DHCP Configuration¶

Configure DHCP servers for automatic IP address assignment to clients.

Basic DHCP Server¶

config.dhcp.dhcp("lan") \
    .interface("lan") \
    .start(100) \
    .limit(150) \
    .leasetime("12h") \
    .ignore(False)

This creates a DHCP server:

On the lan interface
Starting at .100 (e.g., 192.168.1.100)
With 150 addresses available
Lease time of 12 hours
Enabled (not ignored)

DHCP Options¶

Method	Description	Example
`interface(name)`	Interface to serve	`.interface("lan")`
`start(n)`	Starting offset	`.start(100)`
`limit(n)`	Number of addresses	`.limit(150)`
`leasetime(time)`	Lease duration	`.leasetime("12h")`
`ignore(bool)`	Disable server	`.ignore(True)`

Lease Time Format¶

Lease times can be specified in various formats:

"12h" - 12 hours
"24h" - 24 hours (1 day)
"7d" - 7 days
"infinite" - Never expire

IP Address Range¶

The IP range is calculated from the interface's IP address:

# LAN interface: 192.168.1.1/24
config.network.interface("lan") \
    .proto("static") \
    .ipaddr("192.168.1.1") \
    .netmask("255.255.255.0")

# DHCP: 192.168.1.100 - 192.168.1.249
config.dhcp.dhcp("lan") \
    .interface("lan") \
    .start(100) \
    .limit(150)

Multiple DHCP Servers¶

Configure DHCP for different networks:

# Main LAN
config.dhcp.dhcp("lan") \
    .interface("lan") \
    .start(100) \
    .limit(150) \
    .leasetime("12h")

# Guest Network
config.dhcp.dhcp("guest") \
    .interface("guest") \
    .start(50) \
    .limit(100) \
    .leasetime("1h")

Disabling DHCP¶

Disable DHCP on an interface:

config.dhcp.dhcp("wan") \
    .interface("wan") \
    .ignore(True)

Or simply don't configure DHCP for that interface.

Complete Example¶

DHCP configuration for a multi-network setup:

from wrtkit import UCIConfig

config = UCIConfig()

# Main LAN: 192.168.1.0/24
config.network.interface("lan") \
    .device("br-lan") \
    .proto("static") \
    .ipaddr("192.168.1.1") \
    .netmask("255.255.255.0")

config.dhcp.dhcp("lan") \
    .interface("lan") \
    .start(100) \
    .limit(150) \
    .leasetime("12h")

# Guest Network: 192.168.10.0/24
config.network.interface("guest") \
    .device("br-guest") \
    .proto("static") \
    .ipaddr("192.168.10.1") \
    .netmask("255.255.255.0")

config.dhcp.dhcp("guest") \
    .interface("guest") \
    .start(50) \
    .limit(200) \
    .leasetime("1h")

# IoT Network: 192.168.20.0/24
config.network.interface("iot") \
    .device("br-iot") \
    .proto("static") \
    .ipaddr("192.168.20.1") \
    .netmask("255.255.255.0")

config.dhcp.dhcp("iot") \
    .interface("iot") \
    .start(10) \
    .limit(240) \
    .leasetime("24h")

Best Practices¶

Lease Times¶

Home LAN: 12-24 hours (devices are mostly static)
Guest Network: 1-4 hours (high turnover)
IoT Devices: 24 hours - 7 days (mostly static, but may change)

Address Ranges¶

Reserve addresses for static assignments:

# Reserve .1-.99 for static IPs, use .100-.249 for DHCP
config.dhcp.dhcp("lan") \
    .interface("lan") \
    .start(100) \
    .limit(150)  # 192.168.1.100 - 192.168.1.249

This leaves 192.168.1.1 - 192.168.1.99 for: - Gateway (.1) - Servers - Printers - Access points - Other static devices