I'm having a strange issue with DHCP after upgrading to Windows 11 from Windows 10 using the enablement package. On my newly upgraded laptop, DHCP isn't assigning a valid address and instead, I'm stuck with a 169.254.x.x address. We use two DHCP scopes: one for PXE imaging and another for user network assignments. The Windows 11 laptop gets a valid lease from the PXE scope but fails to get one from the user network scope, which has plenty of available IPs. Interestingly, the user scope works fine for other Windows 10 laptops. There don't seem to be any routing or IP-helper configuration issues, and I haven't found any relevant logs in Event Viewer on the laptop itself. The only noticeable difference is that the OS is now Windows 11. I've compared the configurations of both scopes but found no differences. I'm really stumped!
4 Answers
It sounds like you're in a tricky situation! Just to confirm, when the Windows 11 machine initially gets its image on the PXE network, it successfully receives an IP from that scope. But once you switch it to the user network, that's when it fails and gets a 169.254 address, right? If so, it might be worth checking network permissions or any policies specifically affecting Windows 11 machines. There could also be some service settings that could be blocking it.
What do the DHCP server logs show? You might find some clues in the logs located at System32DHCP. If there's nothing showing for that laptop, it suggests that the request isn't even making it to the server.
I checked and they were empty for this laptop and the user scope I'm trying to connect to.
Have you checked the settings for the WinHTTP Web Proxy Auto-Discovery service? It can sometimes be a culprit for such issues. For optimal performance, it should be set to Manual. Some hardening guides suggest disabling it, which might be causing your DHCP problems.
I'll definitely check that out. But it seems odd since I can still get an IP from the PXE scope.
You might want to consider running a packet capture to see if your Windows 11 laptop is even sending a DHCP discover request on the network. If it is, check for the next responses to diagnose where it's failing. Also, does static IP work for that machine? It could help narrow down the issue.
Exactly! That's what’s happening. I can get a valid IP in the PXE VLAN, but not in the user VLAN.