DHCP server won't start. Gives 'Not configured to listen on any interfaces!' even when configured

Question

I have just setup isc-dhcp on my server. I even setup the correct interface. But still the dhcp server won't boot. Its says Not configured to listen on any interfaces! in the syslog. And when I try dhcpd -t /etc/dhcp/dhcpd.conf it gives this error : /etc/dhcp/dhcpd.conf: interface name too long (is 20

Here's my dhcpd.conf :

ddns-update-style none;

option domain-name "thpi";
option domain-name-servers 208.67.222.222, 208.67.220.220;

default-lease-time 86400;
max-lease-time 604800;

authoritative;

# Use this to send dhcp log messages to a different log file (you also
# have to hack syslog.conf to complete the redirection).
log-facility local7;


subnet 10.0.0.0 netmask 255.255.255.0 {
    ## dhcp start  and end IP range ##
    range 10.0.0.20 10.0.0.90;
    option subnet-mask 255.255.255.0;     ## subnet
    option broadcast-address 10.0.0.255; ## broadcast
    option routers 10.0.0.1; ## router IP


    host pc1 {
        hardware ethernet 60:a4:4c:3d:76:fa;
        fixed-address 10.0.0.100;
    }

    host lap1 {
        hardware ethernet 6c:71:d9:1e:f3:4f;
        fixed-address 10.0.0.150;
    }

    host thnote {
        hardware ethernet d0:22:be:d3:be:e1;
        fixed-address 10.0.0.200;
    }
}

/etc/default/isc-dhcp-server file :

# Defaults for isc-dhcp-server initscript
# sourced by /etc/init.d/isc-dhcp-server
# installed at /etc/default/isc-dhcp-server by the maintainer scripts

#
# This is a POSIX shell fragment
#

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

# Path to dhcpd's PID file (default: /var/run/dhcpd.pid).
#DHCPD_PID=/var/run/dhcpd.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".
INTERFACES="eth0:0"

Interfaces file :

auto lo

iface lo inet loopback

auto eth0
iface eth0 inet static
address 192.168.1.10
netmask 255.255.255.0
network 192.168.1.0
broadcast 192.168.1.255
gateway 192.168.1.1

auto eth0:0
iface eth0:0 inet static
name Lan
address 10.0.0.1
netmask 255.255.255.0
network 10.0.0.0

allow-hotplug wlan0
iface wlan0 inet manual
wpa-roam /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf
iface default inet dhcp

What might be the issue?

Solution 1

Your /etc/default/isc-dhcp-server file should have

INTERFACES="eth0"

Solution 2

I got the same issue and it got solved after assigning an IP address to my interface

like,

ifconfig eth0 192.168.1.100

Solution 3

1. Set the static IP of the server...

   ifconfig (yourinterface)  (your static IP)/(mask number) example 
   sudo ifconfig enp4s0 10.8.0.2/24
   

2. Start the DHCP server...

   sudo systemctl start isc-dhcp-server
   

3. And retrieve its status...

   sudo systemctl status isc-dhcp-server
   

Solution 4

I had this same problem. For Ubuntu 20.04 1 LTS. I had two NICs and I only wanted to use one of them to vend IPs via dhcp to clients on a LAN.

My fix was a combination of things as shown below. However I belive the real fix was the addition of interface to /etc/dhcp/dhcpd.conf

/etc/dhcp/dhcpd.conf
was (broken):

default-lease-time 600;
max-lease-time 7200;
ddns-update-style none;
authoritative;

subnet 192.168.0.0 netmask 255.255.255.0 {
   range 192.168.0.2 192.168.0.99;
   option routers 192.168.0.1;
   option subnet-mask 255.255.255.0;
   option domain-name-servers 1.1.1.1, 1.0.0.1, 8.8.8.8;
}


changed to (added interface and it worked):

default-lease-time 600;
max-lease-time 7200;
ddns-update-style none;
authoritative;

subnet 192.168.0.0 netmask 255.255.255.0 {
   interface enp6s0;
   range 192.168.0.2 192.168.0.99;
   option routers 192.168.0.1;
   option subnet-mask 255.255.255.0;
   option domain-name-servers 1.1.1.1, 1.0.0.1, 8.8.8.8;
}

In hacking around I also changed the following, but not sure now I needed to. Shown for completeness.

/etc/default/isc-dhcp-server
was:
INTERFACESv4=""
INTERFACESv6=""

changed to (the interface I want dhcp to use):
INTERFACESv4="enp6s0"
INTERFACESv6="enp6s0"

Solution 5

I was also getting the same error. I found that I was starting the isc-dhcp-server6.service(IPV6), instead of isc-dhcp-server.service(IPV4). My configuration files were defined for ipv4 only. Hence I was getting "Not configured to listen on any interface" when I tried to do "systemctl start isc-dhcp-server6.service".

View more solutions

Comments

[earthmeLon]

I was having issues attempting to set my INTERFACES to an interface that was not set to auto or not up.

[mgor]

It is not possible to specify a virtual (aliased) interface, check serverfault.com/questions/390410/…

[ras212]

bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/isc-dhcp/+bug/1772941

[derHugo]

Could you please explain that better?

[ShaileshKumarMPatel]

You can set ip address of your computer with GUI based applet sitting on panel of your GUI. this starts setting ip address later than DHCPD application start. If you set up address in /etc/network/interfaces it will set ip first and then start DHCPD.

[Ibber Chochem]

this worked for me i just hope that it will work when i reboot the computer.

[ras212]

It does not work

[kaminsknator]

this worked for me right away

[tftd]

OH DEAR GOD! I wasted so much time on this annoying dhcp server!!!! Why do you need to define the interface in 15 different places!? Thanks so much for pointing this out! :)