a small comment on isc dhcp

[mark]

Luc T. wrote:
> one big problem of isc dhcp is that if you made a small syntax error 
 > in the dpchd.conf or any include files, the service cannot restart.
> as a system admin, I have to change these files frequently, and sometime
 > have to let others to do this. I keep worrying about all the time
 > that error happens one day, the dhcp server cannot start up....

man dhcpd:

        The DHCP server reads two files on startup: a configuration file, and a
        lease database.   If the -t flag is specified, the server  will  simply
        test the configuration file for correct syntax, but will not attempt to
        perform any network operations.   This can be used to test  the  a  new
        configuration file automatically before installing it.


As a system admin, you presumably have a shell script wrapper for starting
and stopping dhcpd.  This script should run dhcpd -t first, and take the
appropriate action.  For example, a bad conf file could trigger an email
or a page, or syslog, etc.  Or better yet, a 'restart' function would
test the config file *before* stopping the running dhcpd (this is what
we do)

Mark