Comment 8 for bug 1543794

The problem still exists, for 4.3.3-5ubuntu12.1 (Ubuntu 16.04).

How to reproduce (using /etc/dhcp/dhcpd.conf installed from the package itself, without changes):

1. Starting with a fresh install:

nornetpp@bjoernson:~$ sudo rm -rf /var/lib/dhcp /run/dhcp-server
nornetpp@bjoernson:~$ sudo apt-get install --reinstall isc-dhcp-server
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 1 reinstalled, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Need to get 0 B/412 kB of archives.
After this operation, 0 B of additional disk space will be used.
Preconfiguring packages ...
(Reading database ... 105366 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack .../isc-dhcp-server_4.3.3-5ubuntu12.1_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking isc-dhcp-server (4.3.3-5ubuntu12.1) over (4.3.3-5ubuntu12.1) ...
Processing triggers for systemd (229-4ubuntu7) ...
Processing triggers for ureadahead (0.100.0-19) ...
Processing triggers for man-db (2.7.5-1) ...
Setting up isc-dhcp-server (4.3.3-5ubuntu12.1) ...
insserv: warning: script 'screen-cleanup' missing LSB tags and overrides
insserv: Default-Start undefined, assuming empty start runlevel(s) for script `screen-cleanup'
insserv: Default-Stop undefined, assuming empty stop runlevel(s) for script `screen-cleanup'
isc-dhcp-server start/running, process 24418

nornetpp@bjoernson:~$ apt-show-versions | grep isc-dhcp-server
isc-dhcp-server:amd64/xenial-updates 4.3.3-5ubuntu12.1 uptodate
isc-dhcp-server:i386 not installed

2. Starting the service fails:

nornetpp@bjoernson:~$ sudo service isc-dhcp-server start
isc-dhcp-server start/running, process 24553
nornetpp@bjoernson:~$ sleep 3
nornetpp@bjoernson:~$ sudo service isc-dhcp-server status
isc-dhcp-server stop/waiting
nornetpp@bjoernson:~$ tail -n20 /var/log/syslog.1
Aug 3 11:23:35 bjoernson dhcpd[24599]: process and the information we find helpful for debugging..
Aug 3 11:23:35 bjoernson dhcpd[24599]:
Aug 3 11:23:35 bjoernson dhcpd[24599]: exiting.
Aug 3 11:23:35 bjoernson dhcpd[24603]: Internet Systems Consortium DHCP Server 4.3.3
Aug 3 11:23:35 bjoernson dhcpd[24603]: Copyright 2004-2015 Internet Systems Consortium.
Aug 3 11:23:35 bjoernson dhcpd[24603]: All rights reserved.
Aug 3 11:23:35 bjoernson dhcpd[24603]: For info, please visit https://www.isc.org/software/dhcp/
Aug 3 11:23:35 bjoernson dhcpd[24604]: Internet Systems Consortium DHCP Server 4.3.3
Aug 3 11:23:35 bjoernson dhcpd[24604]: Copyright 2004-2015 Internet Systems Consortium.
Aug 3 11:23:35 bjoernson dhcpd[24604]: All rights reserved.
Aug 3 11:23:35 bjoernson dhcpd[24604]: For info, please visit https://www.isc.org/software/dhcp/
Aug 3 11:23:35 bjoernson dhcpd[24604]: Can't open /var/lib/dhcp/dhcpd.leases for append.
Aug 3 11:23:35 bjoernson dhcpd[24604]:
Aug 3 11:23:35 bjoernson dhcpd[24604]: If you think you have received this message due to a bug rather
Aug 3 11:23:35 bjoernson dhcpd[24604]: than a configuration issue please read the section on submitting
Aug 3 11:23:35 bjoernson dhcpd[24604]: bugs on either our web page at www.isc.org or in the README file
Aug 3 11:23:35 bjoernson dhcpd[24604]: before submitting a bug. These pages explain the proper
Aug 3 11:23:35 bjoernson dhcpd[24604]: process and the information we find helpful for debugging..
Aug 3 11:23:35 bjoernson dhcpd[24604]:
Aug 3 11:23:35 bjoernson dhcpd[24604]: exiting.
nornetpp@bjoernson:~$ sudo service isc-dhcp-server stop
stop: Unknown instance:

3. Checking permissions, and setting them according to comment #7:

nornetpp@bjoernson:~$ ls -al /var/lib/dhcp
total 5
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 112 Aug 3 11:22 .
drwxr-xr-x 54 root root 1440 Aug 3 11:22 ..
-rw-r--r-- 1 dhcpd dhcpd 125 Aug 3 11:22 dhcpd.leases
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 0 Aug 3 11:22 dhcpd.leases~
nornetpp@bjoernson:~$ sudo chmod 664 /var/lib/dhcp/*.leases
nornetpp@bjoernson:~$ sudo chown root:dhcpd -R /var/lib/dhcp
nornetpp@bjoernson:~$ sudo chmod 775 /var/lib/dhcp
nornetpp@bjoernson:~$ ls -al /var/lib/dhcp
total 5
drwxrwxr-x 2 root dhcpd 112 Aug 3 11:22 .
drwxr-xr-x 54 root root 1440 Aug 3 11:22 ..
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root dhcpd 125 Aug 3 11:22 dhcpd.leases
-rw-r--r-- 1 root dhcpd 0 Aug 3 11:22 dhcpd.leases~
nornetpp@bjoernson:~$
nornetpp@bjoernson:~$ ls -al /run/dhcp-server
total 0
drwxr-xr-x 2 dhcpd dhcpd 40 Aug 3 11:22 .
drwxr-xr-x 31 root root 1260 Aug 3 11:22 ..
nornetpp@bjoernson:~$ sudo chmod 775 /run/dhcp-server
nornetpp@bjoernson:~$ sudo chown root:dhcpd -R /run/dhcp-server
nornetpp@bjoernson:~$ ls -al /run/dhcp-server
total 0
drwxrwxr-x 2 root dhcpd 40 Aug 3 11:22 .
drwxr-xr-x 31 root root 1260 Aug 3 11:22 ..

4. Trying again (without success):

nornetpp@bjoernson:~$ sudo service isc-dhcp-server start
isc-dhcp-server start/running, process 24649
nornetpp@bjoernson:~$ sleep 3
nornetpp@bjoernson:~$ sudo service isc-dhcp-server status
isc-dhcp-server stop/waiting
nornetpp@bjoernson:~$ tail -n20 /var/log/syslog.1
Aug 3 11:24:38 bjoernson dhcpd[24695]: process and the information we find helpful for debugging..
Aug 3 11:24:38 bjoernson dhcpd[24695]:
Aug 3 11:24:38 bjoernson dhcpd[24695]: exiting.
Aug 3 11:24:38 bjoernson dhcpd[24699]: Internet Systems Consortium DHCP Server 4.3.3
Aug 3 11:24:38 bjoernson dhcpd[24699]: Copyright 2004-2015 Internet Systems Consortium.
Aug 3 11:24:38 bjoernson dhcpd[24699]: All rights reserved.
Aug 3 11:24:38 bjoernson dhcpd[24699]: For info, please visit https://www.isc.org/software/dhcp/
Aug 3 11:24:38 bjoernson dhcpd[24700]: Internet Systems Consortium DHCP Server 4.3.3
Aug 3 11:24:38 bjoernson dhcpd[24700]: Copyright 2004-2015 Internet Systems Consortium.
Aug 3 11:24:38 bjoernson dhcpd[24700]: All rights reserved.
Aug 3 11:24:38 bjoernson dhcpd[24700]: For info, please visit https://www.isc.org/software/dhcp/
Aug 3 11:24:38 bjoernson dhcpd[24700]: Can't open /var/lib/dhcp/dhcpd.leases for append.
Aug 3 11:24:38 bjoernson dhcpd[24700]:
Aug 3 11:24:38 bjoernson dhcpd[24700]: If you think you have received this message due to a bug rather
Aug 3 11:24:38 bjoernson dhcpd[24700]: than a configuration issue please read the section on submitting
Aug 3 11:24:38 bjoernson dhcpd[24700]: bugs on either our web page at www.isc.org or in the README file
Aug 3 11:24:38 bjoernson dhcpd[24700]: before submitting a bug. These pages explain the proper
Aug 3 11:24:38 bjoernson dhcpd[24700]: process and the information we find helpful for debugging..
Aug 3 11:24:38 bjoernson dhcpd[24700]:
Aug 3 11:24:38 bjoernson dhcpd[24700]: exiting.