--- name: "kea-admin" section: "8" platform: "linux" package: "kea-docs" version: "1:3.2.1-1" release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01" platforms: ["linux"] url: "https://new.carta.tech/kea-admin" --- # kea-admin(8) Shell script for managing Kea databases ## NAME kea-admin - Shell script for managing Kea databases ## SYNOPSIS **kea-admin** \[command\] \[backend\] \[**-h** database\_host\] \[**-P** database\_port\] \[**-u** database\_username\] \[**-p** \[database\_password\]\] \[**-n** database\_name\] \[**-d** script\_directory\] \[**-v**\] \[**-x** extra\_argument \[**-x** extra\_argument ...\]\] \[**-4** \| **-6**\] \[**-i** input\_file\] \[**-o** output\_file\] \[**-y**\] ## DESCRIPTION **kea-admin** is a shell script that offers database maintenance. In particular, it features database initialization, database version checking, and database schema upgrading. ## ARGUMENTS - **command** Specifies the command to be issued to the servers. It can be one of the following: - **db-init** Initializes a new database schema. This is useful during a new Kea installation. The database is initialized to the latest version supported by the version of the software being installed. - **db-version** Reports the database backend version number. This is not necessarily equal to the Kea version number, as each backend has its own versioning scheme. - **db-upgrade** Conducts a database schema upgrade. This is useful when upgrading Kea. - **lease-dump** Dumps the contents of the lease database (for MySQL or PostgreSQL backends) to a CSV (comma-separated values) text file. (Support for the Cassandra backend has been deprecated.) The first line of the file contains the column names. This can be used as a way to switch from a database backend to a memfile backend. It can also be used as a diagnostic tool, as it provides a portable form of the lease data. There are other mandatory arguments that must be used together with this command: either **-4** or **-6** must be specified, and either **-o** or **--output** must be provided. - **lease-upload** Uploads leases from a CSV (comma-separated values) text file to a MySQL or a PostgreSQL lease database. The CSV file needs to be in memfile format. There are other mandatory arguments that must be used together with this command: either **-4** or **-6** must be specified, and either **-i** or **--input** must be provided. - **stats-recount** Recounts lease statistics for a MySQL or PostgreSQL database. - **backend** Specifies the backend type. Currently allowed backends are: memfile, mysql, and pgsql; cql has been deprecated. - **-h\|--host hostname** Specifies the hostname when connecting to a database. The default value is **localhost**. - **-i\|--input input\_file** Specifies the CSV (comma-separated values) text file with the leases to be uploaded; required for **lease-upload**. - **-P\|--port port** Specifies the port when connecting to a database. If not specified, the default value chosen by the database client is used. - **-u\|--user username** Specifies the username when connecting to a database. The default value is **keatest**. - **-p\|--password password** Specifies the password when connecting to a database. If only **-p** or **--password** is given, the user is prompted for a password. If not specified at all, the **KEA\_ADMIN\_DB\_PASSWORD** environment variable is checked for a value and used if it exists. Otherwise the default value of **1234** is used. - **-n\|--name database-name** Specifies the name of the database to connect to. The default value is **keatest**. - **-d\|--directory script-directory** Specifies the override scripts directory. That script is used during upgrades, database initialization, and possibly other operations. The default value is **(prefix)/share/kea/scripts/**. - **-o\|--output output\_file** Specifies the file to which the lease data will be dumped. Required for **lease-dump**. - **-v\|--version** Displays the Kea version. - **-V** Displays the extended Kea version. - **-4** Directs **kea-admin** to lease-dump the DHCPv4 leases. Incompatible with the -6 option. - **-6** Directs **kea-admin** to lease-dump the DHCPv6 leases. Incompatible with the -4 option. - **-x\|--extra** Specifies an extra argument to pass to the database command tool e.g. to invoke **mysql** with the **--ssl** argument. This can be repeated to pass more than one argument. Quotes are not preserved. Avoid commands containing spaces. - **-y\|--yes** Assume yes on overwriting temporary files. ## DOCUMENTATION Kea comes with an extensive Kea Administrator Reference Manual that covers all aspects of running the Kea software - compilation, installation, configuration, configuration examples, and much more. Kea also features a Kea Messages Manual, which lists all possible messages Kea can print with a brief description for each of them. Both documents are available in various formats (.txt, .html, .pdf) with the Kea distribution. The Kea documentation is available at \. Kea source code is documented in the Kea Developer's Guide, available at \. The Kea project website is available at \. ## MAILING LISTS AND SUPPORT There are two public mailing lists available for the Kea project. **kea-users** (kea-users at lists.isc.org) is intended for Kea users, while **kea-dev** (kea-dev at lists.isc.org) is intended for Kea developers, prospective contributors, and other advanced users. Both lists are available at \. The community provides best-effort support on both of those lists. ISC provides professional support for Kea services. See \ for details. ## SEE ALSO **[kea-dhcp4(8)](/kea-dhcp4/8.md)**, **[kea-dhcp6(8)](/kea-dhcp6/8.md)**, **[kea-dhcp-ddns(8)](/kea-dhcp-ddns/8.md)**, **[keactrl(8)](/keactrl/8.md)**, **[perfdhcp(8)](/perfdhcp/8.md)**, **[kea-netconf(8)](/kea-netconf/8.md)**, Kea Administrator Reference Manual. ## Author Internet Systems Consortium ## Copyright 2019-2026, Internet Systems Consortium