One can use netsh command to authorize a DHCP server from command line. Also, it's possible to remove a previously authorized DHCP server off the network via command line, too.
This technique may be useful in certain cases, an example: if you perform a maintenance works and the regular DHCP server must go offline for a while. Thus, authorizing another server may allow you to set up a backup DHCP service quickly (the procedure of loading the current DHCP configuration is not described here in details).
To authorize a DHCP server named backup-dhcp-05 with address 10.50.12.1 at the EXAMPLE domain use the following command:
netsh dhcp add server backup-dhcp-05.example.com 10.50.12.1
To make sure the changes are in effect, use the following command
netsh dhcp show server
To remove the server afterwards, use the following command:
netsh dhcp delete server backup-dhcp-05.example.com 10.50.12.1
Please note that all the DHCP servers should have a proper domain authorization before starting to run. Make sure you have run the command like
netsh dhcp server 10.50.12.1 set dnscredentials username domain password
Where username, domain and password must be replaced with actual domain user's name, domain name and current user's password of an account used to run the DHCP server as.
