Hello all,
I am still using ISC for DHCP and would like to rip the band aid off and migrate to KEA for DHCP, DNSMasq for local DNS, and Unbound as the DNS that talks to the Internet. Has anyone done this? Is this a good plan or is there a better solution? Is there a document that talks about making the split? I did not find one.
Thanks,
Steve
This guide helped me tremendously:
https://homenetworkguy.com/how-to/migrate-from-isc-dhcp-to-dnsmasq-or-kea-dhcp-in-opnsense/
Quote from: spetrillo on January 20, 2026, 08:10:20 PMI am still using ISC for DHCP and would like to rip the band aid off and migrate to KEA for DHCP, DNSMasq for local DNS, and Unbound as the DNS that talks to the Internet.
Has anyone done this?
I moved from ISC to KEA in about 10 minutes :
- Export all Static DHCP Mappings into seperate .csv files via the webGUI feature.
- Setup everything in KEA but DO NOT Enable it yet!
- Go to your ISC DHCP networks and Stop & Disable all of them one by one.
- Enable KEA for all those Networks/Interfaces and Start the service if needed.
DONE! :)
QuoteIs this a good plan or is there a better solution?
Using both KEA and DNSmasqd will probably end in a conflict : Both use the same ports!
Just use KEA or DNSmasqd and when you use the last one you don't even need Unbound if that's easier for you, because the DNS part of DNSmasqd and Unbound can have a port conflict too !! ;)
QuoteIs there a document that talks about making the split? I did not find one.
This one is pretty good :
Quote from: jp0469 on January 20, 2026, 08:29:06 PMThis guide helped me tremendously:
https://homenetworkguy.com/how-to/migrate-from-isc-dhcp-to-dnsmasq-or-kea-dhcp-in-opnsense/
It answered some minor questions that I had about some options/workflows and my "Migration plan" so to speak...