IP addresses and floating IPs

Your VM's own addresses

Every VM gets its own public IPv4 and IPv6 address from the provider when it is created. You'll find them:

• in the Public IP column of the Virtual Machines list,
• in the header and on the Overview tab of the VM's page,
• on the VM's Network tab.

These addresses stay the same for the whole life of the VM, including stops, reboots, resizes and reinstalls. They are released when the VM is deleted.

Floating IPs

A floating IP is an extra public IPv4 address. You can move it from one of your VMs to another in the same region, for example to swap in a replacement server without changing DNS. The provider assigns the address; you never type one in.

Floating IPs are a paid subscription

Like everything on the platform, a floating IP is prepaid. Before you confirm a reservation the dashboard shows the price in Rial for one billing period and your wallet balance. When you confirm, that period is taken from your wallet before the provider is asked for an address. If the provider cannot allocate the address, the amount is refunded automatically. If your balance is too low, nothing is reserved and you are asked to top up.

The Networking page and the VM's Network tab show each IP's price and its next renewal date. With auto-renew on, the wallet is charged again for the next period on that date. If it cannot be charged (or auto-renew is off), the IP is detached from its VM, kept for a short grace period, and then released; you are notified at each step. You can pay early with Renew now (offered when the date is near or the IP is overdue). Releasing an IP yourself does not refund the rest of the paid period. See Invoices and auto-renew.

Reserve an IP for a VM

1. Open the VM and choose the Network tab.
2. Optionally enter a Label, then choose Reserve IP.
3. The IP shows Allocating and then Attaching while the provider sets it up, then Attached. The first floating IP in a region can take about a minute.

Manage all floating IPs

The Network page lists every floating IP on your account and shows which VM each one is attached to (the name links to the VM) or "Not attached".

• Get IP: choose a provider and region to get an address that isn't attached to anything yet. A prompt then asks Connect it to a VM right now?
• Connect to a VM: pick one of your running or stopped VMs in the same region. The same can be done from a VM's Network tab with Attach an existing IP, which attaches one of your unattached IPs without any new charge.
• Move: attach the address to another VM in the same region in one step (it is detached from the first VM and then attached to the second).
• Detach: take the address off its VM. It stays yours.
• Release: give the address back to the provider. You are asked to confirm, it can't be undone, and the period you already paid for is not refunded.

Deleting a VM detaches its floating IPs. They stay on your account, ready to attach to another VM.

The floating IP reaches the VM through an extra network interface, which the VM sets up by itself within about half a minute. Connections to the VM's own public IP keep working meanwhile.

The provider limits how many floating IPs an account may have in each region. When the limit is reached the dashboard says so. Outbound traffic from the VM still leaves from its own public IPv4.

Reverse DNS (PTR)

Reverse DNS maps an IP back to a hostname. Mail servers and some tools check it. You can set it for your VM's own public IPv4 (on the Overview tab) and for each floating IP (on the Network tab).

1. At your DNS provider, create an A record for the hostname (for example mail.example.com) pointing to the IP.
2. Wait a few minutes for it to spread.
3. Enter the hostname in the Reverse DNS box and choose Save.

The provider only accepts a name whose own A record already points to the IP. If it doesn't yet, the dashboard tells you to create it first; nothing is changed. Remove record clears the PTR record.

Reverse DNS is available for providers that support it (currently OVH). It is free.

Usage graphs

The provider offers no per-server usage API, so CPU, memory and disk graphs are not available. The VM's Overview shows this month's outgoing traffic when the provider reports it.