Follow the lease

DHCP lease lifecycle simulator

See how a client gets a lease, when it renews, why it starts rebinding, and what it must do if no server answers before expiry.

Lease controls

Change the client’s path

RFC 2131 defaults T1 to 50% and T2 to 87.5% of the lease. Servers can supply different values.

What happens after the lease is active?
Initialization

DORA creates the binding

Local server path
  1. 1
    Client → networkDHCPDISCOVER

    Client broadcasts because it does not yet know a server or usable address.

  2. 2
    Server → clientDHCPOFFER

    A server proposes an address, lease duration, and configuration options.

  3. 3
    Client → serversDHCPREQUEST

    The client identifies the offer it selected so other servers can withdraw theirs.

  4. 4
    Server → clientDHCPACKNOWLEDGE

    The selected server commits the binding; the client records the lease and timers.

Lease timeline

8 hours from ACK to expiry

0BOUND
4 hoursT1 · RENEW
7 hoursT2 · REBIND
8 hoursEXPIRY
DHCPACK

The client returns to BOUND at T1

The client unicasts DHCPREQUEST to the leasing server at 4 hours. A DHCPACK extends the lease and supplies new timers.