Configuring Linux Static DHCP Clients by Sending Host Name

Q. My DHCP server configured to assign static IPs to few Debian / Ubuntu Linux boxes using hostnames. My Windows 2000 and XP client computer sends hostname automatically. How do I send my hostname under Linux using dhcp client?

A. By default, the DHCP server requests the subnet-mask, broadcast-address, time-offset, routers, domain-name, domain-name-servers and host-name options. DHCP client configuration allows you to set a hostname using send host-name "hostname" parameter.

Linux dhcpclient configuration - dhclient.conf

dhclient.conf is a configuration file for DHCP client under Linux:

• Debian / Ubuntu Linux - /etc/dhcp3/dhclient.conf
• RHEL / Fedora / CentOS Linux - /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0 (for 1st DHCP network interface)

WARNING! These examples requires correct hostname.

Debian / Ubuntu Linux DHCP Client Configuration

Open configuration file, enter:
$ sudo vi /etc/dhcp3/dhclient.conf
Set hostname as follows:
send host-name "vivek-laptop";
Save and close the file. Test new settings, enter:
$ sudo dhclient eth0
$ sudo dhclient interface-name

RHEL / CentOS / Fedora Linux DHCP Client Configuration

Open configuration file, enter:
# vi /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0
Append hostname, enter:
DHCP_HOSTNAME=vivek-laptop
Save and close the file. Restart network service:
# service network restart
Please refer to dhclient.conf man page for more information, enter:
$ man dhclient.conf