How To Set Up DHCP Server on CentOS 8

In this tutorial, we will show you how to set up a DHCP server on CentOS 8. For those of you who didn’t know, The Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) is a standardized network protocol used on Internet Protocol (IP) networks for dynamically distributing network configuration parameters, such as IP addresses for interfaces and services. With DHCP, computers request IP addresses and networking parameters automatically from a DHCP server, reducing the need for a network administrator or a user to configure these settings manually.

This article assumes you have at least basic knowledge of Linux, know how to use the shell, and most importantly, you host your site on your own VPS. The installation is quite simple and assumes you are running in the root account, if not you may need to add ‘sudo‘ to the commands to get root privileges. I will show you the step by step set up or configure a DHCP server on a CentOS 8.

Prerequisites

• A server running one of the following operating systems: CentOS 8.
• It’s recommended that you use a fresh OS install to prevent any potential issues.
• SSH access to the server (or just open Terminal if you’re on a desktop).
• An active internet connection. You’ll need an internet connection to download the necessary packages and dependencies for DHCP setup.
• A non-root sudo user or access to the root user. We recommend acting as a non-root sudo user, however, as you can harm your system if you’re not careful when acting as the root.

Set Up DHCP Server on CentOS 8

Step 1. First, let’s start by ensuring your system is up-to-date.

sudo dnf clean all
sudo dnf update

Step 2. Installing a DHCP server on CentOS 8.

Install the DHCP package using the following command:

sudo dnf install dhcp-server

Step 3. Configuration DHCP server.

To configure the DHCP server, edit the /etc/dhcp/dhcpd.conf configuration file with the following command:

sudo nano /etc/dhcp/dhcpd.conf

default-lease-time 600;
max-lease-time 7200;
ddns-update-style none;
authoritative;
subnet 192.168.77.0 netmask 255.255.255.0 {
range 192.168.77.21 192.168.15.200;
option routers 192.168.77.1;
option subnet-mask 255.255.255.0;
option domain-name-servers 8.8.8.8, 8.8.4.4;
}

Restart the DHCP service once you are done with all the changes:

sudo systemctl restart dhcpd
sudo systemctl status dhcpd

Step 4. Configure Firewall.

We will add the DHCP service to the CentOS 8 firewall and update the rules with the following commands:

firewall-cmd --add-port=67/udp --permanent
firewall-cmd --reload

Step 5. Configure DHCP Client on CentOS 8.

Install the DHCP client package using the following command:

sudo dnf install dhcp-client

Then, run dhclient a command to get the DHCP IP:

dhclient

Now check the assigned IP addresses.

Congratulations! You have successfully installed the DHCP Server. Thanks for using this tutorial for installing DHCP Server on CentOS 7 system. For additional help or useful information, we recommend you check the official CentOS website.