---
name: "kea-dhcp6"
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-dhcp6"
---

# kea-dhcp6(8)

DHCPv6 server in Kea

## NAME

kea-dhcp6 - DHCPv6 server in Kea

## SYNOPSIS

**kea-dhcp6** \[**-v**\] \[**-V**\] \[**-W**\] \[**-d**\] \[**-c** config-file\] \[**-t** config-file\] \[**-p** server-port-number\] \[**-P** client-port-number\]

## DESCRIPTION

The **kea-dhcp6** daemon provides the DHCPv6 server implementation.

## ARGUMENTS

The arguments are as follows:

- **-v**

  Displays the Kea version.

- **-V**

  Displays the extended Kea version.

- **-W**

  Displays the configuration report.

- **-d**

  Enables the debug mode with extra verbosity.

- **-c config-file**

  Specifies the configuration file with the configuration for the DHCPv6 server. It may also contain configuration entries for other Kea services.

- **-t config-file**

  Checks the configuration file and reports the first error, if any. Note that not all parameters are completely checked; in particular, service and control channel sockets are not opened, and hook libraries are not loaded.

- **-T config-file**

  Checks the configuration file and reports the first error, if any. It performs extra checks beyond what -t offers, such as establishing database connections (for the lease backend, host reservations backend, configuration backend, and forensic logging backend), loading hook libraries, parsing hook-library configurations, etc. It does not open UNIX or TCP/UDP sockets, nor does it open or rotate files, as any of these actions could interfere with a running process on the same machine.

- **-p server-port-number**

  Specifies the server port number (1-65535) on which the server listens. This is useful for testing purposes only.

- **-P client-port-number**

  Specifies the client port number (1-65535) to which the server responds. This is useful for testing purposes only.

## 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 \<https://kea.readthedocs.io\>.

Kea source code is documented in the Kea Developer's Guide, available at \<https://reports.kea.isc.org/dev\_guide/\>.

The Kea project website is available at \<https://kea.isc.org\>.

## 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 \<https://lists.isc.org\>. The community provides best-effort support on both of those lists.

ISC provides professional support for Kea services. See \<https://www.isc.org/kea/\> for details.

## HISTORY

The **b10-dhcp6** daemon was first coded in June 2011 by Tomek Mrugalski.

In mid-2014, Kea was decoupled from the BIND 10 framework and became a standalone DHCP server. The DHCPv6 server binary was renamed to **kea-dhcp6**. Kea 1.0.0 was released in December 2015.

## SEE ALSO

**[kea-dhcp4(8)](/kea-dhcp4/8.md)**, **[kea-dhcp-ddns(8)](/kea-dhcp-ddns/8.md)**, **[kea-admin(8)](/kea-admin/8.md)**, **[keactrl(8)](/keactrl/8.md)**, **[perfdhcp(8)](/perfdhcp/8.md)**, **[kea-netconf(8)](/kea-netconf/8.md)**, **[kea-lfc(8)](/kea-lfc/8.md)**, Kea Administrator Reference Manual.

## Author

Internet Systems Consortium

## Copyright

2019-2026, Internet Systems Consortium