KEA 3.0 DHCP Server Released by ISC Consortium

The ISC Consortium has announced the release of the DHCP server KEA 3.0, which replaces the classical ISC DHCP. KEA 3.0 is the first issue to receive a long-term escort cycle (LTS) with updates being provided for three years. The Consortium plans to release new significant stable updates every six months instead of annually. The initial texts of the project can be found on GitHub and are distributed under the Mozilla Public License 2.0, as opposed to the ISC DHCP ISC license.

The KEA DHCP server is based on BIND 10 technologies and utilizes a modular architecture, breaking down functionality into different processing processes. It includes a full-featured server with support for DHCPV4 and DHCPV6 protocols, offering features such as Dynamic DNS dynamic renewal, server detection mechanisms, address assignment, updating and reconfiguration, information query servicing, address reservation for hosts, and PXE-loading. The implementation of DHCPV6 also allows for prefix delegation.

Addresses and customer parameters can be stored in various storage facilities, including backends in CSV, DBMS MySQL, Apache Cassandra, and PostgreSQL. Reservation parameters can be specified in a JSON configuration file or as a table in MySQL and PostgreSQL. The release includes the PerfDHCP tool for measuring server performance and components for collecting statistics. An API is provided for interaction with external applications, allowing for configuration updates without reinstalling the server.