Kea DHCP stops working

datpif

I see this is still ongoing. I found a workaround via watchdog service. The script does a cleanup before attempting to restart the sevice

list itemmake sure you install the watchdog service in pfsense.
list Add the kea dhcp 4 service.
Shell into pfsense and change to /usr/local/etc/rc.d
list Create a backup of kea service script. cp kea kea.old
list edit the kea file and replace contents with script below

#!/bin/sh

# PROVIDE: kea
# REQUIRE: NETWORK netif routing    
# KEYWORD: shutdown

. /etc/rc.subr

name=kea
desc="Kea DHCP Server"
rcvar=kea_enable

load_rc_config $name

kea_enable=${kea_enable:-"NO"}

command="/usr/local/sbin/keactrl"
required_files="/usr/local/etc/${name}/keactrl.conf"

# Add cleanup function
cleanup_kea() {
    # Clean up stale lock files
    rm -f /tmp/kea4-ctrl-socket.lock
    # Kill any zombie processes
    pkill -9 kea-dhcp4
    # Wait for processes to die
    sleep 2
}

# Modify start command to include cleanup
start_cmd() {
    cleanup_kea
    ${command} start
    logger -t kea-watchdog "Kea DHCP4 started with cleanup"
}

# Modify stop command to include cleanup
stop_cmd() {
    ${command} stop
    cleanup_kea
    logger -t kea-watchdog "Kea DHCP4 stopped with cleanup"
}

status_cmd="$command status"
reload_cmd="$command reload"
extra_commands="reload"

run_rc_command "$1"

Watchdog should auto restart the service

datpif

@datpif Actually just found watchdog starts a different service . so the simplest fix i found was to edit

/etc/inc/service-utils.inc
search for case 'kea-dhcp4':
and add

                case 'kea-dhcp4':
                      exec("rm -f /tmp/kea4-ctrl-socket.lock");

noisyjohn

@datpif yeap! clever. I knew this problem /tmp/kea4-ctrl-socket.lock"". But this automation is grate. Thanks for this. But it is still a work around, not a fix. I wander if anyone in KEA will take care of this.
However I'm gona say goodby to KEA. The reason:
KEA does not register the DHCP clients in dns resolver, so my local net (5 pcs) never works as I want. I have read somewhere that it' does it automaticaly, but it does not. And there is no option "register dhcp clients" as the older ISC DHCP does.

stephenw10

It does in 24.11.

Gerry555

Any sign if this issue is road mapped to be been corrected?
This issue is still occurring on the latest version 24.11

DHCP just stops. It will restart successfully when I login and manually restart the stopped service.
Has now occurred number times.

Gertjan

@Gerry555 said in Kea DHCP stops working:

Any sign if this issue is road mapped to be been corrected?

2.8.0 is in the works ...

@Gerry555 said in Kea DHCP stops working:

This issue is still occurring on the latest version 24.11

Maybe ?
I'm using 24.11.
I switched to KEA DHCPv4 and DHCPv6, on 4 LAN's, the day 24.11 came out - 3 months now ?
I use many DHCP MAC/DUID 'static' leases.
With "host name into DNS registration" (one 1 decade old problem solved !!)
Kea, for me, is rock solid. I can go on holiday for 10 days, come back, and find everything up and running (company router - lost of leases as it is a hotel with a captive portal).
Kea didn't crash or something like that.

And I didn't made live easy on myself, I added 'manually' this ISC DHCP Dynamic DNS feature and Kea DHCP? and still no problem what so ever.

I'm using a 4100 - maybe that helps

stephenw10

What are you running it on? There does appear to be an upstream issue on armv7 that we have yet to pin down. Currently, since there is no fix, advice is to revert to ISC if you're using a 3100.

Gerry555

Thanks @stephenw10 . Much appreciate the response.

Yes - I am using a 3100. I have switched back to ISC.

onnastick

I have a 3100 running 24.11 since it came out. I switched over to KEA as well just because I thought that's what the advice was, since ISC is deprecated.

However, ever since I made these changes, I have noticed that from time to time, devices stop being able to receive IP assignments. I don't see anything that seems particularly helpful in the system log (though I admit I am only looking at the DHCP log). I haven't tried manually restarting the service, but usually just a power cycle fixes it until it breaks again. Sometimes this is what I have to do if I am not there and am providing remote support to someone less technical.

Based on @stephenw10's advice above I have just reverted to ISC and will plan to leave it this way for a while in the hopes it will stop periodically breaking.

stephenw10

@onnastick said in Kea DHCP stops working:

I switched over to KEA as well just because I thought that's what the advice was, since ISC is deprecated.

It was at release. And still is for any other hardware. However this upstream bug has since been discovered in armv7. I'm running it here and haven't yet found any full workaround.

Patch

@Gertjan said in Kea DHCP stops working:

2.8.0 is in the works ...

LOL
The pubic access to daily build has been blocked since late 2023
pfsense Community v2.8 is a vaporware product which currently contains the majority of the pfsense redmine changes for the over 16 months through to July 2025

Don't hold your breath waiting for it to materialise.

MacUsers

I just experienced the very same issue with Kea, running v24.11 on 8200. The newly added device was getting an IP from the dynamic pool but wasn't able to receive the IP from the static mapping. I restarted Kea service for few times, removed the lock file etc. but nothing worked, until I restartd the box. So, the issue seems to be well present in the latest version as well.

stephenw10

So you set a static mapping for a device that had a current dynamic lease but it failed to pull that until pfSense was restarted?

MacUsers

@stephenw10,
yes, exactly. And the strange thing was, that auto-assigned address wasn't being displayed under Status > DHCP Leases. The only way I could see what IP has been assigned was on the device itself.

stephenw10

Are you sure the client was requesting a new lease? Or actually pulling one?

MacUsers

@stephenw10 I can confirm that static mapping for any new device is not working at all, at least for me. in last couple of days, I tried with three difrent devices and once it gets an IP from the dynamic pool, the only way to get the correct IP from the statuc maping is to reboot pfSense.

MacUsers

slowly thinking again, it's actually happening for me from the day one. It was for a different reasone but I reported here too:

https://forum.netgate.com/topic/196090/pfsense-behind-pfsense-not-getting-wan-ip-from-pfs1/7?_=1739914407057

stephenw10

What I expect to happen here is the device keeps the dynamic IP lease until it tries to renew it.

If you cleared the leases in pfSense such that Kea doesn't show it at all are you sure it is actually pulling a new lease at all?

MacUsers

@stephenw10 I forced Renew DHC Lease on my MacBook after giving it a static-dhcp IP in PFS but it was still getting the old dynamic IP. But the strange thing is, that wasn't showing up under the Status >> DHCP Leases at all.

I haven't seen this before and it is happening with even the old devices. I replaced by DIY box with 8200 and upgraded to v24.11 at the same time - all I can say, it started happening after one of the either.

Just to give it a benefit of doubt: how do I chk that device was actually pulling a new lease?

MacUsers

okay, basically nothing is changng/updating related to DHCP. In one of the static-mappings, I provided custom DNS Servers (under the Server Options) and it's still showing the old DNS server address, even after restarting the client device. I'm very sure that it won't change, regardlessly what I do from/on the client side, nothing will change until I reboot the PFS box.

I'll restart and report here back soon.