Ubuntu Network Configuration

Ubuntu 20 uses netplan for network configuration. In order to change the IP settings through the shell/command line, you'll need to follow these steps.

First, get your network adapter name by running the following command and finding it in the list (the one labeled lo is the loopback and should not be changed):

ip addr

Next, edit the network configuration with the following command:

sudo nano /etc/netplan/00-installer-config.yaml

If setting the OS to use DHCP, modify the file to look like this (ens160 is the name of our network adapter and must be modified if your network adapter is different):

network:
  ethernets:
    ens160:
      dhcp4: true
  version: 2

IMPORTANT: Be sure to keep the indentation of 2 spaces inset from one level to the next as it is very critical for the configuration to work.

If setting up a static IP, modify the file to use the following format modifying the addresses, gateway, and nameserver addresses as needed (ens160 is the name of our network adapter and must be modified if your network adapter is different):

network:
  ethernets:
    ens160:
      dhcp4: false
      addresses: [192.168.1.110/24]
      nameservers:
        addresses: [1.0.0.1, 1.1.1.1]
      routes:
        - to: default
          via: 192.168.1.1
  version: 2

Finally, run the following command to make the new network settings take effect:

sudo netplan apply