Configure DHCP Relay over a Cellular Interface
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Configure DHCP Relay over a Cellular Interface

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Configure DHCP Relay over a Cellular Interface

Configure DHCP relay over the cellular interface to forward LAN device DHCP requests to a centralized server and restore per-device IP address visibility.
Where Can I Use This?What Do I Need?
  • NGFW (PAN-OS 12.2.2 or a later release)
Configure DHCP relay over the cellular interface to give each LAN-side device behind the 5G-integrated firewall a unique IP address from a centralized DHCP server.
You must enable DHCP relay capability at the cellular interface’s modem level. Enabling modem-level DHCP relay reboots the modem and terminates all active cellular sessions. Based on your network deployment, consider disabling NAT on the cellular interface because NAT prevents the remote DHCP server from recognizing the relay agent's IP address and assigning addresses from the correct pool.
To enable DHCP relay at the modem level: set network interface cellular <cellular_interface> modem dhcp-relay yes.
In an Active/Active high availability (HA) configuration, only the active-primary firewall relays DHCP packets. The active-secondary firewall drops DHCP relay packets, consistent with the behavior for all other interface types in this HA mode.
  1. (Panorama template use only) Select the appropriate template or template stack.
  2. Enable DHCP relay at the modem level.
    1. Select NetworkInterfacesCellular.
    2. Select the parent cellular interface you want to configure.
    3. Enable DHCP Relay. A confirmation dialog displays to initiate a modem reboot and data connections reset.
    4. Click OK.
    Only parent interfaces support DHCP relay. Subinterfaces do not appear as options.
  3. (Optional) If the LAN-side interface is already configured as a DHCP server, delete that configuration before configuring DHCP relay.
    Make sure that you review your network deployments and any dependencies before disabling NAT on the Cellular interface.
    1. Select NetworkDHCPDHCP Server.
    2. Select the DHCP server entry for the LAN-side interface.
    3. Delete.
  4. Configure the DHCP relay.
    1. Select NetworkDHCPDHCP Relay.
    2. Add.
    3. In the Interface field, select the LAN-side interface that will act as the DHCP relay agent.
    4. Select IPv4.
    5. In the DHCP Server IP Address field, Add and enter the IP address of the DHCP server.
  5. If NAT is configured on the cellular interface, disable the NAT rule.
    1. Select PoliciesNAT.
    2. Select the NAT rule for the cellular interface and disable it. This ensures the firewall preserves the relay agent's IP as the source address in DHCP Discover packets, which the remote DHCP server requires to assign addresses from the correct pool.
  6. Commit the configuration.
  7. Verify modem DHCP relay status.
    Run show interface cellular1/1. The output should include a DHCP-Relay Mode: Enabled/Disabled line confirming the modem-level setting.