How can I check dhcpd.conf against syntax error without running dhcpd?

linux bash dhcp
ibrahim picture ibrahim · Dec 14, 2012 · Viewed 51.2k times · Source

I need to make sure there are no syntax errors on dhcpd.conf. If there are errors, I want to get what they are.

I can check for syntax errors with this command:

dhcpd -cf /path/to/dhcpd.conf

but that prints a lot of information in addition to the error I got. Another thing is that I don't want to run dhcpd, even there is no syntax error. I only want to check for syntax errors and see what they are.

Unfortunately, running dhcpd -tf /path/to/dhcpd.conf also didn't solve my problem.

Answer

John picture John · Jan 4, 2013

The syntax you are looking for is

dhcpd -t -cf /path/to/dhcpd.conf

The -t option will do a config check:

If the -t flag is specified, the server will simply test the configuration file for correct syntax, but will not attempt to perform any network operations. This can be used to test the new configuration file automatically before installing it.

You do not need to use -cf if you are using the default config file path.

/usr/sbin/dhcpd -t

The one you tried with -tf /path/to/... is quite different and relates to tracing.

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