DHCP Client Systems With Multiple Network Interfaces

The DHCP client daemon can manage several different interfaces on one system simultaneously, each with its own IP address and lease time. If more than one network interface is configured for DHCP, the client issues separate requests to configure them and maintains a separate set of network configuration options for each interface. However, although the parameters are stored separately, some of the parameters are global in nature, applying to the system as a whole, rather than to a particular network interface.

Options such as hostname, NIS domain name, and timezone are global parameters and should have the same values for each interface, but these values may differ due to errors in the information entered by the DHCP administrator. To ensure that there is only one answer to a query for a global parameter, only the parameters for the primary network interface are requested. You can insert the word primary in the /etc/dhcp.interface file for the interface you want to be treated as the primary interface.