Adding an IPv4 or IPv6 address in Ubuntu 20.04

When you order an extra IPv4 address or add an extra IPv6 address to your IP addresses via the TransIP control panel, these cannot be automatically added to your VPS via DHCP. Additional IP addresses are added manually to the network interfaces.

In this article, we explain how you can statically add an extra IPv4 or IPv6 address to your Ubuntu 20.04 VPS. For this, an extra IPv4 and/or IPv6 address is required (depending on which you'd like to add / configure). Don't have an extra address yet? The following articles explain how you can get one:

• Ordering an extra IPv4 address in the control panel
• Creating an extra IPv6 address in the control panel

Click here for a complete overview of all our tutorials for adding an extra or static IPv4 or IPv6 address to various Linux distros. For adding an IPv4 or IPv6 address to a Windows VPS, see this article.

Adding an IPv4 address in Ubuntu 20.04

Step 1 

Connect to the VPS via the VPS console or via SSH.

Step 2 

Once logged in you see the current network interfaces and the set IPs by means of the command:

ip a

You will be shown an overview as below.

Step 3

nano /etc/cloud/cloud.cfg.d/99-disable-network-config.cfg

network:
   config: disabled

mv /etc/netplan/50-cloud-init.yaml /etc/netplan/01-netcfg.yaml

touch /etc/cloud/cloud-init.disabled

mv /etc/netplan/50-cloud-init.yaml /etc/netplan/01-netcfg.yaml

dpkg-reconfigure cloud-init

Now add the extra IPv4 address in the network interfaces. First, open the network configuration file:

sudo nano /etc/netplan/01-netcfg.yaml

A configuration file opens that looks like the screenshot below (nano is slightly modified in the current, newer version).

In the file, adjust the values as follows:

   ethernets:
      ens3:
        dhcp4: no
        dhcp6: yes
        addresses:
          - 149.210.181.124/24
          - 149.210.189.113/24
        gateway4: 149.210.181.1

• Under 'addresses', enter your primary IPv4 address with the range /24 addition (in our example 149.210.181.124/24).
• Enter additional IPv4 addresses on a new line using the same syntax, e.g.: - 149.210.189.113/24
• The IPv4 addresses that you enter under 'Addresses' can be found in your control panel.
• The gateway4 value is the gateway of your primary IP. Do not enter additional gateways for secondairy IP's

Save the changes and exit nano (ctrl + x> y> enter).

Step 4

To be able to use the new IP address you process the changes using the following command:

sudo netplan apply

Step 5

If you run ip a again you will see the newly added IPv4 address. You can test this IP address by performing a ping test from another computer / IP.

Are you not seeing your new configuration? Check if a file exists called 01-network-manager-all.yaml in /etc/netplan/ using the command:

ls /etc/netplan/

If yes, rename the file using the command:

sudo mv /etc/netplan/01-network-manager-all.yaml /etc/netplan/01-network-manager-all-yaml.backup

Repeat step 4 and 5. You should now see the correct configuration.

Adding an IPv6 address in Ubuntu 20.04

Step 1

Once logged in you see the current network interfaces and the set IPs by means of the command:

ip a

You will be shown an overview as below.

Step 2

Now add the extra IPv6 address in the network interfaces. First, open the network configuration file:

sudo nano /etc/netplan/01-netcfg.yaml

A configuration file opens that looks like the screenshot below (nano is slightly modified in the current, newer version).

In the file, adjust the values as follows:

   ethernets:
      ens3:
        dhcp4: yes
        dhcp6: no
        addresses:
          - 2a01:7c8:aab5:4cd::1/48
          - 2a01:7c8:aab5:4cd::2/48
        gateway6: 2a01:7c8:aab5::1

First enter your primary IPv6 address with the range /48 addition (in our example 2a01:7c8:aab5:4cd::1/48). Enter additional IPv4 addresses on a new line using the same syntax, e.g.: - 2a01:7c8:aab5:4cd::1/48

The IPv6 addresses that you enter under 'Addresses' can be found in your control panel. The gateway6 value is the gateway of your primary IPv6 address.

Save the changes and exit nano (ctrl + x > y > enter).

Step 3

To be able to use the new IP address you process the changes using the following command:

sudo netplan apply

Step 4

If you run ip a again you will see the newly added IPv4 address. You can test this IP address by performing a ping test from another computer / IP.

Are you not seeing your new configuration? Check if a file exists called 01-network-manager-all.yaml in /etc/netplan/ using the command:

ls /etc/netplan/

If yes, rename the file using the command:

sudo mv /etc/netplan/01-network-manager-all.yaml /etc/netplan/01-network-manager-all-yaml.backup

Repeat step 4 and 5. You should now see the correct configuration.

Should you have any questions left regarding this article, do not hesitate to contact our support department. You can reach them via the ‘Contact Us’ button at the bottom of this page.