DHCP Auto Logout
DHCP local server and DHCP relay agent support Auto logout feature. Auto logout releases and returns IP addresses to the address pool if DHCP clients are no longer using these addresses. It improves the efficiency of DHCP IP address assignment. For more information, read this topic.
DHCP Auto Logout Overview
This topic provides an introduction to the DHCP auto logout feature and includes the following sections:
Auto Logout Overview
Auto logout is supported for DHCP local server and DHCP relay agent. It improves the efficiency of DHCP IP address assignment by allowing IP addresses to be immediately released and returned to the address pool when DHCP clients are no longer using the addresses. DHCP can then assign the addresses to other clients. Without auto logout, an IP address is blocked for the entire lease period, and DHCP must wait until the address lease time expires before reusing the address.
Auto logout is particularly useful when DHCP uses long lease times for IP address assignments and to help avoid allocating duplicate IP addresses for a single client.
For example, you might have an environment that includes set-top boxes (STB) that are often upgraded or replaced. Each time a STB is changed, the new STB repeats the DHCP discover process to obtain client configuration information and an IP address. DHCP views the new STB as a completely new client and assigns a new IP address— the previous IP address assigned to the client (the old STB) remains blocked and unavailable until the lease expires. If auto logout is configured in this situation, DHCP recognizes that the new STB is actually the same client and then immediately releases the original IP address. DHCP relay agent acts as a proxy client for auto logout and sends a DHCP release message to the DHCP server.
How DHCP Identifies and Releases Clients
The auto logout feature requires that DHCP explicitly identify clients. By default, DHCP local server and DHCP relay agent identify clients based on MAC address or Client Identifier, and subnet. However, in some cases this type of identification might not be sufficient. For example, in the previous STB example, each STB has a different MAC address, so DHCP incorrectly assumes that an upgraded or replacement STB is a new client.
In order to explicitly identify clients, auto logout uses a secondary identification method when the primary identification method is unsuccessful— the primary method is considered unsuccessful if the MAC address or Client Identifier does not match that of an existing client. Subscriber management supports two secondary identification methods that you can configure.
Incoming interface method— DHCP views a new client connection on the interface as if it comes from the same client. DHCP deletes the existing client binding before creating a binding for the newly connected device. This method allows only one client device to connect on the interface.
Note:The incoming interface method differs from the
overrides interface-client-limit 1statement, which retains the existing binding and rejects the newly connected client.Option 60 and option 82 method— DHCP considers two clients as different if they have the same option 60 and option 82 information, but different subnets.
DHCP local server and DHCP relay agent perform the following operations when auto logout is enabled and the secondary identification method identifies a duplicate client (that is, the Discover packet is from an existing client).
DHCP local server immediately releases the existing address.
DHCP relay agent immediately releases the existing client and then sends a DHCP release packet to the DHCP server. Sending the release packet ensures that DHCP relay and the DHCP server are synchronized.
If the DHCP relay receives a Discover message from an existing client, the DHCP relay forwards the Discover message to the DHCP server. The DHCP relay preserves the binding if the client' s existing IP address is returned by the DHCP server. This behavior is not applicable if the proxy-mode override or client-discover-match functionality are enabled.
Note:If the DHCP relay agent is in snoop mode, DHCP relay releases the client but does not send a release packet to the DHCP server if the discover packet is for a passive client (a client added as a result of snooped packets) or if the discover packet is a snooped packet.
Option 60 and Option 82 Requirements
DHCP local server requires that the received discover packet include both DHCP option 60 and option 82. If either option is missing, the DHCP local server cannot perform the secondary identification method and auto logout is not used.
DHCP relay agent requires that the received discover packet contain DHCP option 60. DHCP relay determines the option 82 value based on the guidelines provided in DHCP Relay Agent Option 82 Value for Auto Logout.
Automatically Logging Out DHCP Clients
You can configure the extended DHCP local server and extended DHCP relay to automatically log out DHCP clients. Auto logout immediately releases an existing client when DHCP receives a discover packet from a client whose identity matches an existing client. DHCP then releases the existing client IP address without waiting for the normal lease expiration.
When the existing client is released, the new client undergoes the normal authentication process. The new client might not receive the same IP address as the original client.
To configure DHCP client auto logout:
If you change the auto logout configuration, existing clients continue to use the auto logout setting that was configured when they logged in. New clients use the new setting.