How to Find Your IP Address in the Linux Console

Every device connected to a network has an IP address, a unique identifier that allows devices to communicate with each other. In Linux, you can find your IP address using several commands in the terminal. This article will cover the essential commands to find your IP address and determine whether it's behind NAT.

Commands to Get Your Internal IP Address

To find the internal IP address of your device, you can use several commands:

1. ip addr - One of the most commonly used commands. It provides detailed information about network interfaces and IP addresses:

   ip addr

   In the output, look for a line containing inet, followed by your IP address.
2. ifconfig - While this command is considered outdated, it's still widely used:

   ifconfig

   Your IP address will be displayed after the word inet.

How to Determine if Your IP is Behind NAT

An internal IP address typically falls within one of the following ranges:

• 10.0.0.0 - 10.255.255.255
• 172.16.0.0 - 172.31.255.255
• 192.168.0.0 - 192.168.255.255

If your IP address belongs to one of these ranges, it means you're behind NAT, meaning the device uses a private IP address and needs a router to interact with the outside world.

How to Find Your External IP Address

To find your external IP address visible to the internet, you can use curl with a service like ToolLeap:

curl ip.toolleap.com

This service will return your external IP address, which is visible to external servers.

About ToolLeap and Our Solutions for DevOps

At ToolLeap, we develop tools that simplify DevOps processes and enhance developer productivity. One of these tools is our IP service, which allows you to quickly and easily find your external IP without hassle. We also offer DevOps as a Service, supporting various companies in automating and optimizing their IT infrastructure.