Allow for custom IP configuration

[JayDoubleu]

It would be very helpful to have the functionality of providing static IP address to primary using cloud-init.

• It seems that on every reboot the IP address range changes randomly with hyper-v so cannot even set it statically within the ubuntu itself.
• Alternatively, please update etc/hosts file as well as etc/hosts.ics on host machine so it could be used within WSL which can use windows hosts file if configured.

One of use cases of above would be hosting docker daemon within multipass and having WSL connect to it. For that we need either static IP address or dns resolution of primary.mshome.net which is only provided by etc/hosts.ics file. ( currently I am building up ubuntu's etc/hosts file in bashrc by copying etc/hosts.ics however it seems an ugly workaround.

[Saviq]

Under Hyper-V, we're using the "Default Switch" network, and we have no control over what it's doing, I'm afraid. It's surprising it would use a different DHCP range on every boot, we'll have to investigate there.

FWIW Get-HNSNetwork can give you details about the default network.

As for using static IPs, Multipass currently relies on IP connectivity between the host and the instance. And using something from a different subnet we'd need to set up routing and DNS for it.

We're planning to detach Multipass functions from networking (where possible) by communicating with the instance via a "virtual socket", at which point we'll be able to expose much more complex networking configurations.

[Saviq]

Related: bridged networking (#118) and custom cloud-init metadata (#557).

[JayDoubleu]

Looks like Get-HNSNetwork is quite painful to execute from WSL as it needs to run as admin, got myself a dirty script below into bashrc and seems to work fine for now.

#!/bin/bash
ics_gateway=$(powershell.exe -Command \
	"(Get-NetAdapter -Name 'vEthernet (Default Switch)'|Get-NetIPAddress -AddressFamily IPv4).IPAddress")
sudo tee /etc/resolv.conf > /dev/null <<EOF
nameserver $ics_gateway
EOF

[ticozz]

I assume that using static IP on multipass is still not available? or not possible? until now?

[Saviq]

Hi @ticozz we'll be working on allowing custom network configuration for additional interfaces real soon. You'll be able to ask for an interface to be bridged with an interface of your choice, and then in the instance itself set the static IP configuration.

[ticozz]

Thanks @Saviq for now I had to opt for an alternate solution to host the VM, as assigning a static IP with gateway and nameserver was a must. Thanks for replying and keep up the great work

[imbroisi]

Yes, be able set the IP of the instance is a must for us developers. Please give us this gift. :-)
I am a React developer (at Mac OS) and also developing a lot of Node, Rust an C backend stuff for Ubuntu. Multipass is an excellent choice to do my job.

[akunaatrium]

Every time the IP of the instance changes, I have to update it also in the MobaXTerm saved session to be able to log in. Quite annoying.

[Saviq]

Hi @akunaatrium you can use <instance_name>.mshome.net rather than the IP.

[akunaatrium]

@Saviq Nice, worked indeed, thanks! Do you know if it also documented somewhere?

[Saviq]

Do you know if it also documented somewhere?

Not yet - I've added it to the list of topics we should document on https://multipass.run/docs.

[devcircus]

On windows, you could add a virtual switch in hyper-v manager and then use your dhcp device to always assign the same ip for the instance. It's not ideal and I'm sure there are limitations, but it has worked for me so far.

[JayDoubleu]

any news on this ?

[Saviq]

We're working on bridging support (#118) right now, which will also allow adding an interface to a custom switch without configuration, so this will come real soon.

[okedialf]

Still waiting...

[Saviq]

Still waiting...

Hi @okedialf, we're actively working on it (#1663). It's a significant change, so please bear with us.

[yingshaoxo]

If you are using windows10, you should check a file which called hosts.ics under C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc

# Copyright (c) 1993-2001 Microsoft Corp.
#
# This file has been automatically generated for use by Microsoft Internet
# Connection Sharing. It contains the mappings of IP addresses to host names
# for the home network. Please do not make changes to the HOSTS.ICS file.
# Any changes may result in a loss of connectivity between machines on the
# local network.
#

192.168.234.66 primary.mshome.net # 2020 10 3 28 6 34 15 247
192.168.234.65 Thinkpad-yoga260.mshome.net # 2025 10 1 20 6 34 15 24

It says I could use http://primary.mshome.net/ to visit my ubuntu instance. Here, for example, I use it to visit the jupyter-notebook inside ubuntu: http://primary.mshome.net:8888/tree

[Hamberfim]

Hi @ticozz we'll be working on allowing custom network configuration for additional interfaces real soon. You'll be able to ask for an interface to be bridged with an interface of your choice, and then in the instance itself set the static IP configuration.

Has this been implemented yet?

[Saviq]

Hi @Hamberfim, there's a prerelease build available here:

#118 (comment)

[Hamberfim]

Hi @Hamberfim, there's a prerelease build available here:

#118 (comment)

Thanks. My desire is to be able to implement this on a headless Ubuntu server, but as I understand it this is Win/Mac OS specific.

[Saviq]

as I understand it this is Win/Mac OS specific.

We're working on Linux support via LXD now. Stay tuned.

[Hamberfim]

as I understand it this is Win/Mac OS specific.

We're working on Linux support via LXD now. Stay tuned.

Awesome...looking forward to it. :D

[JayDoubleu]

as I understand it this is Win/Mac OS specific.

We're working on Linux support via LXD now. Stay tuned.

So if the solution is locked to LXD it means it's for Ubuntu support rather than Linux.
Any plans for other solutions that would work on all distributions without the need to install LXD ?

[tuxerrante]

Hi @akunaatrium you can use <instance_name>.mshome.net rather than the IP.

How should we set it as static for using as a server (kubernetes node)?
Could it work setting up netplan from inside the machine? (https://linuxize.com/post/how-to-configure-static-ip-address-on-ubuntu-20-04/)
I've tried but then I've lost the connection to the VM

[Saviq]

@tuxerrante you can append static IPs, just add e.g. addresses: [10.3.0.1/24] to the entry in /etc/netplan/50-cloud-init.yaml. Don't disable DHCP as that indeed will break connection to the instance.

[townsend2010]

The --network option has been released some time ago. If this is not sufficient for the purposes described in this bug, please open a new bug so we can track easier. Thanks!