Configuring ARP 783
When Host A and Host B are not on the same subnet, Host A first sends an ARP 
request to the gateway. The destination IP address in the ARP request is the IP 
address of the gateway. After obtaining the MAC address of the gateway from an 
ARP reply, Host A encapsulates the packet and sends it to the gateway. 
Subsequently, the gateway broadcasts the ARP request, in which the destination IP 
address is the one of Host B. After obtaining the MAC address of Host B from 
another ARP reply, the gateway sends the packet to Host B.
ARP Mapping Table After obtaining the destination MAC address, the device adds the IP-to-MAC 
mapping into its own ARP mapping table. This mapping is used for forwarding 
packets with the same destination in future.
An ARP mapping table contains ARP entries, which fall into two categories: 
dynamic and static.
1 A dynamic entry is automatically created and maintained by ARP. It can get aged, 
be updated by a new ARP packet, or be overwritten by a static ARP entry. When 
the aging timer expires or the port goes down, the corresponding dynamic ARP 
entry will be removed.
2 A static ARP entry is manually configured and maintained. It cannot get aged or be 
overwritten by a dynamic ARP entry. It can be permanent or non-permanent.
■ A permanent static ARP entry can be directly used to forward packets. When 
configuring a permanent static ARP entry, you must configure a VLAN and 
outbound port for the entry besides the IP address and MAC address.
■ A non-permanent static ARP entry cannot be directly used for forwarding data. 
When configuring a non-permanent static ARP entry, you only need to 
configure the IP address and MAC address. When forwarding IP packets, the 
device sends an ARP request. If the source IP and MAC addresses in the 
received ARP reply are the same as the configured IP and MAC addresses, the 
device adds the port receiving the ARP reply into the static ARP entry. Now the 
entry can be used for forwarding IP packets.
n
Usually ARP dynamically implements and automatically seeks mappings from IP 
addresses to MAC addresses, without manual intervention.
Configuring ARP
Configuring a Static ARP
Entry
A static ARP entry is effective when the device works normally. However, when a 
VLAN or VLAN interface to which a static ARP entry corresponds is deleted, the 
entry, if permanent, will be deleted, and if non-permanent and resolved, will 
become unresolved.
Follow these steps to configure a static ARP entry:
To do…  Use the command…  Remarks 
Enter system view  system-view - 
Configure a permanent static 
ARP entry 
arp static ip-address 
mac-address vlan-id 
interface-type 
interface-number 
Required
No permanent static ARP 
entry is configured by default.