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Title basically reveals what I want to learn. Theoretically, I can assign an IPv4 address via ifconfig <interfaceName> <IP address>, for example ifconfig myInterface 172.16.25.125. However, I could not make sure whether this causes any problem. Here's why I am asking this question so that it can be answered better. I have two high-gain antennas connected to different computers, which run Ubuntu as OS. I would like to use iperf to make some measurements between those antennas. Each antenna creates a different interface, but when I connect the antennas into the computer they do not have any IP addresses (neither IPv4 nor IPv6). For iperf I need IP addresses so that I can conduct my measurements. I can assign an IPv4 address to each of the antennas without connecting those computers. My initial question arises here: Can I assign any IPv4 address I want to a network interface in Ubuntu? Of course, I do not try assigning the same IPv4 addresses as Local Host(eth0 or wlan0 interface name) or Loop Back(lo interface name). I appreciate your help.

Eric
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2 Answers2

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If you're referring to an internal network, you can assign any IP address you like. If any other devices are already programmed to a specific IP however, you may have conflicts.

If you're referring to an external IP address, the one assigned by your ISP, you get whatever they assign.

WesleyK
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From Internet RFC 1918:

1918 Address Allocation for Private Internets. Y. Rekhter, B. Moskowitz,
     D. Karrenberg, G. J. de Groot, E. Lear. February 1996. (Format:
     TXT=22270 bytes) (Obsoletes RFC1627, RFC1597) (Updated by RFC6761)
     (Also BCP0005) (Status: BEST CURRENT PRACTICE) (DOI:

3. Private Address Space

   The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) has reserved the
   following three blocks of the IP address space for private internets:

     10.0.0.0        -   10.255.255.255  (10/8 prefix)
     172.16.0.0      -   172.31.255.255  (172.16/12 prefix)
     192.168.0.0     -   192.168.255.255 (192.168/16 prefix)
waltinator
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