arp messages: Why is this happening?

[Bill Moran]

ODHIAMBO Washington wrote:
> My log files (and console) fill up with these messages.
> 
>>arp: 62.8.64.172 moved from 00:c0:05:11:01:f1 to 00:c0:05:10:01:f1 on bge1
>>arp: 62.8.64.201 moved from 00:c0:05:10:01:f1 to 00:c0:05:11:01:f1 on bge1
>>arp: 62.8.64.201 moved from 00:c0:05:11:01:f1 to 00:c0:05:10:01:f1 on bge1
>>arp: 62.8.64.145 moved from 00:c0:05:11:01:f1 to 00:c0:05:10:01:f1 on bge1
>>arp: 62.8.64.212 moved from 00:c0:05:11:01:f1 to 00:c0:05:10:01:f1 on bge1
>>arp: 62.8.64.188 moved from 00:c0:05:11:01:f1 to 00:c0:05:10:01:f1 on bge1

Could be that you're on a DHCP network and addresses are moving around a lot.

I'm on Adelphia cable internet, and I see these messages off and on.
Especially after network problems, there'll be a long list of them.
Occassionally, I'll see one MAC address that is generating a lot of
these messages ... I assume it's some broken Windows machine that
can't figure out what IP to use.

There is a sysctl that will turn off reporting of this:
net.link.ether.inet.log_arp_movements
Set it to 0 to stop the logging.

-- 
Bill Moran
Potential Technologies
http://www.potentialtech.com