Re: Kea DHCP - next-server Field Does Not Accept FQDN Hi Darren,
Thank you for confirming the behavior. I’ve opened an issue to track this limitation: 👉 https://gitlab.isc.org/isc-projects/kea/-/issues/3951 I hope this can be addressed as soon as possible, as it’s currently blocking smooth migration from ISC DHCP in DNS-based environments. Best regards, Dipesh > > Hi Dipesh, > > This is not currently supported. You can open an issue here: > https://gitlab.isc.org/isc-projects/kea/-/issues/ requesting the support > be > added. > > Thank you, > Darren Ankney > > On Fri, Jun 13, 2025 at 2:13?AM Dipesh Kayastha < > er.dipesh.kayas...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > Dear Kea Development Team, > > > > I am currently working on migrating configurations from ISC DHCP (dhcpd) > > to Kea DHCP and encountered a limitation regarding the next-server field. > > > > In ISC DHCP, it is valid to specify either an IP address or a fully > > qualified domain name (FQDN) for the next-server directive, as referenced > > in the dhcpd.conf man page: > > https://linux.die.net/man/5/dhcpd.conf > > > > However, in Kea, the next-server field under subnet4 appears to accept > > only IPv4 addresses. If an FQDN is used (e.g., "next-server": " > > pxe.boot.example.com"), the configuration fails to parse and returns an > > error like: > > > > > > *2025-06-12 13:35:40.228 ERROR [kea-dhcp4.dhcp4/1.140187402663808] > > DHCP4_CONFIG_LOAD_FAIL configuration error using **file: > > /etc/config/kea4.conf**, reason: subnet configuration failed: invalid > > parameter next-server : *pxe.boot.example.com > *(/etc/config/kea4.conf:169:24) > > * > > > > This becomes a compatibility issue during migration, especially in > > environments that rely on DNS to resolve boot server IPs dynamically. > > > > However, ISC DHCP (dhcpd) supports both IP addresses and FQDNs in the > > next-server field, as documented here: > > > > https://linux.die.net/man/5/dhcpd.conf > > [image: image.png] > > > > > > Is there any plan to support FQDNs in Kea for the next-server field, > > similar to how ISC DHCP handles it? FQDN support can be useful in dynamic > > environments where the boot server?s IP address may change and is managed > > via DNS. > > > > I'm looking forward to hearing back from you > > > > > > Regards, > > .Dipesh > > > > -- > >
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