How To Set Up DHCP Failover On Centos 5.1
Version 1.0.0
Author: Andrew Colin Kissa <andrew [at] topdog [dot] za [dot] net>
Introduction
This tutorial will walk you through setting up DHCP fail over on CentOS 5.1 using the default ISC dhcp server, this can easily be adapted to any other Linux distro out there. You will most likely need Failover in environments where network down time can not be tolerated. My home is running a DLNA setup so I need my devices to be able to obtain network parameters at all times.
Since DHCP and DNS often go hand in hand i will be configuring a local DNS server which allows for dynamic updates, such that hostnames will be automatically updated to DNS when ever a lease is granted to a client.
My configuration with use the following please substitute to reflect your own network.
- Domain name - home.topdog-software.com
- Network - 192.168.1.0/24
- DHCP servers - 192.168.1.2,192.168.1.3
- Gateway - 192.168.1.254
- DNS servers - 192.168.1.2,192.168.1.3
Install required Packages
- DHCP
# yum install dhcp -y
- DNS
# yum install bind bind-chroot caching-nameserver -y
- NTP
# yum install ntp -y
Configuration
DHCP
Backup your original config on the Master 192.168.1.2:
# cp /etc/dhcpd.conf /etc/dhcpd.conf.orig
Edit the DHCP configuration /etc/dhcpd.conf on the master 192.168.1.2 and add the following, read the comments to understand the options:
authoritative; # server is authoritative option domain-name "home.topdog-software.com"; # the domain name issued option domain-name-servers 192.168.1.2,192.168.1.3; # name servers issued option netbios-name-servers 192.168.1.2; # netbios servers allow booting; # allow for booting over the network allow bootp; # allow for booting next-server 192.168.1.2; # TFTP server for booting filename "pxelinux.0"; # kernel for network booting ddns-update-style interim; # setup dynamic DNS updates ddns-updates on; ddns-domainname "home.topdog-software.com"; # domain name for DDNS updates key rndckey { algorithm hmac-md5; secret "xxxxxxxxxx"; # get from the /etc/rndc.key file } zone home.topdog-software.com # forward zone to update { primary 127.0.0.1; # update on the local machine key rndckey; # key to use for the update } zone 1.168.192.in-addr.arpa # reverse zone to update { primary 127.0.0.1; # update on the local machine key rndckey; # key for update } failover peer "home-net" { # fail over configuration primary; # This is the primary address 192.168.1.2; # primarys ip address port 647; peer address 192.168.1.3; # peer's ip address peer port 647; max-response-delay 60; max-unacked-updates 10; mclt 3600; split 128; load balance max seconds 3; } subnet 192.168.1.0 netmask 255.255.255.0 # zone to issue addresses from { pool { failover peer "home-net"; # pool for dhcp leases with failover bootp not allowed deny dynamic bootp clients; option routers 192.168.1.254; range 192.168.1.25 192.168.1.50; } pool { # accomodate our bootp clients here no replication and failover option routers 192.168.1.254; range 192.168.1.51 192.168.1.55; } allow unknown-clients; ignore client-updates; }
Back up your original config on the Slave 192.168.1.3:
# cp /etc/dhcpd.conf /etc/dhcpd.conf.orig
Edit the DHCP configuration /etc/dhcpd.conf on the slave 192.168.1.3 and add the following, read the comments to understand the options:
authoritative; # server is authoritative option domain-name "home.topdog-software.com"; # the domain name issued option domain-name-servers 192.168.1.2,192.168.1.3; # name servers issued option netbios-name-servers 192.168.1.2; # netbios servers allow booting; # allow for booting over the network allow bootp; # allow for booting next-server 192.168.1.2; # TFTP server for booting filename "pxelinux.0"; # kernel for network booting ddns-update-style interim; # setup dynamic DNS updates ddns-updates on; ddns-domainname "home.topdog-software.com"; # domain name for DDNS updates key rndckey { algorithm hmac-md5; secret "xxxxxxxxxx"; # get from the /etc/rndc.key file on the master } zone home.topdog-software.com # forward zone to update { primary 192.168.1.2; # update on the local machine key rndckey; # key to use for the update } zone 1.168.192.in-addr.arpa # reverse zone to update { primary 192.168.1.2; # update on the local machine key rndckey; # key for update } failover peer "home-net" { # fail over configuration secondary; # This is the secondary address 192.168.1.3; # our ip address port 647; peer address 192.168.1.2; # primary's ip address peer port 647; max-response-delay 60; max-unacked-updates 10; mclt 3600; load balance max seconds 3; } subnet 192.168.1.0 netmask 255.255.255.0 # zone to issue addresses from { pool { failover peer "home-net"; # pool for dhcp leases with failover bootp not allowed deny dynamic bootp clients; option routers 192.168.1.254; range 192.168.1.25 192.168.1.50; } pool { # accomodate our bootp clients here no replication and failover option routers 192.168.1.254; range 192.168.1.51 192.168.1.55; } allow unknown-clients; ignore client-updates; }
DNS
Back up the the Bind configuration on the master:
# cp /var/named/chroot/etc/named.caching-nameserver.conf /var/named/chroot/etc/named.caching-nameserver.conf.orig
Edit the configuration to reflect the config below.
options { directory "/var/named"; dump-file "/var/named/data/cache_dump.db"; statistics-file "/var/named/data/named_stats.txt"; memstatistics-file "/var/named/data/named_mem_stats.txt"; query-source port 53; query-source-v6 port 53; allow-query { localhost; localnets; }; }; include "/etc/rndc.key"; include "/etc/named.rfc1912.zones"; zone "home.topdog-software.com" { type master; file "data/home.topdog-software.com.hosts"; allow-transfer { 192.168.1.3; }; allow-update { key "rndckey"; }; allow-query { any; }; }; zone "1.168.192.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "data/1.168.192.in-addr.arpa.hosts"; allow-transfer { 192.168.1.3; }; allow-update { key "rndckey"; }; allow-query { any; }; };
Back up the the Bind configuration on the slave:
# cp /var/named/chroot/etc/named.caching-nameserver.conf /var/named/chroot/etc/named.caching-nameserver.conf.orig
Edit the configuration to reflect the config below.
options { directory "/var/named"; dump-file "/var/named/data/cache_dump.db"; statistics-file "/var/named/data/named_stats.txt"; memstatistics-file "/var/named/data/named_mem_stats.txt"; query-source port 53; query-source-v6 port 53; allow-query { localhost; localnets; }; }; include "/etc/rndc.key"; include "/etc/named.rfc1912.zones"; zone "home.topdog-software.com" { type slave; masters { 192.168.1.2; }; file "data/home.topdog-software.com.hosts"; }; zone "1.168.192.in-addr.arpa" { type slave; masters { 192.168.1.2; }; file "data/1.168.192.in-addr.arpa.hosts"; };
Create the zone files on the master
- /var/named/chroot/var/named/data/home.topdog-software.com.hosts
$ORIGIN . $TTL 38400 home.topdog-software.com IN SOA ns1.home.topdog-software.com. andrew.topdog.za.net. ( 2008061629 ; serial 10800 ; refresh (3 hours) 3600 ; retry (1 hour) 604800 ; expire (1 week) 38400 ; minimum (10 hours 40 minutes) ) NS ns1.home.topdog-software.com. NS ns2.home.topdog-software.com. ns1 IN A 192.168.1.2 ns2 IN A 192.168.1.3
- /var/named/chroot/var/named/data/1.168.192.in-addr.arpa.hosts
$ORIGIN . $TTL 38400 ; 10 hours 40 minutes 1.168.192.in-addr.arpa IN SOA ns1.home.topdog-software.com. andrew.topdog.za.net. ( 2008061644 ; serial 10800 ; refresh (3 hours) 3600 ; retry (1 hour) 604800 ; expire (1 week) 38400 ; minimum (10 hours 40 minutes) ) NS ns1.home.topdog-software.com. NS ns2.home.topdog-software.com. 2 IN PTR ns1.home.topdog-software.com. 3 IN PTR ns2.home.topdog-software.com.
NTP
NTP is required because the two DHCP servers need to be in sync for fail over as well as DDNS to take place. You can run a full fledged NTP server if you want, i will only provide you with instructions on using cron to sync NTP to an external NTP server every hour. You need to do this on BOTH servers.
- create a file /etc/cron.hourly/timesync and add the following:
#!/bin/bash # ntpdate -s 0.rhel.pool.ntp.org
- make the file executable and run it for the first time:
# /etc/cron.hourly/timesync
Finally
Well we are done, let's fire up the services and begin testing.
- on the master:
# service named start
# service dhcpd start - on the slave:
# service named start
# service dhcpd start
You should see the following in your logs on the master:
Jun 16 13:58:56 kudusoft dhcpd: failover peer home-net: I move from recover to startup Jun 16 13:58:56 kudusoft dhcpd: dhcpd startup succeeded Jun 16 13:58:56 kudusoft dhcpd: failover peer home-net: I move from startup to recover Jun 16 13:59:12 kudusoft dhcpd: failover peer home-net: peer moves from unknown-state to recover Jun 16 13:59:12 kudusoft dhcpd: failover peer home-net: requesting full update from peer Jun 16 13:59:12 kudusoft dhcpd: Sent update request all message to home-net Jun 16 13:59:12 kudusoft dhcpd: failover peer home-net: peer moves from recover to recover Jun 16 13:59:12 kudusoft dhcpd: failover peer home-net: requesting full update from peer Jun 16 13:59:12 kudusoft dhcpd: Update request all from home-net: sending update Jun 16 13:59:12 kudusoft dhcpd: failover peer home-net: peer update completed. Jun 16 13:59:12 kudusoft dhcpd: failover peer home-net: I move from recover to recover-done Jun 16 13:59:13 kudusoft dhcpd: Sent update done message to home-net Jun 16 13:59:13 kudusoft dhcpd: failover peer home-net: peer moves from recover to recover-done Jun 16 13:59:13 kudusoft dhcpd: failover peer home-net: I move from recover-done to normal Jun 16 13:59:13 kudusoft dhcpd: failover peer home-net: peer moves from recover-done to normal Jun 16 13:59:14 kudusoft dhcpd: pool 914eb10 192.168.1/24 total 26 free 25 backup 0 lts -12 Jun 16 13:59:14 kudusoft dhcpd: pool 914eb10 192.168.1/24 total 26 free 25 backup 0 lts 12
And on the slave:
Jun 16 13:59:12 shaka dhcpd: Sending on Socket/fallback/fallback-net Jun 16 13:59:12 shaka dhcpd: failover peer home-net: I move from recover to startup Jun 16 13:59:12 shaka dhcpd: failover peer home-net: peer moves from unknown-state to recover Jun 16 13:59:12 shaka dhcpd: dhcpd startup succeeded Jun 16 13:59:12 shaka dhcpd: failover peer home-net: requesting full update from peer Jun 16 13:59:12 shaka dhcpd: failover peer home-net: I move from startup to recover Jun 16 13:59:12 shaka dhcpd: Sent update request all message to home-net Jun 16 13:59:12 shaka dhcpd: Sent update done message to home-net Jun 16 13:59:12 shaka dhcpd: Update request all from home-net: nothing pending Jun 16 13:59:12 shaka dhcpd: failover peer home-net: peer moves from recover to recover-done Jun 16 13:59:14 shaka dhcpd: failover peer home-net: peer update completed. Jun 16 13:59:14 shaka dhcpd: failover peer home-net: I move from recover to recover-done Jun 16 13:59:14 shaka dhcpd: failover peer home-net: peer moves from recover-done to normal Jun 16 13:59:14 shaka dhcpd: failover peer home-net: I move from recover-done to normal Jun 16 13:59:14 shaka dhcpd: pool 9d78ad8 192.168.1/24 total 26 free 25 backup 0 lts 12 Jun 16 13:59:14 shaka dhcpd: pool response: 12 leases