How to Set a Static IP Address in Linux

• Set Your Static IP in Ubuntu

• Set Your Static IP in CentOS

• Using the ip Command

ifconfig is being replaced by the ip command.

Configuring a static IP can be difficult in Linux because it’s different based on the distro and version you’re using. This guide will show you how to configure a static IP address on the most popular Linux distros.

Ubuntu ​

As of version 17 of Ubuntu, networking is configured using Netplan, which is a YAML-based configuration system. It allows you to set your IP, netmask, gateway, and DNS all in one place.

Start by editing the file for your interface: in this case 01-netcfg.yaml.

vi /etc/netplan/01-netcfg.yaml

Editing your interface file ​

You’ll either see networkd or systemd in the renderer spot; keep that the same.

network:
  version: 2
  renderer: networkd
  ethernets:
    enp0s3:
     dhcp4: no
     addresses: [192.168.2.2/24]
     gateway4: 192.168.1.1
     nameservers:
       addresses: [8.8.8.8,8.8.4.4]

To have your changes take effect, restart networking with this command:

You can then apply this configuration by running netplan apply.

YAML configs are crazy about indentation, so if you get an error check there first.

netplan apply

CentOS ​

Now let’s do the same thing in CentOS. Here we’ll need to edit things the old way using sysconfig and network-scripts:

vi /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0

You’ll change what you see there to something like this:

HWADDR=$SOMETHING
TYPE=Ethernet
BOOTPROTO=none // turns off DHCP
IPADDR=192.168.2.2 // set your IP
PREFIX=24 // subnet mask
GATEWAY=192.168.2.254
DNS1=1.1.1.2 // set your own DNS
DNS2=1.0.0.2
DNS3=9.9.9.9
DEFROUTE=yes
IPV4_FAILURE_FATAL=no
NAME=eth0
DEVICE=eth0
ONBOOT=yes // starts on boot

You can then apply this configuration by running:

/etc/init.d/network restart

Ok, that will get you up and running with a static IP on the two most common Linux distros. Now let’s take a deeper look at the new ip command.

Using ip and netplan ​

Most Linux nerds have been using ipconfig for a long time, but it’s now being replaced with a new command called ip. Here’s how to do some basic tasks using the new command.

Show your IP using ip ​

ip addr show

or even shorter and more efficient…

ip a

(both commands show all interfaces)

Show only one interface using ip ​

ip a show eth0

Bring an interface up or down using ip ​

ip link set eth1 up

ip link set eth1 down

Only show IPv4 interfaces ​

ip -4 a

Ok, so now you should know how to set a static IP on both Ubuntu and CentOS, as well as how to get some basic network information using ip instead of ipconfig.

Happy hacking!