Whenever I run netstat command 'dhclient' always has an 'active internet connection'. Is it essential for web browsing or can I do web browsing without dhclient running all the time?

Hello,

For a short, simple answer, you need it only if you are connecting to a network via DHCP. If it is a statically assigned IP address, then you don't technically need it.

Cheers,

Josh

Your host requires an IP in order to communicate on the network. That IP is an address uniquely assigned to the NIC on your host computer. The IP can be assigned as a 'fixed' address, coded into the startup scripting, or can be assigned by a DHCP server on a remote network-attached host. In the latter case, the DHCP server periodically refreshes the assigned address, and this is done by communicating with the DHCP client (dhclient). If the DHCP client does not run, the IP will eventually expire, and further communication may fail. The DHCP server may also be providing other information to the client, especially the addresses of nameservers and network gateways, but possibly other parameters vital to proper IP communications.
The volume of traffic between DHCP clients and servers is very low, and other resources consumed by the client is also very small. I doubt the likelihood that it will interfere with anything, and it should not be cause for alarm or concern.

--- rod.

Thanks corp769 and theNbomr for your help.

This reminds of an earlier situation where internet connection was failing after a short period with an iptables firewall. Can you tell me what ports should be allowed by iptables for DHCP to run properly?

The DHCP protocol specifies the use of UDP ports 67 & 68.
--- rod.

Thanks for the info. Are they source or destination ports? What should be the iptables rule statement for DHCP to work properly?