Config Server Firewall

How to Find the Default Gateway IP Address in Linux (Step-by-Step Guide)

In this quick guide, I will show you how to find the default gateway IP address in Linux using the terminal. This is useful when you are troubleshooting network issues, checking your router’s IP, or learning basic Linux networking.

Check IP Configuration With ip add

Usually, when we want to see the IP configuration on a Linux system, the command we use is:

ip add

This command displays the IP configuration for all network interfaces.

But one important thing that the ip add command does not show is the default gateway. So even though it shows your network interfaces, it does not display the gateway information.

View the Default Gateway Using the Routing Table

To find the default gateway in Linux, you need to look at the routing table. The command for this is:

ip route show

You can also use shorter versions of the same command:

  • ip route
  • ip r

Any of these commands will display the routing table.

Identify the Default Route (Gateway)

In the routing table, the default route shows your default gateway IP address. For example, you might see:

default via 192.168.1.1 dev ens33 proto static

Here:

  • 192.168.1.1 is the IP address of your default gateway
  • The route is connected through the interface, for example ens33
  • If you don't see a default route, the default gateway has not been assigned to your computer.
Router's IP Address

This is the gateway your Linux system uses to reach external networks, including the internet.

Static vs. DHCP Default Gateway

You may also notice a label such as static or dhcp:

  • static means the default gateway was manually configured
  • dhcp means it was assigned automatically by your DHCP server (usually your router)

This helps you understand how your system received its network configuration.

Summary

To find the default gateway IP address in Linux:

  1. ip add → Shows interface IPs but not the default gateway
  2. ip route, ip route show, or ip r → Shows the routing table
  3. Look for the line starting with default → This is your gateway IP

This simple method works on all Linux distributions including Ubuntu, Debian, Linux Mint, CentOS, Fedora, Arch, and more.