[Bug 1543794] Re: isc-dhcp-server fails to start on second & further attempts with 'Can't open /var/lib/dhcp/dhcpd.leases for append'

Wed Aug 3 09:26:40 UTC 2016

The problem still exists, for 4.3.3-5ubuntu12.1 (Ubuntu 16.04).

How to reproduce (using /etc/dhcp/dhcpd.conf installed from the package
itself, without changes):

1. Starting with a fresh install:

nornetpp at bjoernson:~$ sudo rm -rf /var/lib/dhcp /run/dhcp-server
nornetpp at bjoernson:~$ sudo apt-get install --reinstall isc-dhcp-server
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 1 reinstalled, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Need to get 0 B/412 kB of archives.
After this operation, 0 B of additional disk space will be used.
Preconfiguring packages ...
(Reading database ... 105366 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack .../isc-dhcp-server_4.3.3-5ubuntu12.1_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking isc-dhcp-server (4.3.3-5ubuntu12.1) over (4.3.3-5ubuntu12.1) ...
Processing triggers for systemd (229-4ubuntu7) ...
Processing triggers for ureadahead (0.100.0-19) ...
Processing triggers for man-db (2.7.5-1) ...
Setting up isc-dhcp-server (4.3.3-5ubuntu12.1) ...
insserv: warning: script 'screen-cleanup' missing LSB tags and overrides
insserv: Default-Start undefined, assuming empty start runlevel(s) for script `screen-cleanup'
insserv: Default-Stop  undefined, assuming empty stop  runlevel(s) for script `screen-cleanup'
isc-dhcp-server start/running, process 24418

nornetpp at bjoernson:~$ apt-show-versions | grep isc-dhcp-server
isc-dhcp-server:amd64/xenial-updates 4.3.3-5ubuntu12.1 uptodate
isc-dhcp-server:i386 not installed

2. Starting the service fails:

nornetpp at bjoernson:~$ sudo service isc-dhcp-server start
isc-dhcp-server start/running, process 24553
nornetpp at bjoernson:~$ sleep 3
nornetpp at bjoernson:~$ sudo service isc-dhcp-server status
isc-dhcp-server stop/waiting
nornetpp at bjoernson:~$ tail -n20 /var/log/syslog.1
Aug  3 11:23:35 bjoernson dhcpd[24599]: process and the information we find helpful for debugging..
Aug  3 11:23:35 bjoernson dhcpd[24599]: 
Aug  3 11:23:35 bjoernson dhcpd[24599]: exiting.
Aug  3 11:23:35 bjoernson dhcpd[24603]: Internet Systems Consortium DHCP Server 4.3.3
Aug  3 11:23:35 bjoernson dhcpd[24603]: Copyright 2004-2015 Internet Systems Consortium.
Aug  3 11:23:35 bjoernson dhcpd[24603]: All rights reserved.
Aug  3 11:23:35 bjoernson dhcpd[24603]: For info, please visit https://www.isc.org/software/dhcp/
Aug  3 11:23:35 bjoernson dhcpd[24604]: Internet Systems Consortium DHCP Server 4.3.3
Aug  3 11:23:35 bjoernson dhcpd[24604]: Copyright 2004-2015 Internet Systems Consortium.
Aug  3 11:23:35 bjoernson dhcpd[24604]: All rights reserved.
Aug  3 11:23:35 bjoernson dhcpd[24604]: For info, please visit https://www.isc.org/software/dhcp/
Aug  3 11:23:35 bjoernson dhcpd[24604]: Can't open /var/lib/dhcp/dhcpd.leases for append.
Aug  3 11:23:35 bjoernson dhcpd[24604]: 
Aug  3 11:23:35 bjoernson dhcpd[24604]: If you think you have received this message due to a bug rather
Aug  3 11:23:35 bjoernson dhcpd[24604]: than a configuration issue please read the section on submitting
Aug  3 11:23:35 bjoernson dhcpd[24604]: bugs on either our web page at www.isc.org or in the README file
Aug  3 11:23:35 bjoernson dhcpd[24604]: before submitting a bug.  These pages explain the proper
Aug  3 11:23:35 bjoernson dhcpd[24604]: process and the information we find helpful for debugging..
Aug  3 11:23:35 bjoernson dhcpd[24604]: 
Aug  3 11:23:35 bjoernson dhcpd[24604]: exiting.
nornetpp at bjoernson:~$ sudo service isc-dhcp-server stop
stop: Unknown instance: 

3. Checking permissions, and setting them according to comment #7:

nornetpp at bjoernson:~$ ls -al /var/lib/dhcp
total 5
drwxr-xr-x  2 root  root   112 Aug  3 11:22 .
drwxr-xr-x 54 root  root  1440 Aug  3 11:22 ..
-rw-r--r--  1 dhcpd dhcpd  125 Aug  3 11:22 dhcpd.leases
-rw-r--r--  1 root  root     0 Aug  3 11:22 dhcpd.leases~
nornetpp at bjoernson:~$ sudo chmod 664 /var/lib/dhcp/*.leases
nornetpp at bjoernson:~$ sudo chown root:dhcpd -R /var/lib/dhcp
nornetpp at bjoernson:~$ sudo chmod 775 /var/lib/dhcp
nornetpp at bjoernson:~$ ls -al /var/lib/dhcp
total 5
drwxrwxr-x  2 root dhcpd  112 Aug  3 11:22 .
drwxr-xr-x 54 root root  1440 Aug  3 11:22 ..
-rw-rw-r--  1 root dhcpd  125 Aug  3 11:22 dhcpd.leases
-rw-r--r--  1 root dhcpd    0 Aug  3 11:22 dhcpd.leases~
nornetpp at bjoernson:~$ 
nornetpp at bjoernson:~$ ls -al /run/dhcp-server
total 0
drwxr-xr-x  2 dhcpd dhcpd   40 Aug  3 11:22 .
drwxr-xr-x 31 root  root  1260 Aug  3 11:22 ..
nornetpp at bjoernson:~$ sudo chmod 775 /run/dhcp-server
nornetpp at bjoernson:~$ sudo chown root:dhcpd -R /run/dhcp-server
nornetpp at bjoernson:~$ ls -al /run/dhcp-server
total 0
drwxrwxr-x  2 root dhcpd   40 Aug  3 11:22 .
drwxr-xr-x 31 root root  1260 Aug  3 11:22 ..

4. Trying again (without success):

nornetpp at bjoernson:~$ sudo service isc-dhcp-server start
isc-dhcp-server start/running, process 24649
nornetpp at bjoernson:~$ sleep 3
nornetpp at bjoernson:~$ sudo service isc-dhcp-server status
isc-dhcp-server stop/waiting
nornetpp at bjoernson:~$ tail -n20 /var/log/syslog.1
Aug  3 11:24:38 bjoernson dhcpd[24695]: process and the information we find helpful for debugging..
Aug  3 11:24:38 bjoernson dhcpd[24695]: 
Aug  3 11:24:38 bjoernson dhcpd[24695]: exiting.
Aug  3 11:24:38 bjoernson dhcpd[24699]: Internet Systems Consortium DHCP Server 4.3.3
Aug  3 11:24:38 bjoernson dhcpd[24699]: Copyright 2004-2015 Internet Systems Consortium.
Aug  3 11:24:38 bjoernson dhcpd[24699]: All rights reserved.
Aug  3 11:24:38 bjoernson dhcpd[24699]: For info, please visit https://www.isc.org/software/dhcp/
Aug  3 11:24:38 bjoernson dhcpd[24700]: Internet Systems Consortium DHCP Server 4.3.3
Aug  3 11:24:38 bjoernson dhcpd[24700]: Copyright 2004-2015 Internet Systems Consortium.
Aug  3 11:24:38 bjoernson dhcpd[24700]: All rights reserved.
Aug  3 11:24:38 bjoernson dhcpd[24700]: For info, please visit https://www.isc.org/software/dhcp/
Aug  3 11:24:38 bjoernson dhcpd[24700]: Can't open /var/lib/dhcp/dhcpd.leases for append.
Aug  3 11:24:38 bjoernson dhcpd[24700]: 
Aug  3 11:24:38 bjoernson dhcpd[24700]: If you think you have received this message due to a bug rather
Aug  3 11:24:38 bjoernson dhcpd[24700]: than a configuration issue please read the section on submitting
Aug  3 11:24:38 bjoernson dhcpd[24700]: bugs on either our web page at www.isc.org or in the README file
Aug  3 11:24:38 bjoernson dhcpd[24700]: before submitting a bug.  These pages explain the proper
Aug  3 11:24:38 bjoernson dhcpd[24700]: process and the information we find helpful for debugging..
Aug  3 11:24:38 bjoernson dhcpd[24700]: 
Aug  3 11:24:38 bjoernson dhcpd[24700]: exiting.

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1543794

Title:
  isc-dhcp-server fails to start on second & further attempts with
  'Can't open /var/lib/dhcp/dhcpd.leases for append'

Status in isc-dhcp package in Ubuntu:
  Fix Released

Bug description:
  During the first start of isc-dhcp-server (using the systemd service
  unit), a blank dhcpd.leases file is created (presumably owned by
  root:root).  dhcpd starts successfully (and then exits due to no
  subnet definitions, that's expected).

  Attempting to start the service again fails with 'Can't open
  /var/lib/dhcp/dhcpd.leases for append' (the dhcpd.leases file
  ownership is now dhcpd.dhcpd), and apparmor logs a denial of the
  dac_override capability.

  Removing the leases file repeats this process (first start works as
  expected, future ones do not).

  ProblemType: Bug
  DistroRelease: Ubuntu 16.04
  Package: isc-dhcp-server 4.3.3-5ubuntu4
  ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 4.4.0-2.16-generic 4.4.0
  Uname: Linux 4.4.0-2-generic x86_64
  ApportVersion: 2.19.4-0ubuntu2
  Architecture: amd64
  Date: Tue Feb  9 20:58:12 2016
  InstallationDate: Installed on 2016-02-09 (0 days ago)
  InstallationMedia: Ubuntu-Server 16.04 LTS "Xenial Xerus" - Alpha amd64 (20160206)
  ProcEnviron:
   LANGUAGE=en_GB:en
   TERM=linux
   PATH=(custom, no user)
   LANG=en_GB.UTF-8
   SHELL=/bin/bash
  SourcePackage: isc-dhcp
  UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)

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