How do I find out my IP address on a unix-like box?

Question

How do I find out my IP address on a unix box? I've tried

ifconfig

but it doesn't exist on the system.

Solution

ifconfig is usually in /sbin. Depending on what system you're running this mightn't be on your path (in particular, RedHat systems don't include this on the default path)

Try:

$ /sbin/ifconfig

If it works then that's the issue, and you should change your path via your .bashrc (or whatever shell you're using).

export PATH=$PATH:/sbin:/usr/sbin

Comments

[Adam]

Did you try as root? Also what OS?

[Ernie]

This makes the assumption that the computer is on the internet, not behind NAT, has a working DNS server configured, and a hostname. If you're on a TCP/IP network that isn't connected to the internet, then this won't work.