For some reason my mini-computer had no IP address, so I performed sudo ifdown eth2 followed by sudo ifup eth2. What followed was a 5 minute grudge match of my client fighting the server to see who could be more stubborn. At the end it finally got an IP address, but not one that it had been requesting. What would cause this sort of fighting, and how can I reconfigure to avoid it?dhclient.conf follows the log output.Nov  5 14:23:36 nvidia dhclient: DHCPDISCOVER on eth2 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 6 (xid=0x1c08c5d8)Nov  5 14:23:42 nvidia dhclient: DHCPDISCOVER on eth2 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 12 (xid=0x1c08c5d8)Nov  5 14:23:54 nvidia dhclient: DHCPDISCOVER on eth2 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 7 (xid=0x1c08c5d8)Nov  5 14:23:56 nvidia dhclient: DHCPREQUEST of 172.20.40.71 on eth2 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 (xid=0x1c08c5d8)Nov  5 14:23:56 nvidia dhclient: DHCPOFFER of 172.20.40.71 from 172.20.40.1Nov  5 14:23:56 nvidia dhclient: DHCPNAK from 172.20.40.1 (xid=0x1c08c5d8)Nov  5 14:23:56 nvidia dhclient: DHCPDISCOVER on eth2 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 3 (xid=0x19021763)Nov  5 14:23:56 nvidia dhclient: DHCPREQUEST of 172.20.40.71 on eth2 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 (xid=0x19021763)Nov  5 14:23:56 nvidia dhclient: DHCPOFFER of 172.20.40.71 from 172.20.40.1Nov  5 14:23:56 nvidia dhclient: DHCPNAK from 172.20.40.1 (xid=0x19021763)Nov  5 14:23:59 nvidia dhclient: DHCPREQUEST of 172.20.40.71 on eth2 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 (xid=0x19021763)Nov  5 14:23:59 nvidia dhclient: DHCPNAK from 172.20.40.1 (xid=0x19021763)Nov  5 14:24:04 nvidia dhclient: DHCPREQUEST of 172.20.40.71 on eth2 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 (xid=0x19021763)Nov  5 14:24:04 nvidia dhclient: DHCPNAK from 172.20.40.1 (xid=0x19021763)Nov  5 14:24:11 nvidia dhclient: DHCPDISCOVER on eth2 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 3 (xid=0x37e59f2f)Nov  5 14:24:11 nvidia dhclient: DHCPREQUEST of 172.20.40.71 on eth2 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 (xid=0x37e59f2f)Nov  5 14:24:11 nvidia dhclient: DHCPOFFER of 172.20.40.71 from 172.20.40.1Nov  5 14:24:11 nvidia dhclient: DHCPNAK from 172.20.40.1 (xid=0x37e59f2f)Nov  5 14:24:14 nvidia dhclient: DHCPREQUEST of 172.20.40.71 on eth2 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 (xid=0x37e59f2f)Nov  5 14:24:14 nvidia dhclient: DHCPNAK from 172.20.40.1 (xid=0x37e59f2f)Nov  5 14:24:17 nvidia dhclient: DHCPREQUEST of 172.20.40.71 on eth2 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 (xid=0x37e59f2f)Nov  5 14:24:17 nvidia dhclient: DHCPNAK from 172.20.40.1 (xid=0x37e59f2f)Nov  5 14:24:24 nvidia dhclient: DHCPDISCOVER on eth2 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 3 (xid=0x41702f49)Nov  5 14:24:27 nvidia dhclient: DHCPDISCOVER on eth2 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 6 (xid=0x41702f49)Nov  5 14:24:27 nvidia dhclient: DHCPREQUEST of 172.20.40.71 on eth2 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 (xid=0x41702f49)Nov  5 14:24:27 nvidia dhclient: DHCPOFFER of 172.20.40.71 from 172.20.40.1Nov  5 14:24:27 nvidia dhclient: DHCPNAK from 172.20.40.1 (xid=0x41702f49)Nov  5 14:24:30 nvidia dhclient: DHCPREQUEST of 172.20.40.71 on eth2 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 (xid=0x41702f49)Nov  5 14:24:30 nvidia dhclient: DHCPNAK from 172.20.40.1 (xid=0x41702f49)Nov  5 14:24:33 nvidia dhclient: DHCPREQUEST of 172.20.40.71 on eth2 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 (xid=0x41702f49)Nov  5 14:24:33 nvidia dhclient: DHCPNAK from 172.20.40.1 (xid=0x41702f49)Nov  5 14:24:41 nvidia dhclient: DHCPDISCOVER on eth2 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 3 (xid=0x43246040)Nov  5 14:24:41 nvidia dhclient: DHCPREQUEST of 172.20.40.71 on eth2 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 (xid=0x43246040)Nov  5 14:24:41 nvidia dhclient: DHCPOFFER of 172.20.40.71 from 172.20.40.1Nov  5 14:24:41 nvidia dhclient: DHCPNAK from 172.20.40.1 (xid=0x43246040)Nov  5 14:24:44 nvidia dhclient: DHCPREQUEST of 172.20.40.71 on eth2 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 (xid=0x43246040)Nov  5 14:24:44 nvidia dhclient: DHCPNAK from 172.20.40.1 (xid=0x43246040)Nov  5 14:24:51 nvidia dhclient: DHCPREQUEST of 172.20.40.71 on eth2 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 (xid=0x43246040)Nov  5 14:24:51 nvidia dhclient: DHCPNAK from 172.20.40.1 (xid=0x43246040)Nov  5 14:25:00 nvidia dhclient: DHCPDISCOVER on eth2 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 3 (xid=0x6caca5f6)Nov  5 14:25:01 nvidia dhclient: DHCPREQUEST of 172.20.40.71 on eth2 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 (xid=0x6caca5f6)Nov  5 14:25:01 nvidia dhclient: DHCPOFFER of 172.20.40.71 from 172.20.40.1Nov  5 14:25:01 nvidia dhclient: DHCPNAK from 172.20.40.1 (xid=0x6caca5f6)Nov  5 14:25:04 nvidia dhclient: DHCPREQUEST of 172.20.40.71 on eth2 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 (xid=0x6caca5f6)Nov  5 14:25:04 nvidia dhclient: DHCPNAK from 172.20.40.1 (xid=0x6caca5f6)Nov  5 14:25:11 nvidia dhclient: DHCPREQUEST of 172.20.40.71 on eth2 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 (xid=0x6caca5f6)Nov  5 14:25:11 nvidia dhclient: DHCPNAK from 172.20.40.1 (xid=0x6caca5f6)Nov  5 14:25:19 nvidia dhclient: DHCPDISCOVER on eth2 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 3 (xid=0x1f6963d4)Nov  5 14:25:19 nvidia dhclient: DHCPREQUEST of 172.20.40.71 on eth2 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 (xid=0x1f6963d4)Nov  5 14:25:19 nvidia dhclient: DHCPOFFER of 172.20.40.71 from 172.20.40.1Nov  5 14:25:19 nvidia dhclient: DHCPNAK from 172.20.40.1 (xid=0x1f6963d4)Nov  5 14:25:22 nvidia dhclient: DHCPREQUEST of 172.20.40.71 on eth2 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 (xid=0x1f6963d4)Nov  5 14:25:22 nvidia dhclient: DHCPNAK from 172.20.40.1 (xid=0x1f6963d4)Nov  5 14:25:30 nvidia dhclient: DHCPDISCOVER on eth2 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 3 (xid=0x7c056f7e)Nov  5 14:25:31 nvidia dhclient: DHCPREQUEST of 172.20.40.71 on eth2 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 (xid=0x7c056f7e)Nov  5 14:25:31 nvidia dhclient: DHCPOFFER of 172.20.40.71 from 172.20.40.1Nov  5 14:25:31 nvidia dhclient: DHCPNAK from 172.20.40.1 (xid=0x7c056f7e)Nov  5 14:25:34 nvidia dhclient: DHCPREQUEST of 172.20.40.71 on eth2 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 (xid=0x7c056f7e)Nov  5 14:25:34 nvidia dhclient: DHCPNAK from 172.20.40.1 (xid=0x7c056f7e)Nov  5 14:25:39 nvidia dhclient: DHCPREQUEST of 172.20.40.71 on eth2 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 (xid=0x7c056f7e)Nov  5 14:25:39 nvidia dhclient: DHCPNAK from 172.20.40.1 (xid=0x7c056f7e)Nov  5 14:25:48 nvidia dhclient: DHCPDISCOVER on eth2 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 3 (xid=0xab17b6d)Nov  5 14:25:48 nvidia dhclient: DHCPREQUEST of 172.20.40.71 on eth2 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 (xid=0xab17b6d)Nov  5 14:25:48 nvidia dhclient: DHCPOFFER of 172.20.40.71 from 172.20.40.1Nov  5 14:25:48 nvidia dhclient: DHCPNAK from 172.20.40.1 (xid=0xab17b6d)Nov  5 14:25:51 nvidia dhclient: DHCPREQUEST of 172.20.40.71 on eth2 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 (xid=0xab17b6d)Nov  5 14:25:51 nvidia dhclient: DHCPNAK from 172.20.40.1 (xid=0xab17b6d)Nov  5 14:25:54 nvidia dhclient: DHCPREQUEST of 172.20.40.71 on eth2 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 (xid=0xab17b6d)Nov  5 14:25:54 nvidia dhclient: DHCPNAK from 172.20.40.1 (xid=0xab17b6d)Nov  5 14:25:58 nvidia dhclient: DHCPREQUEST of 172.20.40.71 on eth2 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 (xid=0xab17b6d)Nov  5 14:25:58 nvidia dhclient: DHCPNAK from 172.20.40.1 (xid=0xab17b6d)Nov  5 14:26:07 nvidia dhclient: DHCPDISCOVER on eth2 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 3 (xid=0x7c7ee3b0)Nov  5 14:26:07 nvidia dhclient: DHCPREQUEST of 172.20.40.71 on eth2 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 (xid=0x7c7ee3b0)Nov  5 14:26:07 nvidia dhclient: DHCPOFFER of 172.20.40.71 from 172.20.40.1Nov  5 14:26:07 nvidia dhclient: DHCPNAK from 172.20.40.1 (xid=0x7c7ee3b0)Nov  5 14:26:10 nvidia dhclient: DHCPREQUEST of 172.20.40.71 on eth2 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 (xid=0x7c7ee3b0)Nov  5 14:26:10 nvidia dhclient: DHCPNAK from 172.20.40.1 (xid=0x7c7ee3b0)Nov  5 14:26:18 nvidia dhclient: DHCPDISCOVER on eth2 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 3 (xid=0x7a8ec50)Nov  5 14:26:18 nvidia dhclient: DHCPREQUEST of 172.20.40.71 on eth2 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 (xid=0x7a8ec50)Nov  5 14:26:18 nvidia dhclient: DHCPOFFER of 172.20.40.71 from 172.20.40.1Nov  5 14:26:18 nvidia dhclient: DHCPNAK from 172.20.40.1 (xid=0x7a8ec50)Nov  5 14:26:21 nvidia dhclient: DHCPREQUEST of 172.20.40.71 on eth2 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 (xid=0x7a8ec50)Nov  5 14:26:21 nvidia dhclient: DHCPNAK from 172.20.40.1 (xid=0x7a8ec50)Nov  5 14:26:29 nvidia dhclient: DHCPDISCOVER on eth2 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 3 (xid=0x53e10240)Nov  5 14:26:29 nvidia dhclient: DHCPREQUEST of 172.20.40.71 on eth2 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 (xid=0x53e10240)Nov  5 14:26:29 nvidia dhclient: DHCPOFFER of 172.20.40.71 from 172.20.40.1Nov  5 14:26:29 nvidia dhclient: DHCPNAK from 172.20.40.1 (xid=0x53e10240)Nov  5 14:26:32 nvidia dhclient: DHCPREQUEST of 172.20.40.71 on eth2 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 (xid=0x53e10240)Nov  5 14:26:32 nvidia dhclient: DHCPNAK from 172.20.40.1 (xid=0x53e10240)Nov  5 14:26:40 nvidia dhclient: DHCPDISCOVER on eth2 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 3 (xid=0x3920325e)Nov  5 14:26:40 nvidia dhclient: DHCPREQUEST of 172.20.40.71 on eth2 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 (xid=0x3920325e)Nov  5 14:26:40 nvidia dhclient: DHCPOFFER of 172.20.40.71 from 172.20.40.1Nov  5 14:26:40 nvidia dhclient: DHCPNAK from 172.20.40.1 (xid=0x3920325e)Nov  5 14:26:43 nvidia dhclient: DHCPREQUEST of 172.20.40.71 on eth2 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 (xid=0x3920325e)Nov  5 14:26:51 nvidia dhclient: DHCPDISCOVER on eth2 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 3 (xid=0x296d0094)Nov  5 14:26:51 nvidia dhclient: DHCPREQUEST of 172.20.40.71 on eth2 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 (xid=0x296d0094)Nov  5 14:26:51 nvidia dhclient: DHCPOFFER of 172.20.40.71 from 172.20.40.1Nov  5 14:26:51 nvidia dhclient: DHCPNAK from 172.20.40.1 (xid=0x296d0094)Nov  5 14:26:54 nvidia dhclient: DHCPREQUEST of 172.20.40.71 on eth2 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 (xid=0x296d0094)Nov  5 14:26:54 nvidia dhclient: DHCPNAK from 172.20.40.1 (xid=0x296d0094)Nov  5 14:26:58 nvidia dhclient: DHCPREQUEST of 172.20.40.71 on eth2 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 (xid=0x296d0094)Nov  5 14:26:58 nvidia dhclient: DHCPNAK from 172.20.40.1 (xid=0x296d0094)Nov  5 14:27:09 nvidia dhclient: DHCPDISCOVER on eth2 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 3 (xid=0x62ff65c6)Nov  5 14:27:09 nvidia dhclient: DHCPREQUEST of 172.20.40.71 on eth2 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 (xid=0x62ff65c6)Nov  5 14:27:09 nvidia dhclient: DHCPOFFER of 172.20.40.71 from 172.20.40.1Nov  5 14:27:09 nvidia dhclient: DHCPNAK from 172.20.40.1 (xid=0x62ff65c6)Nov  5 14:27:12 nvidia dhclient: DHCPREQUEST of 172.20.40.71 on eth2 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 (xid=0x62ff65c6)Nov  5 14:27:12 nvidia dhclient: DHCPNAK from 172.20.40.1 (xid=0x62ff65c6)Nov  5 14:27:19 nvidia dhclient: DHCPREQUEST of 172.20.40.71 on eth2 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 (xid=0x62ff65c6)Nov  5 14:27:19 nvidia dhclient: DHCPNAK from 172.20.40.1 (xid=0x62ff65c6)Nov  5 14:27:31 nvidia dhclient: DHCPDISCOVER on eth2 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 3 (xid=0x3c915dc9)Nov  5 14:27:31 nvidia dhclient: DHCPREQUEST of 172.20.40.71 on eth2 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 (xid=0x3c915dc9)Nov  5 14:27:31 nvidia dhclient: DHCPOFFER of 172.20.40.71 from 172.20.40.1Nov  5 14:27:31 nvidia dhclient: DHCPNAK from 172.20.40.1 (xid=0x3c915dc9)Nov  5 14:27:34 nvidia dhclient: DHCPREQUEST of 172.20.40.71 on eth2 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 (xid=0x3c915dc9)Nov  5 14:27:35 nvidia dhclient: DHCPNAK from 172.20.40.1 (xid=0x3c915dc9)Nov  5 14:27:39 nvidia dhclient: DHCPREQUEST of 172.20.40.71 on eth2 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 (xid=0x3c915dc9)Nov  5 14:27:39 nvidia dhclient: DHCPNAK from 172.20.40.1 (xid=0x3c915dc9)Nov  5 14:27:49 nvidia dhclient: DHCPDISCOVER on eth2 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 3 (xid=0x68eff7c8)Nov  5 14:27:49 nvidia dhclient: DHCPREQUEST of 172.20.40.71 on eth2 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 (xid=0x68eff7c8)Nov  5 14:27:49 nvidia dhclient: DHCPOFFER of 172.20.40.71 from 172.20.40.1Nov  5 14:27:49 nvidia dhclient: DHCPNAK from 172.20.40.1 (xid=0x68eff7c8)Nov  5 14:27:52 nvidia dhclient: DHCPREQUEST of 172.20.40.71 on eth2 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 (xid=0x68eff7c8)Nov  5 14:27:52 nvidia dhclient: DHCPNAK from 172.20.40.1 (xid=0x68eff7c8)Nov  5 14:27:56 nvidia dhclient: DHCPREQUEST of 172.20.40.71 on eth2 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 (xid=0x68eff7c8)Nov  5 14:28:04 nvidia dhclient: DHCPDISCOVER on eth2 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 3 (xid=0x53f01e35)Nov  5 14:28:06 nvidia dhclient: DHCPREQUEST of 172.20.44.15 on eth2 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 (xid=0x53f01e35)Nov  5 14:28:06 nvidia dhclient: DHCPOFFER of 172.20.44.15 from 172.20.40.1Nov  5 14:28:06 nvidia dhclient: DHCPACK of 172.20.44.15 from 172.20.40.1Nov  5 14:28:06 nvidia dhclient: bound to 172.20.44.15 -- renewal in 1733 seconds.Here's the dhclient.conf (with most commented-out lines removed):# Configuration file for /sbin/dhclient, which is included in Debian's#       dhcp3-client package.option rfc3442-classless-static-routes code 121 = array of unsigned integer 8;send host-name = gethostname();send dhcp-requested-address 172.20.44.15;request subnet-mask, broadcast-address, time-offset, routers,        domain-name, domain-name-servers, domain-search, host-name,        dhcp6.name-servers, dhcp6.domain-search,        netbios-name-servers, netbios-scope, interface-mtu,        rfc3442-classless-static-routes, ntp-servers,        dhcp6.fqdn, dhcp6.sntp-servers;
dhclient took minutes to get an IP
dhcp