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IntermediatePublished 2026-07-02

DHCP: Serving Two Subnets from Two Pools

Bundle lab

Build and verify two independent DHCP address pools on a single Cisco IOS router, each serving a different LAN. Two Alpine Linux clients obtain leases from their respective pools via directly attached access switches. You will configure the pools, excluded addresses, default gateways, DNS, and domain names, then verify with IOS show commands and Linux tools. The focus is deterministic router DHCP configuration; clients lease dynamically and are verified rather than graded.

Track
Est. time
45 minutes
Difficulty
Intermediate
Topics

Learning objectives

  • Configure two independent DHCP pools on one router, each scoped to a different directly attached /24
  • Exclude the gateway IP from each pool with ip dhcp excluded-address
  • Set default-router, dns-server, domain-name, and lease options in each pool
  • Verify pool utilization with show ip dhcp pool and show ip dhcp binding
  • Validate Linux clients receive an address in the correct subnet and can reach their default gateway

Troubleshooting focus

  • Pool network statements swapped or wrong mask cause clients to land in the wrong subnet or fail to lease
  • Forgetting to exclude the default gateway address risks handing out the gateway IP
  • Shutdown or wrong interface addressing prevents client broadcasts from reaching the correct pool
  • DNS and domain options misconfigured; clients lease IPs but resolve fails (expected in an isolated lab)

Topology

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Grade your work

How this lab is graded
  • Build it your way. Where a lab lets you choose a value — a VLAN name, an interface description — grading checks that you configured it, not which name you picked. Names that another line has to reference, like an ACL applied with access-class, are stated in the guide and do have to match.
  • Addresses, modes and protocol keywords are exact. An IP address, a subnet mask, switchport mode trunk, an encapsulation — these carry the meaning of the lab, so they are graded as written in the guide.
  • Grading reads your saved configuration. Export the lab from CML after you have configured it, and make sure anything you set is in the running-config — a change that only exists in a terminal session never reaches the grader.
  • You can submit as many times as you like. Your best score stands, and each attempt tells you which checks passed so you can work the gaps.
  • Scored something you believe is correct? Use Report an issue on this page — that is exactly how the grading fixes in the changelog got found.

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