leases that have been received from DHCP servers.  Some
       of  the  syntax  for  leases  as  described below is only needed in the
       dhclient.leases file.   Such syntax is documented  here  for  complete-
       ness.

       A  lease  statement  consists  of the lease keyword, followed by a left
       curly brace, followed by one or more lease declaration statements, fol-
       lowed  by  a  right curly brace.   The following lease declarations are
       possible:

        bboooottpp;;

       The bboooottpp statement is used to indicate that  the  lease  was  acquired
       using  the  BOOTP protocol rather than the DHCP protocol.   It is never
       necessary to specify this  in  the  client  configuration  file.    The



                                                                5





dhclient.conf(5)                                 dhclient.conf(5)


       client uses this syntax in its lease database file.

        iinntteerrffaaccee ""_s_t_r_i_n_g"";;

       The  iinntteerrffaaccee  lease  statement  is  used to indicate the interface on
       which the lease is valid.   If set, this lease will only be tried on  a
       particular interface.   When the client receives a lease from a server,
       it always records the interface number on which it received that lease.
       If  predefined  leases  are  specified  in  the dhclient.conf file, the
       interface should also be specified, although this is not required.

        ffiixxeedd--aaddddrreessss _i_p_-_a_d_d_r_e_s_s;;

       The ffiixxeedd--aaddddrreessss statement is used to set the ip address of a particu-
       lar  lease.    This  is  required  for  all  lease statements.   The IP
       address must be specified as a dotted quad (e.g., 12.34.56.78).

        ffiilleennaammee ""_s_t_r_i_n_g"";;

       The ffiilleennaammee statement specifies the name of the boot filename to  use.
       This  is  not  used by the standard client configuration script, but is
       included for completeness.

        sseerrvveerr--nnaammee ""_s_t_r_i_n_g"";;

       The sseerrvveerr--nnaammee statement specifies the name of the boot server name to
       use.    This  is  also  not  used  by the standard client configuration
       script.

        ooppttiioonn _o_p_t_i_o_n_-_d_e_c_l_a_r_a_t_i_o_n;;

       The ooppttiioonn statement is used to specify the value of an option supplied
       by  the  server,  or,  in  the  case  of  predefined leases declared in
       dhclient.conf, the value that the user wishes the client  configuration
       script to use if the predefined lease is used.

        ssccrriipptt ""_s_c_r_i_p_t_-_n_a_m_e"";;

       The ssccrriipptt statement is used to specify the pathname of the dhcp client
       configuration script.  This script is used by the dhcp  client  to  set
       each  interface's initial configuration prior to requesting an address,
       to test the address once it has been offered, and  to  set  the  inter-
       face's  final  configuration  once  a  lease has been acquired.   If no
       lease is acquired, the script is used to  test  predefined  leases,  if
       any,  and  also  called once if no valid lease can be identified.   For
       more information, see ddhhcclliieenntt--ssccrriipptt((88))..

        vveennddoorr ooppttiioonn ssppaaccee ""_n_a_m_e"";;

       The vveennddoorr ooppttiioonn ssppaaccee statement is used to specify which option space
       should  be  used  for decoding the vendor-encapsulate-options option if
       one is received.  The _d_h_c_p_-_v_e_n_d_o_r_-_i_d_e_n_t_i_f_i_e_r can be used to  request  a
       specific class of vendor options from the server.   See ddhhccpp--ooppttiioonnss((55))
       for details.



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dhclient.conf(5)                                 dhclient.conf(5)


        mmeeddiiuumm ""_m_e_d_i_a _s_e_t_u_p"";;

       The mmeeddiiuumm statement can be used on systems  where  network  interfaces
       cannot  automatically  determine  the type of network to which they are
       connected.  The media setup  string  is  a  system-dependent  parameter
       which is passed to the dhcp client configuration script when initializ-
       ing the interface.  On Unix and  Unix-like  systems,  the  argument  is
       passed on the ifconfig command line when configuring the interface.

       The  dhcp  client  automatically  declares  this parameter if it uses a
       media type (see the mmeeddiiaa statement) when configuring the interface  in
       order  to  obtain a lease.  This statement should be used in predefined
       leases only if the network interface requires media type configuration.

        rreenneeww _d_a_t_e;;

        rreebbiinndd _d_a_t_e;;

        eexxppiirree _d_a_t_e;;

       The  rreenneeww  statement  defines the time at which the dhcp client should
       begin trying to contact its server to renew a lease that it  is  using.
       The  rreebbiinndd  statement defines the time at which the dhcp client should
       begin to try to contact _a_n_y dhcp server in order to  renew  its  lease.
       The  eexxppiirree  statement  defines  the time at which the dhcp client must
       stop using a lease if it has not been able to contact a server in order
       to renew it.

       These declarations are automatically set in leases acquired by the DHCP
       client, but must also be configured in predefined leases - a predefined
       lease whose expiry time has passed will not be used by the DHCP client.

       Dates are specified in one of two ways.  The software will output times
       in  these  two formats depending on if the ddbb--ttiimmee--ffoorrmmaatt configuration
       parameter has been set to _d_e_f_a_u_l_t or _l_o_c_a_l.

       If it is set to _d_e_f_a_u_l_t, then _d_a_t_e values appear as follows:

        _<_w_e_e_k_d_a_y_> _<_y_e_a_r_>//_<_m_o_n_t_h_>//_<_d_a_y_> _<_h_o_u_r_>::_<_m_i_n_u_t_e_>::_<_s_e_c_o_n_d_>

       The weekday is present to make it easy for a human to tell when a lease
       expires  - it's specified as a number from zero to six, with zero being
       Sunday.  When declaring a predefined lease, it can always be  specified
       as  zero.   The year is specified with the century, so it should gener-
       ally be four digits except for really long leases.  The month is speci-
       fied  as a number starting with 1 for January.  The day of the month is
       likewise specified starting with 1.  The hour is a number between 0 and
       23,  the minute a number between 0 and 59, and the second also a number
       between 0 and 59.

       If the ddbb--ttiimmee--ffoorrmmaatt configuration was set to  _l_o_c_a_l,  then  the  _d_a_t_e
       values appear as follows:

        eeppoocchh  _<_s_e_c_o_n_d_s_-_s_i_n_c_e_-_e_p_o_c_h_>;;  ##  _<_d_a_y_-_n_a_m_e_> _<_m_o_n_t_h_-_n_a_m_e_> _<_d_a_y_-_n_u_m_b_e_r_>



                                                                7





dhclient.conf(5)                                 dhclient.conf(5)


       _<_h_o_u_r_s_>::_<_m_i_n_u_t_e_s_>::_<_s_e_c_o_n_d_s_> _<_y_e_a_r_>

       The _s_e_c_o_n_d_s_-_s_i_n_c_e_-_e_p_o_c_h is as according to  the  system's  local  clock
       (often  referred  to  as "unix time").  The ## symbol supplies a comment
       that describes what actual time this is as according  to  the  system's
       configured timezone, at the time the value was written.  It is provided
       only for human inspection, the epoch time is the only recommended value
       for machine inspection.

       Note  that when defining a static lease, one may use either time format
       one wishes, and need not include the comment or values after it.

       If the time is infinite in duration, then the _d_a_t_e is nneevveerr instead  of
       an actual date.

AALLIIAASS DDEECCLLAARRAATTIIOONNSS
        aalliiaass {{  _d_e_c_l_a_r_a_t_i_o_n_s _._._. }}

       Some  DHCP clients running TCP/IP roaming protocols may require that in
       addition to the lease they may acquire via DHCP, their  interface  also
       be configured with a predefined IP alias so that they can have a perma-
       nent IP address even while roaming.   The Internet  Systems  Consortium
       DHCP  client doesn't support roaming with fixed addresses directly, but
       in order to facilitate such experimentation, the dhcp client can be set
       up to configure an IP alias using the aalliiaass declaration.

       The  alias  declaration  resembles  a  lease  declaration,  except that
       options other than the subnet-mask option are ignored by  the  standard
       client  configuration  script, and expiry times are ignored.  A typical
       alias declaration includes an interface  declaration,  a  fixed-address
       declaration for the IP alias address, and a subnet-mask option declara-
       tion.   A medium statement should never be included in an alias  decla-
       ration.

OOTTHHEERR DDEECCLLAARRAATTIIOONNSS
        ddbb--ttiimmee--ffoorrmmaatt [ _d_e_f_a_u_l_t | _l_o_c_a_l ] ;;

       The  ddbb--ttiimmee--ffoorrmmaatt  option  determines which of two output methods are
       used for printing times in leases files.  The _d_e_f_a_u_l_t  format  provides
       day-and-time  in UTC, whereas _l_o_c_a_l uses a seconds-since-epoch to store
       the time value, and helpfully places a local timezone time in a comment
       on the same line.  The formats are described in detail in this manpage,
       whithin the LEASE DECLARATIONS section.

        rreejjeecctt _c_i_d_r_-_i_p_-_a_d_d_r_e_s_s [,, _._._. _c_i_d_r_-_i_p_-_a_d_d_r_e_s_s ] ;;

       The rreejjeecctt statement causes the  DHCP  client  to  reject  offers  from
       servers  whose  server identifier matches any of the specified hosts or
       subnets.  This can be used to avoid being configured by rogue  or  mis-
       configured  dhcp  servers, although it should be a last resort - better
       to track down the bad DHCP server and fix it.

       The _c_i_d_r_-_i_p_-_a_d_d_r_e_s_s configuration type is of the form  _i_p_-_a_d_d_r_e_s_s[//_p_r_e_-
       _f_i_x_l_e_n], where _i_p_-_a_d_d_r_e_s_s is a dotted quad IP address, and prefixlen is



                                                                8





dhclient.conf(5)                                 dhclient.conf(5)


       the CIDR prefix length of the subnet, counting the number  of  signifi-
       cant  bits in the netmask starting from the leftmost end.  Example con-
       figuration syntax:

       _r_e_j_e_c_t 192.168.0.0//16,, 10.0.0.5;;

The above example would cause offers from any server identifier in the  entire
RFC  1918  "Class  C"  network  192.168.0.0/16, or the specific single address
10.0.0.5, to be rejected.

 iinntteerrffaaccee ""_n_a_m_e"" {{ _d_e_c_l_a_r_a_t_i_o_n_s _._._.  }}

A client with more than one network interface may require different  behaviour
depending  on which interface is being configured.   All timing parameters and
declarations other than lease and alias declarations can  be  enclosed  in  an
interface  declaration,  and  those  parameters will then be used only for the
interface that matches the specified name.   Interfaces for which there is  no
interface  declaration  will use the parameters declared outside of any inter-
face declaration, or the default settings.

NNoottee wweellll:: ISC dhclient only maintains one list of interfaces, which is either
determined  at  startup  from  command line arguments, or otherwise is autode-
tected.  If you supplied the list of interfaces on the command line, this con-
figuration  clause will add the named interface to the list in such a way that
will cause it to be configured by DHCP.  Which may not be the result  you  had
intended.   This  is  an  undesirable  side effect that will be addressed in a
future release.

 ppsseeuuddoo ""_n_a_m_e" "_r_e_a_l_-_n_a_m_e"" {{ _d_e_c_l_a_r_a_t_i_o_n_s _._._.  }}

Under some circumstances it can be useful to declare  a  pseudo-interface  and
have  the DHCP client acquire a configuration for that interface.  Each inter-
face that the DHCP client is supporting  normally  has  a  DHCP  client  state
machine  running  on it to acquire and maintain its lease.  A pseudo-interface
is just another state machine running on the interface named  _r_e_a_l_-_n_a_m_e,  with
its own lease and its own state.   If you use this feature, you must provide a
client identifier for both the pseudo-interface and the actual interface,  and
the  two  identifiers  must  be  different.   You must also provide a separate
client script for the pseudo-interface  to  do  what  you  want  with  the  IP
address.   For example:

     interface "ep0" {
          send dhcp-client-identifier "my-client-ep0";
     }
     pseudo "secondary" "ep0" {
          send dhcp-client-identifier "my-client-ep0-secondary";
          script "/etc/dhclient-secondary";
     }

The  client script for the pseudo-interface should not configure the interface
up or down - essentially, all it needs to handle are the states where a  lease
has  been acquired or renewed, and the states where a lease has expired.   See
ddhhcclliieenntt--ssccrriipptt((88)) for more information.




                                                                9





dhclient.conf(5)                                 dhclient.conf(5)


 mmeeddiiaa ""_m_e_d_i_a _s_e_t_u_p"" _[ ,, ""_m_e_d_i_a _s_e_t_u_p"",, _._._. _];;

The mmeeddiiaa statement defines one or more media configuration  parameters  which
may be tried while attempting to acquire an IP address.   The dhcp client will
cycle through each media setup string on the list, configuring  the  interface
using  that setup and attempting to boot, and then trying the next one.   This
can be used for network interfaces which aren't capable of sensing  the  media
type  unaided  -  whichever  media  type  succeeds in getting a request to the
server and hearing the reply is probably right (no guarantees).

The media setup is only used for the initial phase of address acquisition (the
DHCPDISCOVER  and DHCPOFFER packets).   Once an address has been acquired, the
dhcp client will record it in its lease database and  will  record  the  media
type  used  to  acquire  the  address.  Whenever the client tries to renew the
lease, it will use that same media type.   The lease must  expire  before  the
client will go back to cycling through media types.

SSAAMMPPLLEE
       The  following  configuration  file  is used on a laptop running NetBSD
       1.3.   The laptop has an IP alias of 192.5.5.213, and  has  one  inter-
       face,  ep0  (a  3com  3C589C).    Booting intervals have been shortened
       somewhat from the default, because the client is known to spend most of
       its  time on networks with little DHCP activity.   The laptop does roam
       to multiple networks.


       timeout 60;
       retry 60;
       reboot 10;
       select-timeout 5;
       initial-interval 2;
       reject 192.33.137.209;

       interface "ep0" {
           send host-name "andare.fugue.com";
           send dhcp-client-identifier 1:0:a0:24:ab:fb:9c;
           send dhcp-lease-time 3600;
           supersede domain-name "fugue.com rc.vix.com home.vix.com";
           prepend domain-name-servers 127.0.0.1;
           request subnet-mask, broadcast-address, time-offset, routers,
                domain-name, domain-name-servers, host-name;
           require subnet-mask, domain-name-servers;
           script "/usr/local/sbin/dhclient-script";
           media "media 10baseT/UTP", "media 10base2/BNC";
       }

       alias {
         interface "ep0";
         fixed-address 192.5.5.213;
         option subnet-mask 255.255.255.255;
       }
       This is a very complicated  dhclient.conf  file  -  in  general,  yours
       should be much simpler.   In many cases, it's sufficient to just create
       an empty dhclient.conf file - the defaults are usually fine.



                                                               10





dhclient.conf(5)                                 dhclient.conf(5)


SSEEEE AALLSSOO
       dhcp-options(5),    dhcp-eval(5),     dhclient.leases(5),     dhcpd(8),
       dhcpd.conf(5), RFC2132, RFC2131.

AAUUTTHHOORR
       ddhhcclliieenntt((88))  was written by Ted Lemon under a contract with Vixie Labs.
       Funding for this project was provided by Internet  Systems  Consortium.
       Information   about   Internet  Systems  Consortium  can  be  found  at
       hhttttppss::////wwwwww..iisscc..oorrgg..
















































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