using dhcpd with mysql

[Dmitry Cherkasov]

Hello Gregor!

2008/10/1 Gregor Kling <gregor.kling at dvz.fh-giessen.de>

> Hello Dmitry,
> Dmitry Cherkasov schrieb:
>
>> Hello everybody.
>>
>> I am sure this topic was discussed a lot of times, yet I didn't find
>> satisfying information in ISC DHCP docs or internet.
>>
>> I'm looking for a solution to tie dhcpd with external database, e.g.
>> MySQL. What I need is the following:
>>
>> 1) keeping per host (and probably other) information in external DB so
>> that dhcpd queries it when serving requests
>> 2) storing lease information in external DB
>>
>> Certainly, some tasks may be fulfilled with OMAPI and parsing
>> dhcpd.leases, but it does not seem to be flexible enough.
>> So the question is how it may be possible to implement dhcpd
>> interaction with external SQL database?
>>
>>
>>
> It may not be very helpful to you, but it does not feel very comfortable
> with life-asking a backend database
> for something ~trivial~ as dhcp/dns data.
> This is another layer that could wreak havoc. In case of problems you have
> to cope not with flat files but with a system that need to use a query
> language instead of a simple grep.
> If you want to host your data in a database there a plenty good reasons.
> But IMHO its always better to generate the data for dns or dhcp data from
> the backend and use the native format of
> the service.
> Why do you want to hold data about leases in a mysql databases. I cannot
> see an advantage ?
>


This is not a problem in general to _provide_ configuration data for dhcpd
operation. One can use omapi or generate conf file and then sighup the
daemon.
The problem is to _get_ data from dhcpd. Accounting is one of such examples.
Integration with sophisticated management and monitoring systems is another
one. Parsing dhcpd.leases may serve as a certain solution but it is far from
convenient interfacing with other applications.
Several dhcpd's working with a common lease db may also be an interesting
application. This is practically impossible with linear text file.

As an intermediate solution there may be a possibility to execute some
external programs/scripts on significant actions of dhcpd (choosing client
data to deliver, installing or removing a lease, etc.) but this may have a
significant impact on performance, I suppose.

As you see there is another post confirming the need for the feature, also I
wrote in my first letter:



>
>  P.S. I'm obviously not the first to look for such solution, there are
>> for example http://users.accesscomm.ca/docsis_server/ ,
>> http://www.anemon.org/wiki/ .
>> Also there are DHCP implementations when server generates accounting
>> using some AAA protocol like RADIUS (e.g.
>>
>> http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/ios/12_2sr/12_2srb/feature/guide/ipradacc.html
>> ).
>>
>>
>>
>

-- 
Dmitry Cherkasov
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