ISC DHCP

Enterprise-grade solution for IP address-configuration needs

ISC DHCP

ISC has announced the end of maintenance for ISC DHCP as of the end of 2022. ISC will continue providing professional support services for existing subscribers, but does not intend to issue any further maintenance releases. For resources that may help in migrating your existing ISC DHCP server deployment to our newer DHCP server, Kea, please see this page.

ISC DHCP was a complete open source solution for implementing DHCP servers, relay agents, and clients.

ISC has developed a new DHCP server, Kea, which we intend to replace ISC DHCP in most server implementations. We recommend that new implementers use Kea and implement ISC DHCP only if Kea does not meet their needs. The Kea distribution does not currently include either a client or a relay. Anyone interested in underwriting the development of a DHCP client or relay is encourage to contact ISC at info@isc.org.

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What is DHCP?

The Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) is a network protocol used to assign IP addresses and provide configuration information to devices such as servers, desktops, or mobile devices, so they can communicate on a network using the Internet Protocol (IP). ISC DHCP is a collection of software that implements all aspects of the DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) suite.

DHCP Server

A DHCP server receives clients’ requests and replies to them.

In addition to the open source server from ISC, a number of commercial products provide a management interface and/or an IP address management application that incorporates ISC DHCP as the DHCP server.

ISC has ended development on the ISC DHCP client as of early 2022. This client implementation is no longer maintained and should not be used in production any longer.

DHCP Client

A DHCP client can be bundled with the operating system of a client computer or other IP capable device; it sends configuration requests to the server. Most devices and operating systems already have DHCP clients included.

ISC has ended development on the ISC DHCP client as of early 2022. This client implementation is no longer maintained and should not be used in production any longer.

DHCP Relay Agent

A DHCP relay agent passes DHCP requests from one LAN to another, so that a DHCP server is not needed on every LAN.

ISC has ended development on the ISC DHCP Relay Agent as of early 2022. This relay implementation is no longer maintained and should not be used in production any longer.

ISC DHCP

VERSION STATUS DOCUMENTATION RELEASE DATE EOL DATE DOWNLOAD
4.4.3-P1 EOL Documentation ( KB )
Release Notes ( TXT )
October 2022 December, 2022
4.1-ESV-R16-P2 EOL Documentation ( KB )
Release Notes ( TXT )
October 2022 December, 2022
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Report a Security Issue

As this project is no longer maintained, we do not encourage filing bug reports. However, if you believe you have found a serious security vulnerability, please report this to security-officer@isc.org and we will investigate.

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Latest News

ISC DHCP Server has reached EOL

What is changing? The 4.4.3-P1 and 4.1-ESV-R16-P2 versions of ISC DHCP, released on October 5, 2022, are the last maintenance versions of this software that ISC plans to publish.

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ISC’s 2020 Annual Report

With great pride, we present ISC’s annual report for 2020. The year was a terrible one in so many ways, but our organization has been fortunate.

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