Start off by editing the file /etc/network/interfaces with your favourite text editor.  You will need to have root access to modify this file, so for example use the following command:

sudo pico /etc/networking/interfaces

Now tweak the file to your needs, this example sets the IP address to 192.168.1.123 on eth0.  I suggest running the command ifconfig beforehand and reviewing its output to determine which ethernet or wifi adapter you’ll be using (ie: eth0) and your network (ie: 192.168.1.x).

# This file describes the network interfaces available on your system
# and how to activate them. For more information, see interfaces(5).
# The loopback network interfaceauto loiface lo inet loopback
# This is a list of hotpluggable network interfaces.
# They will be activated automatically by the hotplug subsystem.mapping hotplug
script grep
map eth0

# The primary network interfaceauto eth0

# Enable for DHCP
#iface eth0 inet dhcp

# Enable for Static IP
iface eth0 inet static
address 192.168.1.123
netmask 255.255.255.0
network 192.168.1.0
broadcast 192.168.1.255
gateway 192.168.1.1

Now restart your networking interfaces using the following command:

sudo /etc/init.d/networking restart

Brad Fettes

A seasoned Senior Solutions Architect with 18 years of experience in technology design and implementation. Renowned for innovative solutions and strategic insights, he excels in driving complex projects to success. Outside work, he is a passionate fisherman and fish keeper, specializing in planted tanks.