diff --git a/_deploy.conf b/_deploy.conf
index e32c195..6926cb4 100644
--- a/_deploy.conf
+++ b/_deploy.conf
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ VMDUSERS="vmdusers"
 SWITCH="uplink_vlan931 uplink_vlan910"
 INTERFACE="veb931 veb910"
 # dhcpd.conf
+#DHCPD="no"
 ROUTER="46.23.93.1"
 DNS="46.23.80.26"
 SUBNET="46.23.93.0"
diff --git a/cease.sh b/cease.sh
index faeb6e7..e036a10 100755
--- a/cease.sh
+++ b/cease.sh
@@ -43,7 +43,9 @@ if vmctl show ${1%.txt} >/dev/null 2>&1; then
 		echo "a reset ${IPV4} ${IPV6}"
 		remove.pl ${1}
 		deploy.pl
-		rcctl restart dhcpd
+		if [[ -z ${DHCPD} ]]; then
+			rcctl restart dhcpd
+		fi
 		vmctl reload
 	fi
 fi
diff --git a/deploy.pl b/deploy.pl
index e6ce598..4ee48ee 100755
--- a/deploy.pl
+++ b/deploy.pl
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@
 # 2022/12/01 added: boot device net, move away from expect()
 # 2023/05/02 added: enable flag, allow for VMs to auto-start
 # 2023/05/03 added: predefined IPv6 address, gw
+# 2023/05/08 added: DHCPD=no to not overwrite existing dhcpd.conf, does require config for autoinstall(8)
 #
 use 5.024;
 use strict;
@@ -197,6 +198,7 @@ sub render_install_conf {
 			my $jot_pass = qx(jot -rcs '' 20 46 125);
 			chomp($jot_pass);
 			my $_ipv4 = $vms{$vm_name}{'ipv4'} || "autoconf";
+			$_ipv4 = "autoconf" if $conf{'conf'}{'DHCPD'} eq "yes";
 			my $_ipv4_gateway = $vms{$vm_name}{'ipv4_gw'} || $conf{'conf'}{'ROUTER'};
 			my $_ipv6 = $vms{$vm_name}{'ipv6'} || $conf{'conf'}{'IPV6_PREFIX'} . ":" . ($conf{'conf'}{'IPV6_START'} + $vms{$vm_name}{'vm_number'}) . "::" . ($conf{'conf'}{'IP_START'} + $vms{$vm_name}{'vm_number'});
 			my $_ipv6_gateway = $vms{$vm_name}{'ipv6_gw'} || $conf{'conf'}{'IPV6_PREFIX'} . ":" . ($conf{'conf'}{'IPV6_START'} + $vms{$vm_name}{'vm_number'}) . "::1";
@@ -362,10 +364,12 @@ my %vms;
 my @files = glob "$conf{'conf'}{'VMS'}/*.txt";
 %vms = get_variables('vms', @files);
 
+$conf{'conf'}{'DHCPD'} = "yes" if (! $conf{'conf'}{'DHCPD'});
+
 # run all functions
 #debug_parse(\%conf, \%vms);
 render_vm_conf(\%conf, \%vms);
-render_dhcpd_conf(\%conf, \%vms);
+render_dhcpd_conf(\%conf, \%vms) if $conf{'conf'}{'DHCPD'} eq "yes";
 render_install_conf(\%conf, \%vms);
 create_accounts(\%conf, \%vms);
 create_img_files(\%conf, \%vms);
diff --git a/launch.sh b/launch.sh
index 8a26a7f..168364b 100755
--- a/launch.sh
+++ b/launch.sh
@@ -57,7 +57,9 @@ fi
 
 deploy.pl
 sleep 5
-rcctl restart dhcpd
+if [[ -z ${DHCPD} ]]; then
+	rcctl restart dhcpd
+fi
 vmctl reload
 sleep 5
 
@@ -87,7 +89,9 @@ echo "completed"
 
 deploy.pl
 sleep 5
-rcctl restart dhcpd
+if [[ -z ${DHCPD} ]]; then
+	rcctl restart dhcpd
+fi
 vmctl reload
 sleep 5
 
diff --git a/relaunch.sh b/relaunch.sh
index 50a8296..ef22828 100755
--- a/relaunch.sh
+++ b/relaunch.sh
@@ -45,7 +45,9 @@ fi
 
 deploy.pl
 sleep 5
-rcctl restart dhcpd
+if [[ -z ${DHCPD} ]]; then
+	rcctl restart dhcpd
+fi
 vmctl reload
 sleep 5
 
@@ -75,7 +77,9 @@ echo "completed"
 
 deploy.pl
 sleep 5
-rcctl restart dhcpd
+if [[ -z ${DHCPD} ]]; then
+	rcctl restart dhcpd
+fi
 vmctl reload
 sleep 5