Description

This article will explain the minor alarm "dhcp-service process is thrashing, not restarted" on MX platform running on junos 24.4R2-S3.5. 

 
The dhcp-service process has crashed or exited repeatedly within a short period of time. Junos' process manager (jlaunchd) normally restarts failed daemons automatically, but when a process exceeds the restart threshold, it is marked as"thrashing" and Junos stops restarting it to prevent an endless crash loop.
 
 

Symptoms

root@MX> show chassis alarms    
1 alarms currently active
Alarm time               Class  Description
<Date> <Time> UTC  Minor  "dhcp-service process is thrashing, not restarted"


No core generated.

Solution

Cause:
The customer had DHCP client configuration applied to the em2.0 interface while running Junos OS 21.4R3-S6.5. The configuration passed commit validation and did not trigger any alarms.

 

set interfaces em2 unit 0 family inet6 dhcpv6-client client-type stateful

set interfaces em2 unit 0 family inet6 dhcpv6-client client-ia-type ia-na

set interfaces em2 unit 0 family inet6 dhcpv6-client client-identifier duid-type duid-ll



After upgrading to Junos OS 24.4R2-S3.5, the dhcp-service process repeatedly failed, resulting in the minor alarm. 

 

Workaround:

If the router is not providing or consuming DHCP services, this alarm does not impact normal traffic forwarding or routing operations.

Interface em2.0 is an internal interface used for communication between the VM Host and Junos OS. It is not intended for customer traffic, management connectivity, or DHCP client/server services.

Note:

On MX10008 platforms:

  • em0 is the RJ-45 management interface.
  • em1 is the fiber management interface.

These management interfaces are located on the Routing Control Board (RCB) and should be used for management connectivity where applicable.

 

To clear the alarm, remove the DHCP configuration from the em2.0 interface and commit the configuration:

  • delete interfaces em2 
 
 

Modification History

2026-10-05 : Article Created