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Jen Kea DHCP Management Console
What it is
Jen Kea DHCP Management Console is a free, open-source web interface for managing ISC Kea DHCP Server. It lets operators work with leases, reservations, subnets and infrastructure from a browser. Its dashboard presents subnet utilization, lease activity, server status, HA state and alerts, with configurable refresh and widgets. Lease tools include filtering, releasing leases, clearing stale entries, converting dynamic leases to reservations, and CSV import or export. Subnet and pool edits are sent over SSH after Kea validation, host backup and multi-server preflight, with rollback protection. Optional IPv6 support covers leases, devices, reservations, subnet pools, timers and metrics. Notifications can go to services including Pushover, Telegram, Slack, ntfy, Discord, email and generic webhooks. Optional plugins add capabilities such as network discovery, IPAM Lite and local DNS synchronization. Jen supports a guided installer for Ubuntu 22.04 or 24.04 and Docker deployment. It uses MySQL or MariaDB for Kea data and SSH for configuration and service operations. The project is aimed at homelabs and small businesses managing a handful of servers, not large fleets.
For and against
For
- Lease, reservation and subnet management in a browser
- Optional IPv6 leases, pools and metrics
- Access control includes roles and TOTP MFA
- Supports Ubuntu installer and Docker deployment
- Free and licensed under GPL v3
Against
- Not designed for large server fleets
- Solo-maintained without a dedicated security team
- Only the latest release receives security fixes
- No professional external penetration test
The verdict
Jen brings Kea administration and monitoring into a browser, with optional IPv6, notifications and plugins. Its stated scale target and solo-maintained security support are important considerations for deployment.
Who it suits
Jen is intended for homelab and small-business operators managing a handful of Kea servers. It suits teams that can self-host and maintain the system themselves.
Plans and prices
GPL v3 open-source
self-hosted · Ubuntu 22.04/24.04 or Docker · ISC Kea with MySQL/MariaDB
Read 14 Oct 2026 · github.com
On the record
- Access control
- The product provides SuperAdmin, Admin and Viewer roles plus subnet-level permissions.github.com · read 14 Oct 2026
- Agentless design
- The architecture uses one Flask process and does not require a resident Jen agent on each Kea server.github.com · read 14 Oct 2026
- Authentication
- Security controls include TOTP and WebAuthn/passkey MFA, trusted devices, login throttling, session timeouts, audit logging and HTTPS certificate upload.github.com · read 14 Oct 2026
- Configuration safety
- Before applying subnet changes Jen validates Kea configuration, backs up the host configuration, records revisions and can roll back failed changes.github.com · read 14 Oct 2026
- Dashboard
- The dashboard displays live subnet utilization, recent leases, server and HA status, alerts, configurable refresh and customizable widgets.github.com · read 14 Oct 2026
- Deployment
- Installation is offered through a guided shell installer or Docker Compose with either an external or bundled database.github.com · read 14 Oct 2026
- Diagnostics
- Client investigation supports MAC, IPv4, IPv6, DUID and hostname lookup with Explain, Trace, Timeline, DNS, Config and Changes views.github.com · read 14 Oct 2026
- Documentation
- The repository includes installation, architecture, security, feature, contribution and changelog documents.github.com · read 14 Oct 2026
- Extensibility
- Plugin API v3 exposes event emission, row actions, search providers, alert types and plugin API-key routes.github.com · read 14 Oct 2026
- High availability
- Jen shows HA state, compares leases across a pair and provides a guided maintenance workflow when the Kea HA hook is present.github.com · read 14 Oct 2026
- Independent ecosystem context
- GitHub's Kea topic page showed 62 public repositories when opened, indicating an active collection of related Kea projects.github.com · read 14 Oct 2026
- Independent market listing
- Gartner's DNS, DHCP and IPAM market page listed ten products and did not show Jen among those product listings.gartner.com · read 14 Oct 2026
- Independent praise: motivation
- A Reddit user said Stork was difficult to get running and linked Jen as a Linux application they wrote to provide the functionality they wanted.reddit.com · read 14 Oct 2026
- Integrations
- Jen connects to Kea through the Control Agent or direct daemon control sockets, uses MySQL/MariaDB for Kea data, and uses SSH for configuration and service operations.github.com · read 30 Sep 2026
- IPv6
- DHCPv6 support is optional and covers leases, devices, reservations, subnets, dashboard views, search and authored starting configuration.github.com · read 14 Oct 2026
- ISC API transition
- ISC says the Kea Control Agent was deprecated in version 3.0 and removed in version 3.2, with direct daemon APIs replacing it.kb.isc.org · read 14 Oct 2026
- ISC configuration-backend limitation
- ISC states that Kea's configuration backend does not currently work for DDNS, the Control Agent or several other hooks.kb.isc.org · read 14 Oct 2026
- ISC Kea database support
- ISC documents Kea support for MySQL and PostgreSQL backends and says shared backends can serve multiple Kea servers.isc.org · read 14 Oct 2026
