Discover Your Raspberry Pi’s IP Address And Connect To It Easily

Learn how to locate your Raspberry Pi on the network and establish a connection with it using various methods. From command line tools to graphical user interfaces, there are multiple ways to find you …


Updated August 30, 2023

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Learn how to locate your Raspberry Pi on the network and establish a connection with it using various methods. From command line tools to graphical user interfaces, there are multiple ways to find your Raspberry Pi.

Method 1: Using nmap

nmap (Network Mapper) is a powerful tool that allows you to scan your network for devices and services. It can be used to locate the IP address of your Raspberry Pi by scanning for open SSH ports on your local network. To do this, follow these steps:

  1. Open a terminal window on your computer or the Raspberry Pi you want to connect to.
  2. Type sudo nmap -sP <your_local_network_IP_range> and press Enter. For example, if your local IP range is 192.168.1.0/24, you would type sudo nmap -sP 192.168.1.0/24.
  3. Wait for the scan to complete. nmap will display a list of all devices on your network and their IP addresses.
  4. Look for an entry with “raspberrypi” or “linux” in the name. This is likely your Raspberry Pi. Note down its IP address.

Example:

sudo nmap -sP 192.168.1.0/24
Starting Nmap 7.91 ( https://nmap.org ) at 2022-03-01 15:30 UTC
Nmap scan report for raspberrypi.local (192.168.1.10)
Host is up (0.00017s latency).
MAC Address: B8:27:EB:xx:xx:xx (Raspberry Pi Foundation)
Nmap done: 256 IP addresses (3 hosts up) scanned in 4.90 seconds

In this example, the Raspberry Pi’s IP address is 192.168.1.10.

Method 2: Using avahi-browse

Avahi is a zero-configuration networking protocol that allows devices to discover each other on a local network without needing any manual configuration. To find your Raspberry Pi using avahi, follow these steps:

  1. Install the avahi-utils package if it’s not already installed by running sudo apt install avahi-utils.
  2. Open a terminal window on your computer or the Raspberry Pi you want to connect to.
  3. Type avahi-browse -at and press Enter. This will display a list of all devices on your network with their IP addresses, hostnames, and services.
  4. Look for an entry with “raspberrypi” or “linux” in the name. This is likely your Raspberry Pi. Note down its IP address.

Example:

avahi-browse -at
+ eth0 IPv4 my_raspberrypi                      Web Site           local
+ eth0 IPv4 my_raspberrypi                      SSH               local
= eth0 IPv4 my_raspberrypi                      local

In this example, the Raspberry Pi’s hostname is “my_raspberrypi” and its IP address can be found using avahi-resolve -n my_raspberrypi.

Method 3: Using ArpScan

ArpScan is a tool that allows you to scan your local network for devices and their MAC addresses. You can use it to find the IP address of your Raspberry Pi by looking up its MAC address. To do this, follow these steps:

  1. Install the arp-scan package if it’s not already installed by running sudo apt install arp-scan.
  2. Open a terminal window on your computer or the Raspberry Pi you want to connect to.
  3. Type sudo arp-scan <your_local_network_IP_range> and press Enter. For example, if your local IP range is 192.168.1.0/24, you would type sudo arp-scan 192.168.1.0/24.
  4. Wait for the scan to complete. ArpScan will display a list of all devices on your network with their IP addresses and MAC addresses.
  5. Look for an entry with “b8:27:eb” (Raspberry Pi Foundation’s OUI) in the MAC address. This is likely your Raspberry Pi. Note down its IP address.

Example:

sudo arp-scan 192.168.1.0/24
Interface: eth0, datalink type: EN10MB (Ethernet)
Starting arp-scan 1.9.7 with 256 hosts (https://www.nta-monitor.com/tools/arp-scan/)
192.168.1.10	b8:27:eb:xx:xx:xx	(Unknown)
192.168.1.20	00:25:9c:xx:xx:xx	(Unknown)
192.168.1.30	d4:3d:7e:xx:xx:xx	(Unknown)

5 packets received by filter, 0 packets dropped by kernel
Ending arp-scan 1.9.7: 256 hosts scanned in 3.082 seconds (82.24 hosts/sec). 1 responded

In this example, the Raspberry Pi’s IP address is 192.168.1.10.

Method 4: Using a Graphical User Interface

If you prefer a graphical user interface to find your Raspberry Pi on the network, you can use tools like Fing or Angry IP Scanner. These tools allow you to scan your local network for devices and their IP addresses with just a few clicks. Follow these steps to install and use either of these tools:

  1. Install Fing by downloading it from https://fing.io/downloads/. You can also install Angry IP Scanner using sudo apt install angry-ip-scanner.
  2. Open the tool on your computer or the Raspberry Pi you want to connect to.
  3. Start a scan for devices on your local network by entering the IP range (e.g., 192.168.1.0/24) and clicking “Scan”.
  4. Look for an entry with “raspberrypi” or “linux” in the name. This is likely your Raspberry Pi. Note down its IP address.

Once you have found your Raspberry Pi’s IP address, you can use SSH to connect to it remotely or access its services through a web browser by entering http://<IP_address> in the URL bar. For example, if your Raspberry Pi’s IP is 192.168.1.10, you would type ssh pi@192.168.1.10 or http://192.168.1.10 in your web browser to connect to it.

Remember that your Raspberry Pi’s IP address may change if you restart it or update your network settings. It is recommended to set up a static IP address for your Raspberry Pi using a DHCP reservation on your router or configuring the /etc/dhcpcd.conf file on your Raspberry Pi to avoid this issue.