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Necktwi
Asked: 2013-08-22 03:42:09 +0800 CST

How to change ip address in ubuntu desktop through command line

  • 772

In Ubuntu desktop 13.04 changing /etc/network/interfaces file don't change ip address or convert DHCP to static network interface configuration. after changing the file I tried 

sudo service networking restart

----------EDIT----------

I have connected to system with ssh.

command-line

6 Answers

  1. By default, Ubuntu (or Network Manager to be specific) ignores the /etc/network/interfaces file. To make the changes you made take effect, execute the following commands:

    sudo ifdown wlan0
sudo ifup wlan0

    Assuming that wlan0 is the interface you are editing. Once you do that, wlan0 will come up with the settings you have under its stanza in /etc/network/interfaces.

    Edit: since you're connected through SSH. You can try the following:

    Edit /etc/NetworkManager/NetworkManager.conf and change ifdown managed to false:

    [ifupdown]
managed=false

    Then, try:

    • 8

  2. Try this. Just press Ctrl+Alt+T on your keyboard to open Terminal. When it opens, run the command(s) below:

    sudo -i
gedit /etc/network/interfaces

    This is done with the help of guntbert

    Once done save and exit

    add this line DHCP mode

    auto eth0
iface eth0 inet dhcp

    Static mode

    auto eth0
iface eth0 inet static
address xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
netmask xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
gateway xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx

    Once done save the file, and:

    sudo service resolvconf restart
    • 6

  3. You can change your ip address by using the following script:

    Open terminal with Ctrl + Alt + t and type the following command:

    sudo vi /etc/network/interfaces

    OR

    gksudo gedit /etc/network/interfaces

    Find eth0 section and setup IP address as follows:

    auto eth0
iface eth0 inet static
address 192.168.2.1
netmask 255.255.255.0
network 192.168.2.0
broadcast 192.168.2.255

    Save and close the file. Once done, restart network:

    $ sudo /etc/init.d/networking restart

    Verify new IP address by using the following command :

    $ ifconfig eth0
$ ifconfig
    • 4

  4. I am posting this answer to give another dimension to the question and existing answers, not as a direct answer to the original question. Your IP will be lost at reboot. However, I think it's worth you understanding these commands, iproute2 package is the currently method of on-the-fly interface management via the CLI. Lots of people are still writing scripts using ifconfig for example.

    I think it's worth noting the use of the iproute2 packages;

    Show current IPs on all interface (ip addr)

    n2:~$ ip a
1: lo: <LOOPBACK,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 16436 qdisc noqueue state UNKNOWN 
    link/loopback 00:00:00:00:00:00 brd 00:00:00:00:00:00
    inet 127.0.0.1/8 scope host lo
    inet6 ::1/128 scope host 
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
2: eth0: <NO-CARRIER,BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP> mtu 1500 qdisc pfifo_fast state DOWN qlen 1000
    link/ether 00:e0:4c:6d:0a:49 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
3: wlan0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc mq state UP qlen 1000
    link/ether 74:ea:3a:ad:2e:00 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
    inet 172.22.0.221/24 brd 172.22.0.255 scope global wlan0
    inet6 fe80::76ea:3aff:fead:2e00/64 scope link 
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever

    Add an IP address to my wireless interface (ip addr add)

    n2:~$ sudo ip a a 10.0.0.56/24 dev wlan0
[sudo] password for bensley:

    Show my IP addresses again, note the additional IP on wlan0 (ip addr)

    n2:~$ ip a
1: lo: <LOOPBACK,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 16436 qdisc noqueue state UNKNOWN 
    link/loopback 00:00:00:00:00:00 brd 00:00:00:00:00:00
    inet 127.0.0.1/8 scope host lo
    inet6 ::1/128 scope host 
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
2: eth0: <NO-CARRIER,BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP> mtu 1500 qdisc pfifo_fast state DOWN qlen 1000
    link/ether 00:e0:4c:6d:0a:49 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
3: wlan0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc mq state UP qlen 1000
    link/ether 74:ea:3a:ad:2e:00 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
    inet 172.22.0.221/24 brd 172.22.0.255 scope global wlan0
    inet 10.0.0.56/24 scope global wlan0
    inet6 fe80::76ea:3aff:fead:2e00/64 scope link 
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever

    Show the link state of my interfaces (ip link)

    n2:~$ ip l
1: lo: <LOOPBACK,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 16436 qdisc noqueue state UNKNOWN 
    link/loopback 00:00:00:00:00:00 brd 00:00:00:00:00:00
2: eth0: <NO-CARRIER,BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP> mtu 1500 qdisc pfifo_fast state DOWN qlen 1000
    link/ether 00:e0:4c:6d:0a:49 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
3: wlan0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc mq state UP qlen 1000
    link/ether 74:ea:3a:ad:2e:00 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff

    Delete this 2nd IP address from my wireless interface (ip addr delete)

    n2:~$ sudo ip a del 10.0.0.56/24 dev wlan0

    Show IP addresses just for wlan0 to check (ip addr show wlan0)

    n2:~$ ip a s wlan0
3: wlan0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc mq state UP qlen 1000
    link/ether 74:ea:3a:ad:2e:00 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
    inet 172.22.0.221/24 brd 172.22.0.255 scope global wlan0
    inet6 fe80::76ea:3aff:fead:2e00/64 scope link 
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever

    The same commands could have been used to remove my current IP, 172.22.0.221 then add another, but I would have lost connectivity, which I can't right now. Below are those commands though, after which I would also need to add a new default route route;

    n2:~$ ip r s
default via 172.22.0.1 dev wlan0  proto static 
169.254.0.0/16 dev wlan0  scope link  metric 1000 
172.22.0.0/24 dev wlan0  proto kernel  scope link  src 172.22.0.221  metric 2 
192.168.122.0/24 dev virbr0  proto kernel  scope link  src 192.168.122.1

ip a del 172.22.0.221/24 dev wlan0

ip a a 172.22.0.10/24 dev wlan

ip r a default via 172.22.0.1

# Re-add the same default route ^ via the same default gateway
    • 2

  5. From the detailed instructions on this site:

    1. disable the graphical management of your network connection in /etc/NetworkManager/NetworkManager.conf
    2. Gather the information for the static IP (interface, IP to be used, default gateway, subnet,DNS)
    3. Modify /etc/network/interfaces to include the information above.
    4. Restart networking and network-manager services
    • 0

  6. This is the right way to do it.

    sudo ifconfig eth0 down
sudo ifconfig eth0 <type_IP_you want>
sudo ifconfig eth0 up
    • 0