Starting and Stopping the DHCP Service

This section describes starting and stopping the DHCP service by using DHCP Manager and the dhcpconfig command. The DHCP service can also be started and stopped by using the Service Management Facility (SMF) commands. See DHCP Service and the Service Management Facility for more information about using SMF commands with the DHCP service.

Starting and stopping the DHCP service encompasses several degrees of action you can take to affect the operation of the DHCP daemon. You must understand what each action means in order to select the correct procedure to obtain the result that you want. The terms for the actions are as follows:

• Start, stop, and restart commands affect the daemon only for the current session. For example, if you stop the DHCP service, the daemon terminates but restarts when you reboot the system. DHCP data tables are not affected when you stop the service. You can use DHCP Manager or SMF commands to temporarily start and stop the DHCP service without enabling and disabling the service.

• Enable and disable commands affect the daemon for current and future sessions. If you disable the DHCP service, the currently running daemon terminates and does not start when you reboot the server. You must enable the DHCP daemon for automatic startup at system boot to occur. DHCP data tables are not affected. You can use DHCP Manager, the dhcpconfig command, or SMF commands to enable and disable the DHCP service.

• The unconfigure command shuts down the daemon, prevents the daemon from starting on system reboot, and enables you to remove the DHCP data tables. You can use DHCP Manager or the dhcpconfig command to unconfigure the DHCP service. Unconfiguration is described in Chapter 14, Configuring the DHCP Service (Tasks).

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Note - If a server has multiple network interfaces but you do not want to provide DHCP services on all the networks, see Specifying Network Interfaces for DHCP Monitoring.

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The following procedures help you start, stop, enable, and disable the DHCP service.

How to Start and Stop the DHCP Service (DHCP Manager)

1. Become superuser on the DHCP server system.
2. Start DHCP Manager.

   # /usr/sadm/admin/bin/dhcpmgr &

3. Select one of the following:
   • Choose Start from the Service menu to start the DHCP service.
   • Choose Stop from the Service menu to stop the DHCP service.

     The DHCP daemon stops until it is restarted, or the system reboots.

   • Choose Restart from the Service menu to stop and immediately restart the DHCP service.

How to Enable and Disable the DHCP Service (DHCP Manager)

• In DHCP Manager, choose one of the following:
  • Choose Enable from the Service menu to configure the DHCP daemon for automatic startup when the system boots.

    The DHCP service starts immediately when it is enabled.

  • Choose Disable from the Service menu to prevent the DHCP daemon from automatically starting when the system boots.

    The DHCP service immediately stops when it is disabled.

How to Enable and Disable the DHCP Service (dhcpconfig -S)

1. Log in to the DHCP server system.
2. Become superuser or assume a role or user name that is assigned to the DHCP Management profile.

   For more information about the DHCP Management profile, see Setting Up User Access to DHCP Commands.

   Roles contain authorizations and privileged commands. For more information about roles, see Configuring RBAC (Task Map) in System Administration Guide: Security Services.

3. Choose one of the following:
   • To enable the DHCP service, type the following command:

     # /usr/sbin/dhcpconfig -S -e

   • To disable the DHCP service, type the following command:

     # /usr/sbin/dhcpconfig -S -d