Hello. I tried to figure out why dhcp doesn't work on my wifi network on some customized build. And i found that /etc/dhcp has settings for both servers
dnsmasq and odhcpd. I wonder what actually server should be used, why both processes odhcpd and dnsmasq start. What roles and responsibilities of each process in such mixed configuration?
Dnsmasq handles IPv4 and odhcpd handles IPv6.
The reason they share dhcp config is probably just for making life in openwrt easier.
3 Likes
you can if you like just use dnsmasq-full which provides all 3 components. DHCP, dhcpv6, and RA
1 Like
Maybe I should also try to answer your actual question 
If I'm not mistaken the reason why a stripped dnsmasq and odhcpd are installed in parallel is a historic reason based and limited ROM. And that the default Openwrt does not needs all the features dnsmasq-full provides. But I'm really not sure.
Years and years ago I had some issues with that combo and just settled on using dnsmasq-full for my stuff by default. I can't even remember what is was exactly what did not worked... But if you have enough storage it does not hurt to replace odhcpd with dnsmasq-full. You also don't need to adjust the default config but you are able now to use all features which dnsmasq "normally" provides.
2 Likes
Not quite, dnsmasq isn't that good with dynamic prefix changes (which sadly are all too common).
2 Likes
There is a in between solution for dnsmasq. Between the standard mini build and full build there are a build option called dnsmasq-ipv6 on top of standard mini.
Thanks. Good to know. I have the option on my ISP portal to deactivate dynamic prefix changes while the connection is up. I only get a new prefix on a routers reboot. (I really have to test the option to keep the address.) So I could have never encountered that issue.
Btw are you aware if dnsmasq address this issue in the future?
1 Like
This topic was automatically closed 10 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.