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I'm trying to set up an ethernet DHCP server on a Raspberry Pi to connect one device via eth0 and give it an ip address, but I cannot for the life of me get the service to start.

This won't be an internet connected network so DNS and default gateway don't really matter but I don't know if DHCP needs these parameters to run.

Here are my setup files:

/etc/dhcp/dhcpd.conf

default-lease-time 600;
max-lease-time 7200;

option domain-name "submarine";
option domain-name-servers 8.8.8.8;

authoritative;

subnet 192.168.1.0 netmask 255.255.255.0 {
  range 192.168.1.10 192.168.1.100;
  option routers 192.168.1.120;
}

/etc/network/interfaces

#interfaces(5) file used by ifup(8) and ifdown(8)

# Please note that this file is written to be used with dhcpcd
# For static IP, consult /etc/dhcpcd.conf and 'man dhcpcd.conf'

# Include files from /etc/network/interfaces.d:
source-directory /etc/network/interfaces.d #this file is empty

iface eth0 inet static
address 192.168.1.120
netmask 255.255.255.0
gateway 192.168.1.120

/etc/default/isc-dhcp-server

# Defaults for isc-dhcp-server (sourced by /etc/init.d/isc-dhcp-server)

# Path to dhcpd's config file (default: /etc/dhcp/dhcpd.conf).
DHCPDv4_CONF=/etc/dhcp/dhcpd.conf
DHCPDv6_CONF=/etc/dhcp/dhcpd6.conf

# Path to dhcpd's PID file (default: /var/run/dhcpd.pid).
#DHCPDv4_PID=/var/run/dhcpd.pid
#DHCPDv6_PID=/var/run/dhcpd6.pid

# Additional options to start dhcpd with.
#       Don't use options -cf or -pf here; use DHCPD_CONF/ DHCPD_PID instead
#OPTIONS=""

# On what interfaces should the DHCP server (dhcpd) serve DHCP requests?
#       Separate multiple interfaces with spaces, e.g. "eth0 eth1".
INTERFACESv4="eth0"
INTERFACESv6="eth0"

When I run sudo systemctl start isc-dhcp-server.service I get the following:

Job for isc-dhcp-server.service failed because the control process exited with error code.
See "systemctl status isc-dhcp-server.service" and "journalctl -xe" for details.

systemctl status isc-dhcp-server.service gives:

● isc-dhcp-server.service - LSB: DHCP server
   Loaded: loaded (/etc/init.d/isc-dhcp-server; generated; vendor preset: enabled)
   Active: failed (Result: exit-code) since Wed 2019-07-24 22:21:19 CEST; 34s ago
     Docs: man:systemd-sysv-generator(8)
  Process: 2778 ExecStart=/etc/init.d/isc-dhcp-server start (code=exited, status=1/FAILURE)

Jul 24 22:21:16 submarine systemd[1]: Starting LSB: DHCP server...
Jul 24 22:21:16 submarine isc-dhcp-server[2778]: Launching IPv4 server only.
Jul 24 22:21:17 submarine dhcpd[2790]: Wrote 0 leases to leases file.
Jul 24 22:21:19 submarine isc-dhcp-server[2778]: Starting ISC DHCPv4 server: dhcpdcheck syslog for diagnostics. ... failed!
Jul 24 22:21:19 submarine isc-dhcp-server[2778]:  failed!
Jul 24 22:21:19 submarine systemd[1]: isc-dhcp-server.service: Control process exited, code=exited status=1
Jul 24 22:21:19 submarine systemd[1]: Failed to start LSB: DHCP server.
Jul 24 22:21:19 submarine systemd[1]: isc-dhcp-server.service: Unit entered failed state.
Jul 24 22:21:19 submarine systemd[1]: isc-dhcp-server.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.

journalctl -xe gives:

Jul 24 22:13:12 submarine dhcpd[2319]: 
Jul 24 22:13:12 submarine dhcpd[2319]: If you think you have received this message due to a bug rather
Jul 24 22:13:12 submarine dhcpd[2319]: than a configuration issue please read the section on submitting
Jul 24 22:13:12 submarine dhcpd[2319]: bugs on either our web page at www.isc.org or in the README file
Jul 24 22:13:12 submarine dhcpd[2319]: before submitting a bug.  These pages explain the proper
Jul 24 22:13:12 submarine dhcpd[2319]: process and the information we find helpful for debugging..
Jul 24 22:13:12 submarine dhcpd[2319]: 
Jul 24 22:13:12 submarine dhcpd[2319]: exiting.
Jul 24 22:13:14 submarine isc-dhcp-server[2307]: Starting ISC DHCPv4 server: dhcpdcheck syslog for diagnostics. ... failed!
Jul 24 22:13:14 submarine isc-dhcp-server[2307]:  failed!
Jul 24 22:13:14 submarine systemd[1]: isc-dhcp-server.service: Control process exited, code=exited status=1
Jul 24 22:13:14 submarine systemd[1]: Failed to start LSB: DHCP server.
-- Subject: Unit isc-dhcp-server.service has failed
-- Defined-By: systemd
-- Support: https://www.debian.org/support
-- 
-- Unit isc-dhcp-server.service has failed.
-- 
-- The result is failed.
Jul 24 22:13:14 submarine systemd[1]: isc-dhcp-server.service: Unit entered failed state.
Jul 24 22:13:14 submarine systemd[1]: isc-dhcp-server.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.
Jul 24 22:13:14 submarine sudo[2301]: pam_unix(sudo:session): session closed for user root
Jul 24 22:13:52 submarine sudo[2355]:       pi : TTY=pts/0 ; PWD=/etc/network ; USER=root ; COMMAND=/bin/nano /etc/dhcp/dhcpd.conf
Jul 24 22:13:52 submarine sudo[2355]: pam_unix(sudo:session): session opened for user root by (uid=0)
Jul 24 22:14:57 submarine sudo[2355]: pam_unix(sudo:session): session closed for user root
Jul 24 22:15:08 submarine sudo[2417]:       pi : TTY=pts/0 ; PWD=/etc/network ; USER=root ; COMMAND=/bin/systemctl start isc-dhcp-server.service
Jul 24 22:15:08 submarine sudo[2417]: pam_unix(sudo:session): session opened for user root by (uid=0)
Jul 24 22:15:09 submarine systemd[1]: Starting LSB: DHCP server...
-- Subject: Unit isc-dhcp-server.service has begun start-up
-- Defined-By: systemd
-- Support: https://www.debian.org/support
-- 
-- Unit isc-dhcp-server.service has begun starting up.
Jul 24 22:15:09 submarine isc-dhcp-server[2423]: Launching IPv4 server only.
Jul 24 22:15:09 submarine dhcpd[2435]: Wrote 0 leases to leases file.
Jul 24 22:15:09 submarine dhcpd[2435]: Can't bind to dhcp address: Address already in use
Jul 24 22:15:09 submarine dhcpd[2435]: Please make sure there is no other dhcp server
Jul 24 22:15:09 submarine dhcpd[2435]: running and that there's no entry for dhcp or
Jul 24 22:15:09 submarine dhcpd[2435]: bootp in /etc/inetd.conf.   Also make sure you
Jul 24 22:15:09 submarine dhcpd[2435]: are not running HP JetAdmin software, which
Jul 24 22:15:09 submarine dhcpd[2435]: includes a bootp server.
Jul 24 22:15:09 submarine dhcpd[2435]: 
Jul 24 22:15:09 submarine dhcpd[2435]: If you think you have received this message due to a bug rather
Jul 24 22:15:09 submarine dhcpd[2435]: than a configuration issue please read the section on submitting
Jul 24 22:15:09 submarine dhcpd[2435]: bugs on either our web page at www.isc.org or in the README file
Jul 24 22:15:09 submarine dhcpd[2435]: before submitting a bug.  These pages explain the proper
Jul 24 22:15:09 submarine dhcpd[2435]: process and the information we find helpful for debugging..
Jul 24 22:15:09 submarine dhcpd[2435]: 
Jul 24 22:15:09 submarine dhcpd[2435]: exiting.
Jul 24 22:15:09 submarine kernel: i2c-bcm2835 3f804000.i2c: i2c transfer timed out
Jul 24 22:15:11 submarine isc-dhcp-server[2423]: Starting ISC DHCPv4 server: dhcpdcheck syslog for diagnostics. ... failed!
Jul 24 22:15:11 submarine isc-dhcp-server[2423]:  failed!
Jul 24 22:15:11 submarine systemd[1]: isc-dhcp-server.service: Control process exited, code=exited status=1
Jul 24 22:15:11 submarine systemd[1]: Failed to start LSB: DHCP server.
-- Subject: Unit isc-dhcp-server.service has failed
-- Defined-By: systemd
-- Support: https://www.debian.org/support
-- 
-- Unit isc-dhcp-server.service has failed.
-- 
-- The result is failed.
Jul 24 22:15:11 submarine systemd[1]: isc-dhcp-server.service: Unit entered failed state.
Jul 24 22:15:11 submarine systemd[1]: isc-dhcp-server.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.
Jul 24 22:15:11 submarine sudo[2417]: pam_unix(sudo:session): session closed for user root
Jul 24 22:15:12 submarine kernel: i2c-bcm2835 3f804000.i2c: i2c transfer timed out

The mentioned /etc/inetd.conf file does not exist and I am not running HP JetAdmin software. There shouldn't be any other DHCP services running but I don't really know how to check. They certainly aren't giving out any IP addresses that's for sure.

And lastly, ipconfig:

eth0: flags=4163<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,MULTICAST>  mtu 1500
        inet 192.168.1.120  netmask 255.255.255.0  broadcast 192.168.1.255
        inet6 fe80::8783:fe04:df10:98e3  prefixlen 64  scopeid 0x20<link>
        ether b8:27:eb:1d:79:7b  txqueuelen 1000  (Ethernet)
        RX packets 4  bytes 1060 (1.0 KiB)
        RX errors 0  dropped 0  overruns 0  frame 0
        TX packets 1264  bytes 71378 (69.7 KiB)
        TX errors 0  dropped 0 overruns 0  carrier 0  collisions 0

lo: flags=73<UP,LOOPBACK,RUNNING>  mtu 65536
        inet 127.0.0.1  netmask 255.0.0.0
        inet6 ::1  prefixlen 128  scopeid 0x10<host>
        loop  txqueuelen 1000  (Local Loopback)
        RX packets 2688  bytes 223552 (218.3 KiB)
        RX errors 0  dropped 0  overruns 0  frame 0
        TX packets 2688  bytes 223552 (218.3 KiB)
        TX errors 0  dropped 0 overruns 0  carrier 0  collisions 0

This has been driving me nuts for like two days, I've run down 5 or 6 DHCP tutorials with no luck. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

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15
  • For checking for DHCP service, just check the listen IPv4 and the associated DHCP server port : 67. sudo ss -ln|grep ":67", if the output is empty then no server is listenning on this address and port , else , you got the address already in use message.
    – Ephemeral
    Commented Jul 25, 2019 at 11:52
  • before running your dhcp server, try: sudo systemctl stop networking, sudo kill -9 $(pidof dhcpd) and then start your server service isc-dhcp-server.service
    – Ephemeral
    Commented Jul 25, 2019 at 11:56
  • Thanks, tried the ss command it but it returns empty. Tried so stop networking and kill dhcpd but it didn't make any difference. Oddly enough I cannot find dhcpd on the list of services at all with service --status-all. The only related service is dhcpcd and it's disabled.
    – Moff Kalast
    Commented Jul 25, 2019 at 11:59
  • You're welcome , maybe try to disable Ipv6 : sudo sysctl -w net.ipv6.conf.all.disable_ipv6=1 ?
    – Ephemeral
    Commented Jul 25, 2019 at 12:01
  • Tried to disable ipv6, seems like it gives me an additional error of i2c transfer timed out.
    – Moff Kalast
    Commented Jul 25, 2019 at 12:06

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
4

If you have dnsmasq installed you can verify with:

sudo netstat -laputeno|grep 67

If it is the case:

sudo systemctl disable dnsmasq
sudo systemctl stop dnsmasq
sudo systemctl start isc-dhcp-server

should work

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