How to Configure IP Addresses on Your Cloud VPS?

Operating your own cloud VPS server, one of the most essential components is your dedicated IP address. This is one of the great perks that give virtual private services an edge over shared hosting. 

In this article, we will find out more about dedicated IPs and how we can configure them on our cloud VPS. Let’s start with the basics: 

What is a Dedicated IP and Why do I Need One?

An IP (or Internet Protocol) address is the numerical representation of any device within a network, allowing it to communicate with other devices via the Internet. Currently, the most popular version is the IPv4 format, where you have a set of four numbers ranging from 0 to 255. For example:

255.255.255.255

Still, IP addresses are far from random and controlled by the Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).

In terms of usage, you can utilize an IP to cover multiple devices (shared IP) or serve the needs of a single project (dedicated IP). 

Getting your own address brings about a heap of benefits in a cloud VPS environment:

• Must-have for Email Projects – even if it was inherently clean, a shared IP can easily suffer from blacklisting if another user gets involved in spamming practices. If email communication is key for your project, getting your own dedicated IP is a no-brainer.
• Better server control – utilizing a dedicated IP means you can directly access your server to make the needed changes and customizations. Provided you have the required hosting permissions, you can set up an IP-based environment and operate everything at this level before pushing live modifications to your domain.
• Essential for SSL certificates – if you are looking to install a private SSL certificate, a dedicated IP would be one of the key requirements. Many hosts that offer security certificates include that in their SSL bundle, but you will need your address if you are setting up a third-party solution. 
• Custom app requirements – many clients choose to utilize a cloud VPS because of its flexibility and versatility. More often than not, enterprises are hosting specific apps of heavily customized solutions for the job, and those will sometimes work best with a dedicated IP. 

IMPORTANT: For more information, you can check our extensive blog article about Dedicated IPs and their benefits for various online projects. 

Configuring your Dedicated IP

ScalaHosting offers a free dedicated IP on all managed VPS plans, simplifying and automating the process for the end user. Still, if you find yourself in a position where you have to configure your dedicated address manually, you have to be prepared to tackle the task:

Configuring a Dedicated IP via WHM

There are just a few steps to properly configure a dedicated IP through the Web Host Manager (WHM):

1. Log in WHM.
2. Click on the IP Functions option.
3. On the next page, you will see the Add a New IP Address button.
4. Type the new IP or IP range you wish to use.
5. Make sure the Select a subnet mask for the IP field is 255.255.255.0
6. Click Submit to save the changes.

Your new dedicated IP should now be associated with your account and start functioning right away.

Configuring a Dedicated IP at OS level

If you are on a self-managed cloud VPS plan, you would have to manually go through the process of IP configuration. Here is how the process goes within different Linux server environments:

• CentOS and Fedora

1. Log into your cloud server as Root via an SSH client of your choice.
2. Run the following command:

cd /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts

3. Create a new file via your chosen text editor. You can name it ifcfg-eth0:0.
4. Open the file and edit it with the following text:

DEVICE=eth0:0

BOOTPROTO=none

ONPARENT=yes

IPADDR=xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx

NETMASK=255.255.255.0

IMPORTANT: In the IPADDR field, fill in your dedicated IP values. The DEVICE name should be the same as the latter part of your file name.

5. Save the changes.
6. Restart the network:

service network restart

7. Check if the newly configured dedicated IP works correctly:

ifconfig

• Debian and Ubuntu

Although Debian and Ubuntu are Linux distributions as well, the process of configuring an IP on those operating systems may slightly differ.

1. Log into your SSH client as an administrator.
2. Find the file /etc/network/interfaces and open it in the text editor of your choice.
3. Edit it with the following text:

# The primary network interface

auto eth0:0

iface eth0:0 inet static

address xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx

netmask 255.255.255.0

4. Again, replace the Address field with your dedicated IP.
5. Save the file changes.
6. You can now restart the network. For Debian, type:

/etc/init.d/networking restart

For Ubuntu, you can go with the following command:

ifdown -a –exclude=lo; ifup -a –exclude=lo

7. Run the ifconfig command to test if the changes have gone through.

Configuring a Dedicated IP via SPanel

SPanel is ScalaHosting’s state-of-the-art hosting management solution. The control panel is lightweight, secure, and packs a ton of features for managed cloud VPS users. Configuring an IP address as an SPanel client is as easy as you can imagine. 

In fact, it’s so easy that you don’t have to do a thing. 

Each virtual server customer gets a dedicated IP completely free of charge with their server, and our support team ensures it is properly activated on the server. No need for additional contacts or ticket requests – we have got you covered already!

Adding and Removing Dedicated IP Addresses

Within the SPanel VPS environment, each client gets one dedicated IP, and there is no option to add more. This has a rather simple explanation – a global shortage of IPv4 addresses that has been going on for years. After all, there are just so many combinations you can do with four strings of numbers. In fact, it was somewhere around 2018-2019 when the entire chain of IPv4 addresses was exhausted. 

The IPv6 technology was introduced more than 20 years ago with the purpose to “take over” once the IPv4 options are all taken, but its adoption is still going pretty slow. The reason lies mainly in compatibility. Large parts of the internet infrastructure are built upon IPv4, and a direct switch to IPv6 is not really possible. 

Should you need extra dedicated IP addresses, your best bet would be getting another VPS solution. 

Contact ScalaHosting if you need more information about IP configuration on a virtual server plan.

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