How to reserve an IP address

IP Address Manager (IPAM) is Scaleway’s tool for planning, tracking and managing the IP address space of Scaleway products. It acts as a single source of truth for the IP addresses of Scaleway resources.

You can use IPAM to reserve a private IP address from a given Private Network’s CIDR block. When you reserve an IP in this way, it stops it from being potentially auto-allocated to new resources being attached to the Private Network. You can then use the reserved address to attach the specific resource of your choice to the Private Network. If you later detach the resource from the network, the reserved IP will stay reserved, until you either release it back into the general pool, or use it to attach a different resource.

This page sets out the steps necessary to reserve an IP address with IPAM.

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
• At least one Private Network

How to reserve a private IP address

1. Click IPAM in the Network section of the Scaleway console side menu.

2. Click Reserve private IP. The following screen displays:

   

3. Define the parameters for the private IP address you want to reserve:

   • IP type: IPv4 or IPv6
   • Tags: Tags to help you filter and manage your reserved IPs later
   • Region: The region in which you want to reserve a private IP address
   • VPC: The VPC in which you want to reserve a private IP address
   • Private Network: The Private Network in which you want to reserve a private IP address. The reserved IP will be from this network’s CIDR block, and available to attach resources to this network.

4. Define whether you want to specify the IP address to reserve, or reserve any available IP on the Private Network (the IP selected will be displayed after reservation). If specifying the IP address yourself, do not include the network prefix (e.g. /22).

   Tip

   Four IP addresses from each CIDR block are unavailable for reservation: the first two and last two in the block. For example, for the subnet 172.16.12.0/22 the following addresses cannot be reserved or assigned to any resource: 172.16.12.0, 172.16.12.1, 172.16.15.254 and 172.16.15.256.

5. Define whether you want to attach a MAC address to the reserved IP. Only do this for custom resources e.g. virtual machines hosted on a Proxmox cluster on an Elastic Metal server.

   Important

   Do not attach a MAC address for reserved IPs you want to use with standard Scaleway resources such as Instances, Load Balancers or Elastic Metal servers themselves.

   For more help with attaching MAC addresses, see below.

6. Click Reserve to reserve the IP.

   The IP address is reserved, and you are returned to the list of your private IP addresses, where the reserved address now displays. You can use this address to attach a resource to the Private Network you reserved it from. If and when you no longer need the reserved IP, you can release it.

How to reserve a private IP address with an attached MAC address

When you reserve a private IP, you have the option to attach a MAC address to it. This allows you to use the IP with a custom resource e.g. virtual machines hosted on a Proxmox cluster on an Elastic Metal server. This functionality marks the final stage of replacing the now-deprecated static DHCP reservations via the Public Gateway.

It is only possible to attach a MAC address during the IP reservation. You cannot edit an existing reserved IP to attach a MAC address.

1. Follow the steps above to reserve a private IP, and at step 5, check the box to attach a MAC address.

2. Enter the MAC address of the custom resource you want to attach, e.g. 00:1B:44:11:3A:B7.

3. Enter the name of the resource. This will be used for DNS resolution on the Private Network.

4. Click Reserve.

   The IP address is reserved, and you are returned to the list of your private IP addresses, where the reserved address now displays.

   If you later attach this reserved IP address to a standard Scaleway resource e.g. an Instance, the attached MAC address and resource name will be erased.

How to attach a resource to a Private Network using a reserved IP address

You can currently attach Instances, Elastic Metal servers, Load Balancers, and Public Gateways to Private Networks using a reserved IP address. Support for Managed Databases will be coming soon.

The option to use a reserved IP displays when you attach the resource to a Private Network in the console. Follow the instructions below:

• Attach a resource to a Private Network from the Private Networks product dashboard
• Attach an Instance to a Private Network from the Instances product dashboard
• Attach an Elastic Metal server to a Private Network from the Elastic Metal product dashboard
• Attach a Load Balancer to a Private Network from the Load Balancer product dashboard
• Attach a Public Gateway to a Private Network from the Public Gateways product dashboard

How to release a reserved private IP address

You can release a reserved IP address, as long as it is not attached to a resource. Releasing the IP means it goes back into the general pool of available IP addresses for that Private Network, and could potentially be auto-allocated to a new resource joining the network.

1. Click IPAM in the Network section of the Scaleway console side menu.

2. Click the three dot menu «See more Icon» next to the IP you want to release, and then click Release IP.

   Note

   Only reserved IPs that are not attached to a resource can be released.

   A message displays asking you to confirm you want to release the IP address.

3. Click Confirm.

   The IP address is released.