In this post, I will show, how to Backup and Restore the Windows DHCP Server configuration and how to use this method to import the HP Vendor Specific Options for the HP AP’s. The configuration will be backuped as a text file, which can easily be modified to match the configuration of a new server.
DHCP Server Backup
I assume, that you already have a running windows DHCP server. I tested this with Windows Server 2012 R2, but this should also work with earlier versions of the windows server OS.
To start, open a command prompt. We will use netsh to export the configuration. As netsh also support remote systems, you do not need to be on the DHCP server host itself.
The command to export the configuration to a text file is:
netsh dhcp server 192.168.1.57 dump > export.cfgThis command will export the DHCP server configuration from the host “192.168.1.57” to the file “export.cfg”. You can now open the file with your text editor of choice and go through the configuration. To migrate the config to a new server you have to change some parameters in the file to match the new environment. Those depend on your infrastructure.
DHCP Server Configuration Import
To import the created backup run this command:
netsh exec export.cfgThis will import the configuration in the file “export.cfg”. I would restart the DHCP server afterwards.
Why does it matter? I created a script, which will only import the Vendor Specific Options for the HP AP’s, running unified OS. This will make your life much easier, as you did not have to create them by yourself. The script can be imported as mentioned above, you just have to change the IP address of the host to match your environment.
If you have any questions to this post or would like to provide feedback, please feel free to use the comment function below.