In Ubuntu, a gateway is the device that manages network traffic between your computer and the rest of the world.In this blog post, we will discuss three different ways to check your gateway in Ubuntu. We will also provide instructions on how to perform each method. Let’s get started!
Understanding gateway in Ubuntu
A network gateway is a device that connects two networks together. In Ubuntu, a gateway is usually a router. A gateway allows you to connect to different networks and access the resources on those networks. For example, you can use a gateway to connect to the Internet or to another network in your office.
Find gateway with ip route command in Ubuntu
To get the network gateway, simply type “ip route” into the terminal. This will display the gateway info about your network interface. The gateway is typically listed under the “default” section.
ip route
default via 10.0.0.1 dev eth0 proto dhcp src 10.0.0.76 metric 100
10.0.0.0/24 dev eth0 proto kernel scope link src 10.0.0.76
10.0.0.1 dev eth0 proto dhcp scope link src 10.0.0.76 metric 100
Let’s break down the output.
“default via 10.0.0.1 dev eth0 proto dhcp src 10.0.0.76 metric 100”, tells the system that the default gateway is 10.0.0.1 which should be used for all external traffic.
The second line, “10.0.0.0/24 dev eth0 proto kernel scope link src 10.0.0.76”, indicates that the network 10.0.0.0 is connected to the local interface (ethO) with an IP address of 10.0.0.76 and the third line, “10.0.0.1 dev eth0 proto dhcp scope link src 10.0.0.76 metric 100”, tells the system that the DHCP server is located at 10.0.0.1 and should be used for local traffic with a metric of 100 (lower metrics are preferred).
Ultimately, this command tells the system to use 10.0.0.1 as its default gateway for external traffic and 10.0.0.76 as its source IP when sending packets out of the local network.
IP command is a great way to view all of the information about your network interfaces. If you want to view more information about your network interfaces, you can use the “ip addr” command. This command displays the IP address and netmask of your network interfaces.
Find gateway with route command in Ubuntu
The route command is another way to view the gateway in Ubuntu. Open the terminal and simply type “route -n” . This will display all of the routes that are currently configured on your system. U means the route is ‘up’ and the G indicates that it is the gateway.
$ route -n
Kernel IP routing table
Destination Gateway Genmask Flags Metric Ref Use Iface
0.0.0.0 172.31.32.1 0.0.0.0 UG 100 0 0 eth0
172.31.32.0 0.0.0.0 255.255.240.0 U 100 0 0 eth0
Check network gateway with netstat command in Ubuntu
We can also use netstat command to get the network gateway. simply type “netstat -rn” into the terminal. It will list the default gateway you are currently using.
$ netstat -rn
Kernel IP routing table
Destination Gateway Genmask Flags MSS Window irtt Iface
0.0.0.0 172.31.32.1 0.0.0.0 UG 0 0 0 eth0
172.31.32.0 0.0.0.0 255.255.240.0 U 0 0 0 eth0
By default, netstat will display all of the active network connections and their status. If you want to see more information about a specific connection, you can use the “-a” option.
For example, if you wanted to see more information about the connection to 192.168.0.0/24, you would type “netstat -a | grep 192.168.0.0/24” into the terminal.
Hopefully, this blog post has helped you learn a few different ways to check your gateway in Ubuntu. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them below! Thanks for reading!