pfSense

I can tell you why the leases aren't going in /etc/hosts and have a pretty simple fix (although it's so shallow I'm not even going to post a patch file). However, now that I'm getting the dynamic leases in the /etc/hosts file, I'm resolving them with nslookup on the lan, but no other network services resolve the host correctly.

Basically the file /etc/rc.parse-isc-dhcpd is parsing the dhcp.lease file, and it is greping out the word "lease". Unfortunately, this appears in several places in the comments section. After the files are catted and tailed before they go into the while loops, run it through a grep -v "#" and then pipe it through all that.

However, it still doesn't explain why my machines are correctly able to resolve my static hosts but not dynamic. Also before I the /etc/rc.par-isc-dhcpd file by hand, it didn't seem to get used.

Eh, that's supposed to say before I ran /etc/rc.parse-isc-dhcpd by hand. I don't know if the php is calling it properly if at all. But running it by hand did correctly add isc's to my /etc/hosts. But still, nothing but nslookup is resolving these hostnames. I haven't rebooted any of the machines since, so is it perhaps a DNS cache issue? But then why would nslookup still work?

I've applied Adam's patch, and I can verify that running /etc/rc.parse-isc-dhcpd does cause the leases to get added to /etc/hosts. nslookup from local machines works fine, as does ping. Prior to the patch my /etc/hosts file only contained my static DHCP entries.
Unfortunately it seems that it (the running of /etc/rc.parse-isc-dhcpd) is not happening automatically, even after a reboot.

Indeed I was correct in that the php was never calling it in the first place. This shell script is pretty much designed so that it can be a startup script and forked in the background, though. So I'm going to go ahead and suggest that it is placed in the init subsystem.

I may have found a new bug related to this issue. It may have something to do with the fact that tail -F is looking for an inode change, but over time my static leases seem to disappear from the /etc/hosts.

Doesn't work with DHCP leases at all.

There were problems solved lately. Please test with new snapshots.

Still no difference as of BETA1-20100329-1141, DHCP leases are not in there. I'm resulting to running that script that I fixed by hand and forking it in the background :-/.

Can you provide a little debugging here.
ps -ax |grep dhcp
content of dhcpd.leases
contents of /var/etc/hosts file.

1. ps -ax | grep dhcp
   13215 ?? Ss 0:00.01 /usr/local/sbin/dhcpd -user dhcpd -group _dhcp -chroot /var/dhcpd -cf /var/dhcpd/etc/dhcpd.conf em0 fxp0
   40171 ?? S 0:00.03 /usr/local/sbin/dnsmasq --local-ttl 1 --all-servers --dns-forward-max=5000 --cache-size=10000 --dhcp-hostsfile=/var/etc/hosts
   61384 0 S+ 0:00.01 grep dhcp

lease 192.168.1.25 {
starts 4 2010/03/04 23:16:11;
ends 5 2010/03/05 01:16:11;
tstp 5 2010/03/05 01:16:11;
binding state free;
hardware ethernet 00:26:ff:96:f4:e1;
uid "\001\000&\377\226\364\341";
}
lease 192.168.1.20 {
starts 4 2010/03/11 12:11:04;
ends 4 2010/03/11 14:11:04;
tstp 4 2010/03/11 14:11:04;
binding state free;
hardware ethernet 00:19:d2:44:f0:e1;
uid "\001\000\031\322D\360\341";
}
lease 192.168.1.21 {
starts 0 2010/03/21 03:48:40;
ends 0 2010/03/21 05:48:40;
tstp 0 2010/03/21 05:48:40;
binding state free;
hardware ethernet 00:22:5f:c8:f6:20;
uid "\001\000\"_\310\366 ";
}
lease 192.168.1.19 {
starts 1 2010/03/29 10:26:14;
ends 1 2010/03/29 12:26:14;
tstp 1 2010/03/29 12:26:14;
binding state free;
hardware ethernet 00:1f:3c:c1:bf:28;
uid "\001\000\037<\301\277(";
}
lease 192.168.1.23 {
starts 1 2010/03/29 21:11:05;
ends 1 2010/03/29 23:11:05;
tstp 1 2010/03/29 23:11:05;
binding state active;
next binding state free;
hardware ethernet 00:01:02:c9:3a:76;
uid "\001\000\001\002\311:v";
client-hostname "wap1";
}
lease 192.168.1.22 {
starts 1 2010/03/29 21:23:02;
ends 1 2010/03/29 23:23:02;
tstp 1 2010/03/29 23:23:02;
binding state active;
next binding state free;
hardware ethernet 00:50:da:b9:7e:b6;
uid "\001\000P\332\271~\266";
client-hostname "wap2";
}
lease 192.168.0.244 {
starts 0 2010/02/14 20:17:42;
ends 0 2010/02/14 20:57:07;
tstp 0 2010/02/14 20:57:07;
binding state free;
hardware ethernet 00:1b:21:19:ec:63;
uid "\001\000\033!\031\354c";
}
lease 192.168.0.41 {
starts 6 2010/02/20 04:50:56;
ends 6 2010/02/20 04:56:11;
tstp 6 2010/02/20 04:56:11;
binding state free;
hardware ethernet 00:0c:29:87:40:fc;
}
lease 192.168.0.243 {
starts 3 2010/02/24 20:22:02;
ends 3 2010/02/24 21:11:15;
tstp 3 2010/02/24 21:11:15;
binding state free;
hardware ethernet 00:1b:21:19:ec:63;
}
lease 192.168.0.240 {
starts 3 2010/02/24 21:25:07;
ends 3 2010/02/24 23:25:07;
tstp 3 2010/02/24 23:25:07;
binding state free;
hardware ethernet 08:00:27:54:7e:f8;
}
lease 192.168.0.242 {
starts 1 2010/03/08 04:21:36;
ends 1 2010/03/08 06:21:36;
tstp 1 2010/03/08 06:21:36;
binding state free;
hardware ethernet 00:24:21:61:b3:3d;
uid "\001\000$!a\263=";
}
lease 192.168.0.238 {
starts 0 2010/03/14 19:42:05;
ends 0 2010/03/14 21:42:05;
tstp 0 2010/03/14 21:42:05;
binding state free;
hardware ethernet 08:00:27:ec:4f:9e;
}
lease 192.168.0.75 {
starts 3 2010/03/17 16:10:27;
ends 3 2010/03/17 18:10:27;
tstp 3 2010/03/17 18:10:27;
binding state free;
hardware ethernet 00:0c:29:79:87:5b;
uid "\001\000\014)y\207[";
}
lease 192.168.0.237 {
starts 4 2010/03/18 03:07:06;
ends 4 2010/03/18 03:09:06;
tstp 4 2010/03/18 03:09:06;
binding state free;
hardware ethernet e1:6c:d6:ae:52:90;
uid "\001\341l\326\256R\220";
}
lease 192.168.0.236 {
starts 4 2010/03/18 03:07:07;
ends 4 2010/03/18 03:09:07;
tstp 4 2010/03/18 03:09:07;
binding state free;
hardware ethernet e9:eb:b3:a6:db:3c;
uid "\001\351\353\263\246\333<";
}
lease 192.168.0.235 {
starts 1 2010/03/22 03:38:58;
ends 1 2010/03/22 05:38:58;
tstp 1 2010/03/22 05:38:58;
binding state free;
hardware ethernet 00:0c:29:55:52:0e;
}
lease 192.168.0.234 {
starts 1 2010/03/22 03:40:23;
ends 1 2010/03/22 05:40:23;
tstp 1 2010/03/22 05:40:23;
binding state free;
hardware ethernet 08:00:27:81:b6:d8;
}
lease 192.168.0.241 {
starts 2 2010/03/23 17:24:59;
ends 3 2010/03/24 03:09:10;
tstp 3 2010/03/24 03:09:10;
binding state free;
hardware ethernet 08:00:27:0c:9e:0d;
}
lease 192.168.0.239 {
starts 1 2010/03/29 20:58:39;
ends 1 2010/03/29 22:58:39;
tstp 1 2010/03/29 22:58:39;
binding state active;
next binding state free;
hardware ethernet 00:1b:21:19:ec:63;
client-hostname "mythbox3";
}

And finally:

1. cat /var/etc/hosts
   127.0.0.1 localhost localhost.adamsnet
   69.61.211.62 pfsense.adamsnet pfsense
   192.168.0.1 pfsense.adamsnet pfsense
   192.168.1.1 pfsense.adamsnet pfsense
   129.137.4.127 pohl.adamsnet pohl
   192.168.0.245 macbox.adamsnet macbox
   192.168.0.2 downstairs.adamsnet downstairs
   192.168.0.60 nasbox.adamsnet nasbox
   192.168.0.96 G4box.adamsnet G4box
   192.168.0.116 brynns.adamsnet brynns
   192.168.0.119 freebsdbox.adamsnet freebsdbox
   192.168.0.121 mythtvbox.adamsnet mythtvbox
   192.168.0.124 BRN001BA9151890.adamsnet BRN001BA9151890

As you can see only the static leases are in there, which are always put in /etc/hosts anyway.

Do you have any log entry in system logs about dhcpleases?
It should be running so the leases work.
Either you are on an old snapshot which had a problem with dhcpd.lease not present or you have tweaked your system.

It is the latest snapshot and it is untampered with. Which system log, "System"?

I just tried the lastest revision and it still seems to be an issue. Static is being added to hosts file, however if you try and ping/nslookup any host (Static/DHCP) it is unable to be resolved.

Hi,

my pfSense box hostname is "pfsense" and domain is "local"

[root@pfsense.local]/root(29): cat /etc/resolv.conf
domain local
nameserver 2X.46.237.X37
nameserver 2X.70.228.X20

[root@pfsense.local]/root(31): cat /var/etc/hosts
127.0.0.1 localhost localhost.local
192.168.9.1 pfsense.local pfsense
10.94.243.169 pfsense.local pfsense

Also, this may be the problem. My processes on pfSense box.

nobody 26384 0.0 1.0 5540 2392 ?? I 8:25AM 0:02.94 /usr/local/sbin/dnsmasq --local-ttl 1 --all-servers --dns-forward-max=5000 --cache-size=10000 --dhcp-hostsfile=/var/etc/hosts
dhcpd 46822 0.0 0.9 3304 2104 ?? Is 8:25AM 0:00.05 /usr/local/sbin/dhcpd -user dhcpd -group _dhcp -chroot /var/dhcpd -cf /var/dhcpd/etc/dhcpd.conf bridge0

Note: --dhcp-hostsfile=/var/etc/hosts

. . . from the dnsmasq man page: http://www.thekelleys.org.uk/dnsmasq/docs/dnsmasq-man.html

--dhcp-hostsfile=<file>
Read DHCP host information from the specified file. The file contains information about one host per line. The format of a line is the same as text to the right of '=' in --dhcp-host. The advantage of storing DHCP host information in this file is that it can be changed without re-starting dnsmasq: the file will be re-read when dnsmasq receives SIGHUP.

-G, --dhcp-host=[<hwaddr>][,id:<client_id>|*][,net:<netid>][,<ipaddr>][,<hostname>][,<lease_time>][,ignore]

so the "--dhcp-hostsfile=/var/etc/hosts" option won't give desired results.

Ermal, are you running mdns on your network hosts? This can make local DNS resolution to appear to be working when it's really not. This happened to me and then I started to use dig to test dns lookups.

[2.0-BETA1] [root@pfsense.home]/root(18): ps ax | grep dhcp
  140  ??  Is     0:00.24 /usr/local/sbin/dhcpd -user dhcpd -group _dhcp -chroot /var/dhcpd -cf /var/dhcpd/etc/dhcpd.conf bridge0
 1100  ??  Is     0:00.01 /usr/local/sbin/dhcpleases -l /var/dhcpd/var/db/dhcpd.leases -d local -p /var/run/dnsmasq.pid -h /var/etc/hosts
60598  ??  S      0:08.73 /usr/local/sbin/dnsmasq --local-ttl 1 --all-servers --dns-forward-max=5000 --cache-size=10000 --dhcp-hostsfile=/var/etc/hosts

[2.0-BETA1] [root@pfsense.home]/root(19): cat /var/etc/hosts
127.0.0.1    localhost localhost.home
183.89.218.112    pfsense.home pfsense
192.168.5.1    pfsense.home pfsense

[2.0-BETA1] [root@pfsense.home]/root(20): cat /var/dhcpd/var/db/dhcpd.leases
# All times in this file are in UTC (GMT), not your local timezone.   This is
# not a bug, so please don't ask about it.   There is no portable way to
# store leases in the local timezone, so please don't request this as a
# feature.   If this is inconvenient or confusing to you, we sincerely
# apologize.   Seriously, though - don't ask.
# The format of this file is documented in the dhcpd.leases(5) manual page.
# This lease file was written by isc-dhcp-V3.0.7

lease 192.168.5.242 {
  starts 2 2010/04/06 14:11:55;
  ends 2 2010/04/06 16:11:55;
  tstp 2 2010/04/06 16:11:55;
  binding state free;
  hardware ethernet 00:1c:42:69:e5:2f;
  uid "\001\000\034Bi\345/";
}
lease 192.168.5.243 {
  starts 3 2010/04/07 03:37:36;
  ends 4 2010/04/08 03:37:36;
  tstp 4 2010/04/08 03:37:36;
  binding state free;
  hardware ethernet 00:1f:f3:05:14:f9;
  uid "ae2";
}
lease 192.168.5.244 {
  starts 5 2010/04/09 02:34:54;
  ends 5 2010/04/09 04:34:54;
  binding state active;
  next binding state free;
  hardware ethernet 00:1b:63:f0:7e:96;
  uid "\001\000\033c\360~\226";
  client-hostname "AppleTV";
}
lease 192.168.5.245 {
  starts 5 2010/04/09 03:00:12;
  ends 5 2010/04/09 05:00:12;
  binding state active;
  next binding state free;
  hardware ethernet 00:21:91:56:4d:21;
  uid "\001\000!\221VM!";
  client-hostname "DNAS";
}

Any updates to this problem yet? Do we know why Ermal's solution is not working as expected?

Yay, It works.
Thanks Ermal.

After having left pfsense running for a while my dynamic hostname resolution seems to have vanished.

uptime
11:58PM up 27 days, 10:54, 2 users, load averages: 0.08, 0.02, 0.01
The following are all static hosts:

cat /etc/hosts
127.0.0.1 localhost localhost.adamsnet
192.168.0.1 pfsense.adamsnet pfsense
129.137.4.127 pohl.adamsnet pohl
192.168.0.245 macbox.adamsnet macbox
192.168.0.2 downstairs.adamsnet downstairs
192.168.0.60 nasbox.adamsnet nasbox
192.168.0.96 G4box.adamsnet G4box
192.168.0.116 brynns.adamsnet brynns
192.168.0.119 freebsdbox.adamsnet freebsdbox
192.168.0.121 mythtvbox.adamsnet mythtvbox
192.168.0.124 BRN001BA9151890.adamsnet BRN001BA9151890
As you can see there are plenty of dynamic hosts:

cat /var/dhcpd/var/db/dhcpd.leases
All times in this file are in UTC (GMT), not your local timezone. This is
not a bug, so please don't ask about it. There is no portable way to
store leases in the local timezone, so please don't request this as a
feature. If this is inconvenient or confusing to you, we sincerely
apologize. Seriously, though - don't ask.
The format of this file is documented in the dhcpd.leases(5) manual page.
This lease file was written by isc-dhcp-V3.0.7
lease 192.168.1.25 {
starts 6 2010/06/26 22:07:28;
ends 0 2010/06/27 00:07:28;
tstp 0 2010/06/27 00:07:28;
binding state free;
hardware ethernet c4:17:fe:a4:3e:92;
uid "\001\304\027\376\244>\222";
}
lease 192.168.1.21 {
starts 0 2010/07/04 01:07:53;
ends 0 2010/07/04 03:07:53;
tstp 0 2010/07/04 03:07:53;
binding state free;
hardware ethernet 00:22:5f:c8:f6:20;
uid "\001\000\"_\310\366 ";
}
lease 192.168.1.23 {
starts 0 2010/07/04 02:11:56;
ends 0 2010/07/04 04:11:56;
binding state active;
next binding state free;
hardware ethernet 00:01:02:c9:3a:76;
uid "\001\000\001\002\311:v";
client-hostname "wap1";
}
lease 192.168.1.19 {
starts 0 2010/07/04 02:14:33;
ends 0 2010/07/04 04:14:33;
binding state active;
next binding state free;
hardware ethernet 00:1f:3c:c1:bf:28;
uid "\001\000\037<\301\277(";
client-hostname "zephyr";
}
lease 192.168.1.22 {
starts 0 2010/07/04 03:07:54;
ends 0 2010/07/04 05:07:54;
binding state active;
next binding state free;
hardware ethernet 00:50:da:b9:7e:b6;
uid "\001\000P\332\271~\266";
client-hostname "wap2";
}
lease 192.168.0.244 {
starts 0 2010/02/14 20:17:42;
ends 0 2010/02/14 20:57:07;
tstp 0 2010/02/14 20:57:07;
binding state free;
hardware ethernet 00:1b:21:19:ec:63;
uid "\001\000\033!\031\354c";
}
lease 192.168.0.41 {
starts 6 2010/02/20 04:50:56;
ends 6 2010/02/20 04:56:11;
tstp 6 2010/02/20 04:56:11;
binding state free;
hardware ethernet 00:0c:29:87:40:fc;
}
lease 192.168.0.243 {
starts 3 2010/02/24 20:22:02;
ends 3 2010/02/24 21:11:15;
tstp 3 2010/02/24 21:11:15;
binding state free;
hardware ethernet 00:1b:21:19:ec:63;
}
lease 192.168.0.240 {
starts 3 2010/02/24 21:25:07;
ends 3 2010/02/24 23:25:07;
tstp 3 2010/02/24 23:25:07;
binding state free;
hardware ethernet 08:00:27:54:7e:f8;
}
lease 192.168.0.238 {
starts 0 2010/03/14 19:42:05;
ends 0 2010/03/14 21:42:05;
tstp 0 2010/03/14 21:42:05;
binding state free;
hardware ethernet 08:00:27:ec:4f:9e;
}
lease 192.168.0.75 {
starts 3 2010/03/17 16:10:27;
ends 3 2010/03/17 18:10:27;
tstp 3 2010/03/17 18:10:27;
binding state free;
hardware ethernet 00:0c:29:79:87:5b;
uid "\001\000\014)y\207[";
}
lease 192.168.0.235 {
starts 1 2010/03/22 03:38:58;
ends 1 2010/03/22 05:38:58;
tstp 1 2010/03/22 05:38:58;
binding state free;
hardware ethernet 00:0c:29:55:52:0e;
}
lease 192.168.0.234 {
starts 1 2010/03/22 03:40:23;
ends 1 2010/03/22 05:40:23;
tstp 1 2010/03/22 05:40:23;
binding state free;
hardware ethernet 08:00:27:81:b6:d8;
}
lease 192.168.0.242 {
starts 5 2010/04/30 04:33:41;
ends 5 2010/04/30 06:33:41;
tstp 5 2010/04/30 06:33:41;
binding state free;
hardware ethernet 00:24:21:61:b3:3d;
uid "\001\000$!a\263=";
}
lease 192.168.0.241 {
starts 5 2010/05/28 21:27:45;
ends 6 2010/05/29 21:27:45;
tstp 6 2010/05/29 21:27:45;
binding state free;
hardware ethernet 08:00:27:0c:9e:0d;
}
lease 192.168.0.233 {
starts 5 2010/06/04 22:03:02;
ends 6 2010/06/05 00:03:02;
tstp 6 2010/06/05 00:03:02;
binding state free;
hardware ethernet 00:0c:29:c9:68:26;
uid "\001\000\014)\311h&";
}
lease 192.168.0.230 {
starts 2 2010/06/15 22:17:47;
ends 3 2010/06/16 00:17:47;
tstp 3 2010/06/16 00:17:47;
binding state free;
hardware ethernet 00:24:1d:20:64:12;
}
lease 192.168.0.237 {
starts 1 2010/06/21 21:51:50;
ends 1 2010/06/21 21:53:50;
tstp 1 2010/06/21 21:53:50;
binding state free;
hardware ethernet e1:6c:d6:ae:52:90;
uid "\001\341l\326\256R\220";
}
lease 192.168.0.236 {
starts 1 2010/06/21 21:51:51;
ends 1 2010/06/21 21:53:51;
tstp 1 2010/06/21 21:53:51;
binding state free;
hardware ethernet e9:eb:b3:a6:db:3c;
uid "\001\351\353\263\246\333<";
}
lease 192.168.0.15 {
starts 4 2010/06/24 01:22:30;
ends 4 2010/06/24 03:22:30;
tstp 4 2010/06/24 03:22:30;
binding state free;
hardware ethernet 00:0c:29:ad:ad:eb;
}
lease 192.168.0.231 {
starts 5 2010/06/25 21:53:01;
ends 5 2010/06/25 23:53:01;
tstp 5 2010/06/25 23:53:01;
binding state free;
hardware ethernet 00:24:1d:20:64:12;
uid "\001\000$\035 d\022";
}
lease 192.168.0.232 {
starts 6 2010/07/03 20:45:41;
ends 6 2010/07/03 22:45:41;
tstp 6 2010/07/03 22:45:41;
binding state free;
hardware ethernet 00:1f:d0:81:7e:37;
uid "\001\000\037\320\201~7";
}
lease 192.168.0.93 {
starts 0 2010/07/04 02:32:44;
ends 0 2010/07/04 04:32:44;
binding state active;
next binding state free;
hardware ethernet 00:11:24:d6:92:d8;
client-hostname "powerbook";
}
lease 192.168.0.239 {
starts 0 2010/07/04 02:55:13;
ends 0 2010/07/04 04:55:13;
binding state active;
next binding state free;
hardware ethernet 00:1b:21:19:ec:63;
client-hostname "mythbox3";
}
lease 192.168.0.82 {
starts 0 2010/07/04 03:10:12;
ends 0 2010/07/04 05:10:12;
binding state active;
next binding state free;
hardware ethernet 00:e0:b8:38:ad:8e;
uid "\001\000\340\2708\255\216";
client-hostname "bsdtop";
}
lease 192.168.1.23 {
starts 0 2010/07/04 03:11:56;
ends 0 2010/07/04 05:11:56;
binding state active;
next binding state free;
hardware ethernet 00:01:02:c9:3a:76;
uid "\001\000\001\002\311:v";
client-hostname "wap1";
}
lease 192.168.1.19 {
starts 0 2010/07/04 03:14:33;
ends 0 2010/07/04 05:14:33;
binding state active;
next binding state free;
hardware ethernet 00:1f:3c:c1:bf:28;
uid "\001\000\037<\301\277(";
client-hostname "zephyr";
}
lease 192.168.0.93 {
starts 0 2010/07/04 03:32:44;
ends 0 2010/07/04 05:32:44;
binding state active;
next binding state free;
hardware ethernet 00:11:24:d6:92:d8;
client-hostname "powerbook";
}
lease 192.168.0.239 {
starts 0 2010/07/04 03:55:13;
ends 0 2010/07/04 05:55:13;
binding state active;
next binding state free;
hardware ethernet 00:1b:21:19:ec:63;
client-hostname "mythbox3";
}

Here is the process still being displayed in ps:
root 4356 0.0 0.1 3316 1060 ?? Is 6Jun10 0:00.02 /usr/local/sbin/dhcpleases -l /var/dhcpd/var/db/dhcpd.leases -d adamsnet -p /var/run/dnsmasq.p

Sadly I think we may need to reopen this problem for feedback :(.

Adam Stylinski wrote:

After having left pfsense running for a while my dynamic hostname resolution seems to have vanished.

Hi, the same happens to me. I can still resolve static mappings but no hostnames from dynamic leases.
Snapshot: 9th July (full)

Please try a new snapshot.
A change was made on the utility to monitor if the file is being deleted/renamed actions that will break the monitoring for leases.

Well I finally got around to updating to a new snapshot a couple of days ago and it seems to still be resolving even days later. I'm a believer it's fixed for now.