How to configure a flexible IP on an Elastic Metal server

Reviewed on February 11, 2025

Learn how to configure a flexible IP address on your Elastic Metal server. The configuration depends on the Linux distribution running on your machine. You can configure your flexible IP on machines running one of Ubuntu Linux, Debian Linux or CentOS.

Before you start

To complete the actions presented below, you must have:

• A Scaleway account logged into the console
• Owner status or IAM permissions allowing you to perform actions in the intended Organization
• An SSH key
• An installed Elastic Metal server
• A flexible IP address attached to your Elastic Metal server

How to configure a flexible IP on Ubuntu Linux

Since the LTS release of Ubuntu Version 18.04 (Bionic Beaver) the recommended way to configure a flexible IP is by using Netplan. If you prefer a more traditional configuration, refer to the instructions for flexible IP configuration on Debian.

1. Log into your server using SSH with a user having super-user rights.

2. Open the file /etc/netplan/01-netcfg.yaml with superuser rights in your favorite text editor and configure the networking for your machine.

   Note

   IP addresses in the configuration file have to be specified in CIDR notation. The netmask is /24 for the principal IP of the server and /32 for each flexible IP.

   Your configuration file should look like the following example:

   network:
     version: 2
     renderer: networkd
     ethernets:
       enp1s0f0:
           addresses: [163.172.123.123/24, 212.83.123.123/32]
           gateway4: 163.172.123.1
           nameservers:
             addresses: [ "51.159.47.28", "51.159.47.26" ] # Replace the IP of the DNS cache server with the one located in the same physical location as your machine for optimal performances (https://www.scaleway.com/en/docs/account/reference-content/scaleway-network-information/#dns-cache-servers)

   Tip

   The interface name for your primary interface may be different from enp1s0f0. You can use the ip link show command to determine the name of your public internet interface.

3. Once the file is edited as required, save it and quit the text editor. Then apply the configuration using the following command:

   sudo netplan apply

Your server now responds on both the primary IP address and the flexible IP address.

How to configure a flexible IP on Debian Linux

1. Log into your server using SSH with a user having super-user rights.

2. Open the file /etc/network/interfaces with superuser rights in your favorite text editor and configure the networking for your machine.

3. Edit the file and add the flexible IP as shown in the following example:

   # This file describes the network interfaces available on your system
   # and how to activate them. For more information, see interfaces(5).
   # The loopback network interface
   auto lo
   iface lo inet loopback
   # The primary network interface
   auto eth0
   iface eth0 inet static
     address 195.154.123.123
     netmask 255.255.255.0
     gateway 195.154.123.1
   auto eth0:0
     iface eth0:0 inet static
       address ip_flexible
       netmask 255.255.255.255

   Note

   The interface name of your server might be different depending on the hardware of the server. You can use the ip link show command to determine the name of your public internet interface.

4. Save the file and quit the editor.

5. Bring the interface up using the ifup command:

   ifup eth0:0

Your server now responds on both the primary IP address and the flexible IP address.

How to configure a flexible IP on CentOS

1. Log into your server using SSH using the root user.
2. Copy the default network configuration file to create an alias:
   cp /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0 /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0:0

3. Open the file /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0:0 in your favorite text editor and modify it as in the following example:
   DEVICE="eth0:0"
   BOOTPROTO=static
   IPADDR="my_flexible_ip"
   NETMASK="255.255.255.255"
   ONBOOT=yes

4. Save the file, exit the text editor and run the following command to reload the network configuration:
   /etc/init.d/network restart

Your server now responds on both the primary IP address and the flexible IP address.

How to configure a flexible IP in a virtual machine (VM)

When you install your Elastic Metal server with a virtualization solution like VMware vSphere Hypervisor (ESXi) or Proxmox you can create multiple virtual machines on the physical server.

To communicate on the Internet, each of your virtual machines needs an IP address. You can use flexible IPs to have additional IP addresses available for your virtual machines.

Configure the networking of your VM's as follows:

• IP address: Your flexible IP
• Netmask: 255.255.255.255
• Gateway: 62.210.0.1
• DNS resolver: 51.159.47.28 and 51.159.47.26