Kea DHCP

Modern, open source DHCPv4 & DHCPv6 server

Why Choose Kea?

ISC distributes TWO full-featured, open source, standards-based DHCP server distributions: Kea DHCP and ISC DHCP. Kea includes all the most-requested features, is far newer, and is designed for a more modern network environment. ISC announced the End of Life for the older ISC DHCP system in 2022. Users of ISC DHCP may find these resources helpful in migrating their DHCP server deployments to the Kea server.

How is the Kea DHCP server different from the older ISC DHCP?
  1. Modular Component Design, Extensible with Hooks Modules. The Kea distribution includes separate daemons for a DHCPv4 server, a DHCPv6 server, and a dynamic DNS (DDNS) module. Many optional features are enabled with dynamically-loaded “Hooks Modules,” which you need run only if you are using them. You can write your own hooks modules (in C++) or try some of the hooks we offer.

  2. On-line Re-configuration with REST API. Kea uses a JSON configuration file that can be modified remotely via set commands and reloaded without stopping and restarting the server, an operation that could take quite a while with ISC DHCP.

  3. Designed to Integrate with Your Existing Systems. Kea allows you to separate the data from the execution environment, enabling new deployment options. Your network data - leases, host reservation definitions, and most configuration data - can be located separately from the DHCP server itself, using a Kea “backend.”

  4. Web-based graphical dashboard. Kea now has a graphical dashboard for monitoring multiple Kea servers. This system, called Stork, uses agents deployed on the Kea servers to relay information to a centralized management platform, providing the administrator with an easy-to-use quick view of system status and activity.

Kea supports two database backends; MySQL and PostgreSQL. Choose to store leases, host reservations, or shared configuration data in a separate database backend. Benefits of this include:

  • Integrate it more easily with your other systems - provisioning systems, IPAMS and so on - by storing critical data in a separate database.
  • Use the same hosts reservations backend for multiple DHCP servers.
  • Administer global options from a centralized configuration backend.
  • Manage large address pools in a database rather than a text file.

The core Kea daemons are open source, shared under MPL2.0 licensing. Kea is developed in the open on ISC’s GitLab; we welcome you to open issues and submit patches there. Kea runs on most Linux and Unix platforms, as well as MacOS. If you don’t want to build from our source distribution, we also provide a repository of pre-built packages for most popular operating systems.

Contact ISC for Support

Getting Started

1.

Design

Your major design decisions are whether to deploy in pairs for High Availability and use the default csv file for host and lease data, or to install a separate database for a Kea data “backend.” Some of these decisions can limit your performance. See our Knowledgebase for advice on designing for optimal performance.

2.

Installation

Instructions are available for building and installing Kea from the source packages downloadable below. ISC provides pre-built packages for RHEL, Fedora, Ubuntu, and Debian. If you are using any Kea hook libraries, you will also need to install and configure those.

3.

Configuration

The Kea Administrator Reference Manual (ARM) is the primary reference for Kea configuration. The extensive set of example configuration files in the project repo and our knowledgebase may help you get started. If you are migrating from an existing ISC DHCP deployment, try the Kea Migration Assistant (a special feature of the ISC DHCP distribution). This will enable you to save your current ISC DHCP server configuration as a Kea configuration file. It will still need some manual adjustment, but this tool should translate the bulk of your configuration.

4.

Maintenance

Most users will benefit from joining the kea-users mailing list. Consider joining our Kea project GitLab to log issues, see what we’re working on, submit patches, and participate in development. Consider deploying Stork for a graphical management dashboard. If your DHCP is critical to your business, we recommend you subscribe for technical support from ISC.

screenshot of stork graphical web-based management tool for Kea, showing a list of subnets and their utilization, monitored servers and their current uptime status

Stork Dashboard for Kea

Monitor both the machine and the application

Stork aggregates data about the health of the system hosting Kea, as well as the status and activity level of Kea itself. Parameters reported include memory, CPU utilization, software versions, and uptime.

Monitor Pool Utilization and High Availability

Stork displays configured pools, with # of addresses provisioned and assigned and even tracks pool utilization across shared networks. Graphical elements highlight areas of high utilization to alert the operator to take actionHigh Availability pairs are monitored and their configured role and status are shown, making it easy to see which servers don’t have a backup established, and when a failover event has occurred.

Manage Host Reservations

Add, update and view DHCPv4 and DHCPv6 host reservations, using a graphical interface to select a host identifier, assign a hostname, reserve an IP address, associate a client class, and configure boot file information and DHCP options.

Support options

Service Options Gold support Gold sticker with the words Most Popular
Silver support
Bronze support Basic (no support) Premium (hooks only)
Critical issue response 30 minutes, 24x7 1 hour, 24x7 2 hours, business hours only* not included not included
Standard issue response 4 business hours* 8 business hours* Next business day community support via public mailing list community support via public mailing list
Advance security notifications 5 days 5 days 5 days 3 days not included
Kea 3.0 hook libraries (RBAC and Configuration Backend are the only commercially-licensed ones) All - Subscriber All - Subscriber All - Subscriber All - Subscriber N/A
Kea 2.6 and earlier hook libraries included All - Enterprise, Premium and Subscription All - Enterprise, Premium and Subscription Premium and Subscription Premium and Subscription Premium
Stork support Available Available Available Community support via user mailing list Community support via user mailing list
Purchasing Quotation/Purchase order Quotation/Purchase order Quotation/Purchase order Quotation/Purchase order Credit card, on-line store
* Our regular business hours for support are Monday through Friday, 9 AM - 5 PM ET, with the exception of a few major holidays, which are announced in advance.

Pricing based on deployment size and service level.

Contact ISC for a quote

Kea

VERSION STATUS DOCUMENTATION RELEASE DATE EOL DATE DOWNLOAD
2.6.2 Current Stable Kea ARM ( HTML PDF )
Kea Messages ( HTML PDF )
Release Notes ( TXT )
March 2025 July 2026
2.4.1 Old Stable Kea ARM ( HTML PDF )
Kea Messages ( HTML PDF )
Release Notes ( TXT )
November 2023 June 2025
2.7.7 Development Kea ARM ( HTML PDF )
Kea Messages ( HTML PDF )
Release Notes ( TXT )
March 2025 July 2025

Stork

VERSION STATUS DOCUMENTATION RELEASE DATE EOL DATE DOWNLOAD
2.0.1 Current Stable Stork ARM ( HTML )
Release Notes ( TXT )
February 2025 Q2, 2025
2.1.2 Development Stork ARM ( HTML )
Release Notes ( TXT )
April 2025 Ongoing development branch

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Mailing List

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Report a Bug

Before submitting a bug report please ensure that you are running a current version. Then log your report as an issue in our Kea GitLab project.

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Kea Project Wiki

Our design documents and plans help you understand Kea internals.

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