Getting started with networking on your Raspberry Pi

Learn how to check the IP address of your Raspberry Pi and understand the basics of networking. …

Updated August 23, 2023

Learn how to check the IP address of your Raspberry Pi and understand the basics of networking.

Checking IP Address Using Command Line Tools

The most common way to check your Raspberry Pi’s IP address is through the command line. Open a terminal window by clicking on the “Terminal” icon in the menu bar or pressing Ctrl+Alt+T. There are several commands you can use depending on your needs:

ifconfig: This command displays all network interfaces and their associated IP addresses, subnet masks, and other configuration parameters. To get just the IP address of the Pi, run ifconfig | grep inet which will filter out only the lines containing “inet” (IPv4) or “inet6” (IPv6).
```
$ ifconfig | grep inet
```
Example output:
```
inet addr:192.168.0.101 Bcast:192.168.0.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
```
hostname -I: This command returns a list of all IP addresses assigned to the Pi.
```
$ hostname -I
```
Example output:
```
192.168.0.101
```

ip addr show: This command provides detailed information about each network interface and its IP address(es).

$ ip addr show

Example output:

2: eth0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc pfifo_fast state UP group default qlen 1000
    link/ether b8:27:eb:e9:a4:36 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
    inet 192.168.0.101/24 brd 192.168.0.255 scope global eth0
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever

Checking IP Address Using Graphical User Interfaces

If you prefer a graphical interface, there are several options available on Raspbian, the default operating system for Raspberry Pi.

Desktop Environment: If you’re running a desktop environment like Xfce or LXDE, open the “Network Connections” application from the menu. You can find your IP address under the “Wired” or “Wireless” tab, depending on your connection type.
System Settings: In Raspbian Buster (version 10), you can access network settings through the “Preferences” menu. Click on “Raspberry Pi Configuration,” then navigate to the “Interfaces” tab. Your IP address will be displayed under either “Wired” or “Wireless.”
Command Line with nmap: You can also use the nmap command to scan your local network and identify your Raspberry Pi’s IP address. First, install nmap by running sudo apt update && sudo apt install nmap. Then, run nmap -sn 192.168.0.0/24, replacing “192.168.0.0/24” with the subnet of your local network (e.g., “192.168.1.0/24”). This will return a list of all devices on the network, including their IP addresses and hostnames. Look for the entry with “raspberrypi” in the name.
```
$ sudo apt update && sudo apt install nmap
$ nmap -sn 192.168.0.0/24
```
Example output:
```
Nmap scan report for raspberrypi.local (192.168.0.101)
Host is up (0.00075s latency).
Nmap done: 256 IP addresses (3 hosts up) scanned in 4.09 seconds
```

Remember, your Raspberry Pi’s IP address may change if you connect to a different network or restart the device. If you need a static IP address, you can configure it through your router or by editing the /etc/dhcpcd.conf file on your Pi. For more advanced networking topics, check out resources like Raspberry Pi Documentation and Linux Journal’s Network Configuration Series.

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Getting started with networking on your Raspberry Pi