How to purchase and manage Floating IPs

A floating IP is a publicly accessible IP address that can be easily transferred from one of your servers to another in a matter of seconds. They help minimize downtime while also creating a highly available infrastructure, extremely useful when you have to deal with scheduled or unpredictable downtime, which can be caused by routine maintenance or targeted network attacks.

How to order a Floating IP?Copy link

You can easily order a floating IP through the console. First, log into the VPSBG console and then click on the ‘New Service’ button:

Next, click on ‘Order Floating IPs’:

This will take you to the floating IP configurator, allowing you to select the amount of floating IPs and DDoS-protected floating IPs that you would like to order:

Once you have selected the number of IPs that you’d like, you have the option to immediately attach them to a given server by selecting from the dropdown:

If you do attach the floating IPs, their billing cycle will be automatically synced with the billing cycle of the designated server. If you decide to not attach your floating IPs during purchase, you will have the option to manually select a billing cycle for your IPs.

How to attach or detach a Floating IP to your serverCopy link

Navigate to the ‘Networking’ tab and then click on the ‘Floating IPs’ button.

You will then see a list of all of your IP addresses:

Each floating IP has its own actions menu, which can be accessed by clicking on the 3 dots as seen:

To attach an IP to a server, click on the ‘Attach’ button. A configuration window with a list of your servers will appear. After you have chosen a server, press the ‘Attach’ button. If you wish to detach a floating IP, you can do so by clicking on the detach button next to the IP or the detach button via the same menu.

How to manually manage additional IPv4 addresses on Ubuntu & DebianCopy link

You will need to identify your public network interface:

ip addr show scope global

The expected interface name is eth0. If your interface has a different name, substitute it for eth0 in the steps below.

You should also check if Netplan is present:

ls /etc/netplan

If files are listed, follow the steps below. If not, your server may use /etc/network/interfaces for the network configuration instead of Netplan, which we are going to cover after the netplan file setup.

Netplan configurationCopy link

Next, create a new netplan file:

install -m 600 /dev/stdin /etc/netplan/60-additional-ipv4.yaml <<'EOF'
network:
  version: 2
  ethernets:
    eth0:
      addresses:
        - 192.0.2.3/32
EOF

If you wish to assign multiple addresses, list each one on its own line under addresses:

addresses:
  - 192.0.2.3/32
  - 192.0.2.4/32

If you previously added an address using this method, edit the existing file rather than creating a new one.

To remove an address, simply delete its line from the YAML file. If there is only a single IP address there and you want it removed, you will need to delete the whole file.

Next, apply the configuration:

netplan apply

Finally, verify that the IP is present:

ip addr show eth0

You should see the additional IPv4 address(es) listed with /32. This configuration is persistent and will survive on reboot.

Network configuration uses /etc/network/interfacesCopy link

In cases where your network configuration uses /etc/network/interfaces, here's an example config with one main IPv4 address (192.0.2.3) and two additional IPv4 addresses (192.0.2.4, 192.0.2.5). Replace these example addresses with your own assigned IP addresses.

auto lo
iface lo inet loopback

auto eth0
iface eth0 inet static
    address 192.0.2.3
    netmask 255.255.255.255
    gateway 172.16.0.1
    pointopoint 172.16.0.1

auto eth0:0
iface eth0:0 inet static
    address 192.0.2.4
    netmask 255.255.255.255

auto eth0:1
iface eth0:1 inet static
    address 192.0.2.5
    netmask 255.255.255.255

After editing the file, restart networking or reboot the server for the changes to take effect.

How to manually manage additional IPv4 addresses on AlmaLinux, Rocky Linux, FedoraCopy link

First, find the active NetworkManager connection profile:

nmcli -f NAME,DEVICE,TYPE connection show --active

Then, identify the connection whose DEVICE is eth0. The connection name is usually "cloud-init eth0" or "System eth0". Use that name in the commands below.

Add an additional IPv4 address (replace 192.0.2.3 with your purchased address):

nmcli connection modify "cloud-init eth0" +ipv4.addresses 192.0.2.3/32

To assign multiple addresses, run the same command once for each address.

If you want to remove an address, use “-” instead of “+”:

nmcli connection modify "cloud-init eth0" -ipv4.addresses 192.0.2.3/32

Next, apply the changes by reactivating the connection:

nmcli connection up "cloud-init eth0"

Make sure to verify:

ip addr show eth0

You should see the additional IPv4 address(es) with /32. This configuration is persistent and will survive reboot.

How to manage IPv6 addresses on Ubuntu and DebianCopy link

Start by creating a new netplan file:

install -m 600 /dev/stdin /etc/netplan/60-additional-ipv6.yaml <<'EOF'
network:
  version: 2
  ethernets:
    eth0:
      addresses:
        - 2a00:1728:f:100::1/64
      routes:
        - to: default
          via: fe80::1
EOF

To use multiple addresses from your subnet, list each one under addresses:

addresses:
  - 2a00:1728:f:100::1/64
  - 2a00:1728:f:100::2/64
  - 2a00:1728:f:100::100/64

To remove an address, delete its line from the file.

Next, apply the configuration:

netplan apply

Make sure to verify that everything is set correctly:

ip -6 addr show eth0
ip -6 route

You should see your IPv6 address(es) with /64 on eth0 and a default route via fe80::1.

How to manage IPv6 addresses on AlmaLinux, Rocky Linux, FedoraCopy link

Firstly, find the active NetworkManager connection profile:

nmcli -f NAME,DEVICE,TYPE connection show --active

Then, identify the connection whose DEVICE is eth0. The connection name is usually "cloud-init eth0" or "System eth0". Use that name in the commands below.

Add an IPv6 address and set the gateway (replace 2a00:1728:f:100::1 with an address from your assigned /64 subnet):

nmcli connection modify "cloud-init eth0" +ipv6.addresses 2a00:1728:f:100::1/64
nmcli connection modify "cloud-init eth0" ipv6.gateway fe80::1

To assign additional addresses from your subnet, run the first command again with each new address. The gateway only needs to be set once but can safely be repeated.

If you wish to remove and address that you have already added, you can do so with:

nmcli connection modify "cloud-init eth0" -ipv6.addresses 2a00:1728:f:100::1/64

To remove all manually added IPv6 configuration:

nmcli connection modify "cloud-init eth0" ipv6.gateway ""
nmcli connection modify "cloud-init eth0" ipv6.addresses ""

Apply the changes by reactivating the connection:

nmcli connection up "cloud-init eth0"

Make sure to verify:

ip -6 addr show eth0
ip -6 route

You should see your IPv6 address(es) with /64 on eth0 and a default route via fe80::1.

How to manage floating IPs on a Windows ServerCopy link

Managing additional IPv4 or IPv6 addresses for a Windows Server happens by first connecting through RDP and then making the required network settings changes.

How to assign and remove an additional IPv4 IP on WindowsCopy link

Start by typing ‘control panel’ in Windows search. Then click on the control panel option and select ‘Network And Internet’:

Click on ‘Network And Sharing center’ and then on the ‘Change adapter settings’ option, which will be located in the menu on the left side. You should see one network adapter like so:

Right-click on this network adapter and select ‘Properties’. Then go to the ‘Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4)’ option and click on the ‘Properties’ button.

Following that, click on the Advanced button in the bottom right corner of the Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) Properties window.

Now you can click on the Add… button shown above and then you can type in your additional IP address. For example, if your IP is 87.121.52.91, you will need to enter this IP in the first field. In the second (Subnet mask) you will need to input: 255.255.255.255.

Click on the Add button and finally, click ‘OK’ several times to close everything once finished.

If you want to remove your additional IPv4 IP you should select it first and then click Remove as we show in the screenshot below. Bear in mind that when you click the Remove button you won’t be prompted to confirm your decision - it’ll directly remove it.

How to assign and remove a main IPv6 IP on WindowsCopy link

Go to the ‘Internet Protocol Version 6 (TCP/IPv6)’ option and click on the ‘Properties’ button. Once the Properties window opens up you need to select the Use the following IPv6 address line.

Make sure your ‘Subnet prefix length’ and your ‘Default gateway’ are the same as the once shown in the screenshot above. When you’re ready you can click OK and close all other windows.

Removing an IPv6 is just as easy. Simply click on Advanced in the bottom right corner and in the following windows select the IP address and click Remove.

How to set a PTR (reverse DNS) record for an IP addressCopy link

To set a PTR record, go to the Floating IPs page from the Networking menu. For each of your floating IPs, you will see a Set PTR button in the PTR column:

Enter the full domain name and after making sure that all of the information is correct, press ‘Set PTR’.

How to cancel a Floating IPCopy link

To cancel an IP, go to the Floating IPs page from the Networking tab and click on the 3 dots. From the available options, select Cancel IP and confirm.