Forcing a DHCP Client to Release and Renew Its IP Address

If a DHCP client obtains its IP address dynamically, you can force the client to release and renew its IP address, which is useful during certain troubleshooting procedures.

The commands used to release and renew an IP address depend on the operating system running on the client. For details about the commands to run, see the documentation of your operating system. The commands for some common operating systems are as follows:

Release an IP address.
- For Windows 7, run the ipconfig/release command.
- For MS-DOS of Windows 98, run the winipcfg/release command.
- For Unix-like operating systems, run the dhclient –r command.
Renew an IP address lease or apply for a new IP address.
- For Windows 7, run the ipconfig/renew command.
- For MS-DOS of Windows 98, run the winipcfg/renew command.
- For Unix-like operating systems, run the dhclient command.