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    Multiple DHCP scopes without defining VLANs?

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved DHCP and DNS
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    • I Offline
      ivanfetch
      last edited by

      Hello,

      I am running pfSense 2.0 in bedded (on Alix hardware), with three NICs. I would like to provide DHCP for multiple LANs, using a DHCP helper-address on the switch, instead of defining a pfSense VLAN per subnet. The default gateway of each LAN is provided by the switch, but the switch does not provide DHCP. I do not really need an IP per LAN just to provide DHCP on that LAN.

      Is it possible to define additional DHCP scopes in pfSense, without defining a separate interface per scope?

      Thank you for the help,

      Ivan.

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      • jimpJ Offline
        jimp Rebel Alliance Developer Netgate
        last edited by

        While the underlying software does support that, our GUI does not. There isn't a way to define multiple pools/scopes like that in our GUI.

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        • I Offline
          ivanfetch
          last edited by

          @jimp:

          While the underlying software does support that, our GUI does not. There isn't a way to define multiple pools/scopes like that in our GUI.

          Thanks for your reply. The dhcpd.conf file is created on the fly, from contents in config.xml - correct? Would it be possible for me to add configs to config.xml by hand, to get additional scopes to be defined? IF so, how much might that confuse the GUI when it reads config.xml?

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          • jimpJ Offline
            jimp Rebel Alliance Developer Netgate
            last edited by

            @ivanfetch:

            The dhcpd.conf file is created on the fly, from contents in config.xml - correct?

            Yes.

            @ivanfetch:

            Would it be possible for me to add configs to config.xml by hand, to get additional scopes to be defined?

            No, because…

            @ivanfetch:

            IF so, how much might that confuse the GUI when it reads config.xml?

            It would just overwrite dhcpd.conf and erase your changes. It doesn't read in that config, it only writes it based on config.xml

            If you disabled DHCP in the GUI, edited the file by hand, and made sure dhcpd was running (again, by hand) then perhaps it might be able to do what you want, but if you're going to hack it up that much you may as well run the DHCP daemon on another box that wouldn't be fighting against it.

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            • I Offline
              ivanfetch
              last edited by

              @jimp:

              @ivanfetch:

              Would it be possible for me to add configs to config.xml by hand, to get additional scopes to be defined?

              No, because…

              @ivanfetch:

              IF so, how much might that confuse the GUI when it reads config.xml?

              It would just overwrite dhcpd.conf and erase your changes. It doesn't read in that config, it only writes it based on config.xml

              If you disabled DHCP in the GUI, edited the file by hand, and made sure dhcpd was running (again, by hand) then perhaps it might be able to do what you want, but if you're going to hack it up that much you may as well run the DHCP daemon on another box that wouldn't be fighting against it.

              I was talking about editing config.xml, not editing dhcpd.conf directly. Is it possible to define scopes in config.xml without invalidating pfSense' logic too much?

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              • jimpJ Offline
                jimp Rebel Alliance Developer Netgate
                last edited by

                No, the GUI limit also applies to config.xml - it can't be done in our code at all. You would have to manually edit dhcpd.conf

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                • I Offline
                  ivanfetch
                  last edited by

                  @jimp:

                  No, the GUI limit also applies to config.xml - it can't be done in our code at all. You would have to manually edit dhcpd.conf

                  Ok, that makes sense.

                  I assume  that adding this to pfSense would require core code to be altered, vs. something like a package - correct?

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                  • jimpJ Offline
                    jimp Rebel Alliance Developer Netgate
                    last edited by

                    Yes, it would take alteration to the base system code.

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