Replace

Replace Windows DHCP

Keep AD.

Windows DHCP replacement: MMC plus a sheet becomes one catalog. The reservation you save is the next Offer. Microsoft failover is a hashed pair; Lattice is the same pool on every node. Relays move to Lattice. Option 6 stays on the DNS the laptops already ask.

On-prem · Ubuntu tarball · Community: 1,000 managed IPs · No phone-home

Beta signup issues a lifetime perpetual Starter license so you can test three-node HA. Not a sale.

Today — two systems

Plan

  • Spreadsheet
  • dhcpd.conf

DHCP

  • MMC scopes
  • Lease file

Keep them in sync yourself.

Lattice — one catalog

The reservation you save is the next Offer.

  • prefix
  • subnet
  • pool
  • reservation
  • assignment
  • lease

dhcpd serves these rows. Console writes them. There is no second copy to sync. A/PTR follow the grant into the DNS you already run.

Try the betaCutover

Cutover

Lattice does not parse Microsoft XML or lease files. Dump scopes and reservations — PowerShell is on Migrate — map them, POST /api/v1. Printers that must keep an IP become reservations. Live leases do not import. Failover partners do not come with you.

Playbook: Migrate · HA is not Microsoft failover — three-node VIP.

A Tuesday after cutover

Windows keeps a plan in MMC and leases in another store. Lattice has one catalog, so Work can name the failure.

  1. 9:05

    What IP does this MAC have?

    Helpdesk pastes a suffix. Search lands on the lease. Neteng is not the lookup API.

  2. 11:20

    Give the printer .10 forever

    The reservation you save is the next Offer. No scope to edit, no sheet to sync.

  3. 2:40

    Laptop will not get an address

    Work names the queue. No capture first. There is no primary to restart.

  4. 4:10

    Who had this IP last Tuesday?

    Occupancy is every remaining lease row. As-of a day. CSV. Not Audit, not a ping.

Plan and leases

Windows DHCP
Scope + spreadsheet
Lattice
One catalog

Scale-out / failover

Windows DHCP
Hashed pair / split scope
Lattice
Same pool on every node (Starter: extra dhcpd + three-node VIP). Beta signup includes lifetime Starter.

DNS

Windows DHCP
Microsoft DNS (often)
Lattice
A/PTR after Ack into DNS you keep

Cutover

Windows DHCP
Dump scopes/reservations → map → API (no XML/lease import)

What hurts in Windows DHCP

Scope in MMC, used IPs in a sheet

The reservation lives in one place. The grant lives in another. Helpdesk exports. dhcpd does not read the spreadsheet.

Failover is a hashed pair

Two servers, split scopes or Microsoft failover. That is not the same pool on every node. Discover on A and Ack on B is a problem, not the design.

Find a MAC in MMC

Per server. Per scope. Or an export you grep. The object is not one search.

Last three octets are enough. Cisco dotted form works.

Last three octets are enough. Cisco dotted form works.

Console search for Cisco suffix 0028.1001 hitting three live leases: sea-scan-020, sea-pc-020, sea-guest-020.
Work names the queue. Lattice never auto-reclaims.

Work names the queue. Lattice never auto-reclaims.

Work: named queues. Stale 9 — reservations with no lease or ping in ~90 days. Lattice does not auto-delete.

What Lattice does

The reservation you save is the next Offer

Prefixes, subnets, pools, reservations, and leases are one catalog. dhcpd serves those rows.

Who held this IP

Occupancy is every remaining lease row. As-of a day. CSV. Windows is the current lease or an export.

Every hold. As-of a day on this computer. The grant is the occupancy log.

Every hold. As-of a day on this computer. The grant is the occupancy log.

History of 10.10.10.55: four holds, currently maya-chen-mbp (Apple); NAKs from a conference phone.

Keep AD

A/PTR after Ack into the zones you already run. Option 6 stays on AD or Unbound. Lattice is not Microsoft DNS.

Same pool, any node

Community is one Ubuntu node. Same binaries. A Starter file adds dhcpd processes on the same database (Discover on one node, Ack on another, same pool) and three-node HA behind a VIP. Signup includes a lifetime perpetual Starter license so you can test HA.

FAQ

Is Lattice Microsoft DHCP failover?
No. There are no failover partners. Paid HA is three Ubuntu VMs, one Postgres, one VIP. Discover on one node and Ack on another is the same pool. Read the HA docs.
Will Lattice import my Windows DHCP leases?
No. Dump scopes and reservations, map them, POST /api/v1. Live leases do not import. Failover partners do not come with you. Read the migrate playbook.
Do I have to move DNS off Active Directory?
No. Keep AD. A/PTR follow the grant into the zones you already run. Option 6 stays on the DNS the laptops already ask.
How do I cut over from Windows DHCP?
Dump scopes and reservations, map them, POST the catalog, point relays at Lattice, then turn off Windows DHCP. Migrate.
Try the betaMigrateInstall