This guide covers dHCP server Ubuntu step by step, with every setting in the order you will use it. Ubuntu Server uses the classic ISC DHCP server, the same engine that runs in many routers and enterprise networks. Setting it up teaches you exactly what a DHCP server does: handing out addresses, gateways and DNS settings to every device that asks.
dns LAB TOPOLOGY & PREREQUISITES
# example values used while writing and testing this guide
LAB VM
UBUNTU BUILD
VALIDATION
01constructionDHCP server Ubuntu: Step 1: Install the Package
sudo apt update && sudo apt install isc-dhcp-server -y
The service fails to start at first — that is expected, because no subnet is configured yet.
02downloadStep 2: Choose the Listening Interface
Edit /etc/default/isc-dhcp-server and set INTERFACESv4 to the network interface that serves DHCP, for example INTERFACESv4="ens160". Find your interface name with ip a. In short, DHCP server Ubuntu works best when you follow the order above and verify each step.
03usbStep 3: Configure the Subnet
Open the main configuration file at /etc/dhcp/dhcpd.conf and add a subnet block:
subnet 192.168.10.0 netmask 255.255.255.0 {
range 192.168.10.100 192.168.10.200;
option routers 192.168.10.1;
option domain-name-servers 192.168.10.10, 8.8.8.8;
option domain-name "lab.local";
default-lease-time 600;
max-lease-time 7200;
}
Adjust the example to your lab’s network, keep static devices outside the range (or add host entries with fixed addresses for them), and remember the server itself needs a static IP on that subnet.
04terminalStep 4: Start and Test
Validate and restart: sudo dhcpd -t -cf /etc/dhcp/dhcpd.conf to test the config, then sudo systemctl restart isc-dhcp-server. Watch leases arrive in /var/lib/dhcp/dhcpd.leases as clients connect. From a client, run ipconfig /renew (Windows) or restart networking (Linux) and confirm it received an address from your pool.
Compare this with the Windows Server DHCP server, and if you run DNS too, the Ubuntu DNS guide completes the trio. In short, DHCP server Ubuntu works best when you follow the order above and verify each step.
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Finish this lab, then continue down the track. Each guide builds on the one before it.