IPConfig

A useful build in command line tool that can be used to get information about your current IP address is the ipconfig command, keep reading to master it.

There is a build-in command line tool in the Windows and also UNIX operation system that call ipconfig with this command you can get the current locals ip addresses do several tasks on the ip address.

What is IP address?

An IP address, Internet Protocol, is a numerical number assigned to each device (like computer, printer, your mobile phone, and so on). An IP address base function is for two things:

  • An identification of the device (Like your social number).
  • A unique location address (Like your P.O address).

When the IP protocol was invented, the creature of this protocol did not think that it will be so in use in the near future, so they use a 32bit number as the IP address, this is what we know as IPv4, but with the high use of the web all over the world, the number of free IP range was low, so they created a new IP address and we know it as IPv6

Keep in mind that IP addresses are binary numbers, in order that to use, the humans, it will be easy to use/remember them, we transfer them into notations:

  • IPv4: 192.168.10.8
  • IPv6: fe80::c0a8:a08

Domain Name Service (DNS)

There is another service that we use to make it even easier to us, as humans, to remember the address, it calls DNS (Domain Name Service) and that is the ‘magic’ that let you remember and use the domain name and not numbers to visit your favorite sites.

The ipconfig command:

The default information that this tool will show you will be the following:

  1. The IP address,
  2. The subnet mask
  3. The default gateway

 

The information will be shown for each adapter that is bound to TCP/IP.

 

This is an example of ipconfig default output:

 

ipconfig command line tool
ipconfig

 

With ipconfig command line tool you can do the following:

  • Display default or full information about ip configuration.
  • Release or Renew the ip address, this is used when you have a problem, also when a DHCP () is used you can use this command to change the current ip address (its also depend on the DHCP configuration, but it can be done).
  • Show DNS Resolver Cache.
  • Clear DNS Resolver Cache.
  • You can see also the name/device name that the configuration have if you run the command with the ‘/allcompartments’ parameter.
  • And some more options.

If you run the command line ipconfig with the ‘/?’ parameter you will be able to see all the options that this command has.

Please note, that this is the command line that uses under Microsoft Windows Operation system, in the UNIX/LINUX operation system there is a command line that calls ifconfig and it capable to do the same option that the windows ipconfig can do and much more.

You are recommended to download on of the Linux distribution like Kali Linux and here is a Kali Linux Tutorial for you to start with.

This is an easy way to check what is the current ip address or addresses that your computer is using. Keep in mind, that the IP address that you see on your local computer might not be the same that you will see if you use an online ‘what my ip service’ and that because most of the home users use a router/modem to connect the web, and the router/modem is acting as a DHCP and give the computer/devices that connection him an inner ip address, while it uses a real internet ip address or it can use a type of VPN (PPP/PPPoE/L2TP and so on) to connect to a destination device to get a real ip address.

Small Vocabulary:

VPN – Virtual Private Network.

PPP – Point to point protocol.

PPPoE –Point-to-Point Protocol over Ethernet

L2TP – Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol

 

Please also check our open port check tool.