LPIC-2 Network Client Management Practice Question
An administrator notices that clients are unable to obtain IP addresses from the DHCP server. The server logs show 'no free leases' error. What is the most likely cause?
⚠ Common exam trap
Watch out — candidates often confuse 'no free leases' with configuration or relay issues, but the error message directly points to address pool exhaustion, not connectivity or syntax problems.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
The DHCP server's address range is exhausted.
The 'no free leases' error indicates that the DHCP server has exhausted all available IP addresses in its configured pool. This occurs when the address range defined in the dhcpd.conf file has been fully allocated to clients and no leases are available for new requests. The server logs confirm this specific condition, making address exhaustion the most likely cause.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
The DHCP server's subnet declaration does not match the client's network.
Why it's wrong here
Would cause no offers, but different error.
- ✓
The DHCP server's address range is exhausted.
Why this is correct
Directly matches the error message.
- ✗
The dhcpd.conf file has invalid syntax.
Why it's wrong here
Would cause a parse error, not lease exhaustion.
- ✗
The DHCP relay agent is misconfigured.
Why it's wrong here
Would prevent requests from reaching the server.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This LPIC-2 practice question is part of Courseiva's free LPI certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the LPIC-2 exam.