KB43021 - Pulse Secure Desktop or Network Connect user are unable to connect with the message "IPv4 address cannot be allocated to user <username>. Solution: Check IPv4 Address Pools / DHCP server state"

This article describes an issue where Pulse Secure Desktop or Network Connect client is unable to connect with the message "IPv4 address cannot be allocated to user <username>. Solution: Check IPv4 Address Pools / DHCP server state" in the user access logs.

When Pulse Secure Desktop or Network client user attempts to connect to the Pulse Connect Secure (PCS) device, the end user may consistently fail.  The PCS administrator will see the following error message in the user access logs:

IPv4 address cannot be allocated to user <username>. Solution: Check IPv4 Address Pools / DHCP server state

This issue occurs when one of the following conditions are true:

• All available IP addresses in the IP pool are exhausted
• Network connectivity issues between the PCS device and DHCP server

To resolve this issue, perform the following steps:

1. ​If IP Pool is configured, increasing the IP pool range or adding a new range will immediate resolve the issue
2. If DHCP is configured, take a tcpdump on the internal port with the filter of: host <ip address of dhcp server>, then review the tcpdump for any connectivity issues. If further assistance is required, open a support case and attach a copy of the tcpdump.