The Linux Daily

Setup Static IP Address in Linux Terminal

This tidbit intends on helping folks running Linux in an embedded environment to setup a static IP address. This is also applicable to full fledge desktop installations of Linux as well. It has been tested on Debian Linux, but I suspect the process is identical for most distributions. Let’s get to it…

Edit “/etc/network/interfaces” to reflect the changes you’d like to make to your IP address. For example, I would like to setup my Debian box with the IP address 192.168.1.100. I have filled in all of the important information as well as seen below:

   # Used by ifup(8) and ifdown(8). See the interfaces(5) manpage or
   # /usr/share/doc/ifupdown/examples for more information.

   auto eth0
   #iface eth0 inet dhcp
   iface eth0 inet static
           address 192.168.1.100
           network 192.168.1.0
           netmask 255.255.255.0
           broadcast 192.168.1.255
           gateway 192.168.1.1

Then, edit the “/etc/resolv.conf” file to reflect your DNS servers (or simply use OpenDNS addresses below):

   nameserver 208.67.222.222
   nameserver 208.67.220.220

Now, reset the eth0 interface by using the command:

ifdown eth0; ifup eth0

Test the connection using the command:

ping google.com

As an additional tidbit, you can simply get an IP address via DHCP using the ‘dhclient’ or ‘pump’ command.