Provided by: isc-dhcp-client_4.4.1-2.3ubuntu2.4_amd64 bug

NAME

       dhclient - Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol Client

SYNOPSIS

       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 ] ]

DESCRIPTION

       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.

OPERATION

       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.

COMMAND LINE

       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.

OPTIONS

       -4     Use the DHCPv4 protocol to obtain an IPv4  address  and  configuration  parameters.
              This is the default and cannot be combined with -6.

       -6     Use  the DHCPv6 protocol to obtain whatever IPv6 addresses are available along with
              configuration parameters.  It cannot be combined with -4.  The -S -T -P -N  and  -D
              arguments  provide more control over aspects of the DHCPv6 processing.  Note: it is
              not recommended to mix queries of different types together or  even  to  share  the
              lease file between them.

       -4o6 port
              Participate  in  the  DHCPv4  over  DHCPv6  protocol  specified  by RFC 7341.  This
              associates a DHCPv4 and a DHCPv6 client to allow the v4 client to send v4  requests
              encapsulated  in  a  v6 packet.  Communication between the two clients is done on a
              pair of UDP sockets bound to ::1 port and port + 1. Both clients must  be  launched
              using the same port argument.

       -1     Try  to  get  a  lease once.  On failure exit with code 2.  In DHCPv6 this sets the
              maximum duration of the initial exchange to  timeout  (from  dhclient.conf  with  a
              default of sixty seconds).

       -d     Force  dhclient  to run as a foreground process.  Normally the DHCP client will run
              in the foreground until is has configured an interface at which time it will revert
              to  running in the background.  This option is useful when running the client under
              a debugger, or when running it out of inittab on System V  systems.   This  implies
              -v.

       -nw    Become  a  daemon  immediately (nowait) rather than waiting until an IP address has
              been acquired.

       -q     Be quiet at startup, this is the default.

       -v     Enable verbose log messages.

       -w     Continue running even if no broadcast interfaces were found.  Normally DHCP  client
              will  exit  if  it  isn't able to identify any network interfaces to configure.  On
              laptop computers and other computers with hot-swappable I/O buses, it  is  possible
              that  a  broadcast  interface  may be added after system startup.  This flag can be
              used to cause the client not to exit when it doesn't find any such interfaces.  The
              omshell(1)  program  can then be used to notify the client when a network interface
              has been added or removed, so that the  client  can  attempt  to  configure  an  IP
              address on that interface.

       -n     Do  not  configure any interfaces.  This is most likely to be useful in combination
              with the -w flag.

       -e VAR=value
              Define additional environment variables for the environment  where  dhclient-script
              executes.  You may specify multiple -e options on the command line.

       -r     Release  the  current lease and stop the running DHCP client as previously recorded
              in the PID file.  When shutdown via this method dhclient-script  will  be  executed
              with  the  specific reason for calling the script set.  The client normally doesn't
              release the current lease as this is not required by the  DHCP  protocol  but  some
              cable  ISPs  require  their clients to notify the server if they wish to release an
              assigned IP address.

       -x     Stop the running DHCP client without releasing the current lease.   Kills  existing
              dhclient  process  as  previously recorded in the PID file.  When shutdown via this
              method dhclient-script will be executed with the specific reason  for  calling  the
              script set.

       -p port-number
              The  UDP  port  number  on  which  the  DHCP client should listen and transmit.  If
              unspecified, dhclient uses the default port of  68.   This  is  mostly  useful  for
              debugging  purposes.   If  a different port is specified on which the client should
              listen and transmit, the client will also use a different destination  port  -  one
              less than the specified port.

       -s server-addr
              Specify  the  server  IP  address  or  fully  qualified  domain  name  to  use as a
              destination for DHCP protocol messages before dhclient has acquired an IP  address.
              Normally,  dhclient  transmits  these  messages  to 255.255.255.255 (the IP limited
              broadcast address).  Overriding this is mostly useful for debugging purposes.  This
              feature is not supported in DHCPv6 (-6) mode.

       -g relay
              Set  the  giaddr  field  of  all packets to the relay IP address simulating a relay
              agent.  This is for testing purposes only and should not be expected to work in any
              consistent or useful way.

       -i     Use a DUID with DHCPv4 clients.  If no DUID is available in the lease file one will
              be constructed and saved.  The DUID will be  used  to  construct  a  RFC4361  style
              client  id  that  will be included in the client's messages.  This client id can be
              overridden by setting a client id in the configuration file.  Overriding the client
              id in this fashion is discouraged.

       -I     Use the standard DDNS scheme from RFCs 4701 & 4702.

       --decline-wait-time seconds
              Specify  the  time  (in seconds) that an IPv4 client should wait after declining an
              address before issuing a discover.  The default is 10 seconds as recommended by RFC
              2131, Section 3.1.5.  A value of zero equates to no wait at all.

       --version Print version number and exit.

       Options available for DHCPv6 mode:

       -S     Use  Information-request  to  get  only  stateless  configuration parameters (i.e.,
              without address).  This implies -6.  It also doesn't rewrite the lease database.

       -T     Ask for IPv6 temporary addresses, one set per -T flag.  This implies  -6  and  also
              disables the normal address query.  See -N to restore it.

       -P     Enable  IPv6  prefix  delegation.   This  implies  -6  and also disables the normal
              address query.  See -N to restore it.  Multiple  prefixes  can  be  requested  with
              multiple -P flags.  Note only one requested interface is allowed.

       -R     Require  that  responses  include  all  of the items requested by any -N, -T, or -P
              options.  Normally even if the command line includes a number of these  the  client
              will  be  willing to accept the best lease it can even if the lease doesn't include
              all of the requested items.  This option causes the client to  only  accept  leases
              that include all of the requested items.

              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.

       -D LL or LLT
              Override the default when selecting the type of DUID to use.   By  default,  DHCPv6
              dhclient  creates  an identifier based on the link-layer address (DUID-LL) if it is
              running in stateless mode (with -S, not requesting an address), or  it  creates  an
              identifier  based  on  the  link-layer address plus a timestamp (DUID-LLT) if it is
              running in stateful mode (without -S,  requesting  an  address).   When  DHCPv4  is
              configured  to  use  a  DUID  using -i option the default is to use a DUID-LLT.  -D
              overrides these default, with a value of either LL or LLT.

       -N     Restore normal address query for IPv6. This implies -6.   It  is  used  to  restore
              normal  operation  after  using -T or -P.  Multiple addresses can be requested with
              multiple -N flags.

       --address-prefix-len length
              Specify the length of the prefix for  IPv6  addresses.  This  value  is  passed  by
              dhclient  into  the client script via the environment variable, ip6_prefixlen, when
              binding IPv6 addresses.  The default value is 128.  Alternatively  you  may  change
              the   default   at   compile   time   by   setting  DHCLIENT_DEFAULT_PREFIX_LEN  in
              includes/site.h.

       --dad-wait-time seconds
              Specify maximum time (in seconds) that the client should  wait  for  the  duplicate
              address  detection  (DAD)  to complete on an interface. This value is propagated to
              the dhclient script in a dad_wait_time environment variable. If  any  of  the  IPv6
              addresses on the interface are tentative (DAD is in progress), the script will wait
              for the specified number of seconds for DAD to complete. If the script ignores this
              variable the parameter has no effect.

       --prefix-len-hint length
              When  used in conjunction with -P, it directs the client to use the given length to
              use a prefix hint of, "::/length", when requesting new prefixes.

       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.

       -cf config-file
              Path  to  the   client   configuration   file.    If   unspecified,   the   default
              /etc/dhcp/dhclient.conf  is  used.   See dhclient.conf(5) for a description of this
              file.

       -df duid-lease-file
              Path to a secondary lease file.  If the primary lease file doesn't contain  a  DUID
              this  file  will  be searched.  The DUID read from the secondary will be written to
              the primary.  This option can be used to allow an IPv4 instance of  the  client  to
              share a DUID with an IPv6 instance.  After starting one of the instances the second
              can be started with this option pointing to the lease file of the  first  instance.
              There  is  no default.  If no file is specified no search is made for a DUID should
              one not be found in the main lease file.

       -lf lease-file
              Path   to   the   lease   database   file.     If    unspecified,    the    default
              /var/lib/dhcp/dhclient.leases is used.  See dhclient.leases(5) for a description of
              this file.

       -pf pid-file
              Path to the process ID file.  If unspecified, the default /var/run/dhclient.pid  is
              used.

       --no-pid
              Option to disable writing pid files.  By default the program will write a pid file.
              If the program is invoked with this option it will not attempt to kill any existing
              client processes even if invoked with -r or -x.

       -sf script-file
              Path  to the network configuration script invoked by dhclient when it gets a lease.
              If unspecified, the default /sbin/dhclient-script is used.  See  dhclient-script(8)
              for a description of this file.

PORTS

       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.

CONFIGURATION

       The syntax of the dhclient.conf(5) file is discussed separately.

OMAPI

       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

       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.

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES

       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.

       PATH_DHCLIENT_CONF
              The dhclient.conf configuration file.

       PATH_DHCLIENT_DB
              The dhclient.leases database.

       PATH_DHCLIENT_PID
              The dhclient PID file.

       PATH_DHCLIENT_SCRIPT
              The dhclient-script file.

FILES

       /sbin/dhclient-script,       /etc/dhcp/dhclient.conf,       /var/lib/dhcp/dhclient.leases,
       /var/run/dhclient.pid, /var/lib/dhcp/dhclient.leases~.

SEE ALSO

       dhcpd(8),  dhcrelay(8),  dhclient-script(8),  dhclient.conf(5),  dhclient.leases(5), dhcp-
       eval(5).

AUTHOR

       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.

                                                                                      dhclient(8)