How do I get the external IP of my server using PHP?

Question

I often hear people say to use "$_SERVER['SERVER_ADDR']", but that returns the LAN IP of my server (e.g. 192.168.1.100). I want the external IP.

Answer 1

There is NO way to get your underlying IP Address that has been designated by your ISP via conventional PHP if you are using a router. A way to get the external IP is to find a service that will obtain it for you and echo the address back to you. I found a handy service which does just that. http://ipecho.net/

You can use:

$realIP = file_get_contents("http://ipecho.net/plain"); 

Answer 2

Just query a host that returns your IP address:

$externalContent = file_get_contents('http://checkip.dyndns.com/'); preg_match('/Current IP Address: \[?([:.0-9a-fA-F]+)\]?/', $externalContent, $m); $externalIp = $m[1]; 

or, set up a service that simply echoes just the IP, and use it like this:

$externalIp = file_get_contents('http://yourdomain.example/ip/'); 

Set up the service yourself by simply echoing the remote IP address, or pay someone to host it. Do not use somebody else's server without permission. Previously, this answer linked to a service of mine that's now being hit multiple times a second.

Note that in an IP network with one or more NATs, you may have multiple external IP addresses. This will give you just one of them.

Also, this solution of course depends on the remote host being available. However, since there is no widely implemented standard (no ISP and only some home routers implement UPnP), there is no other way to get your external IP address. Even if you could talk to your local NAT, you couldn't be sure that there isn't another NAT behind it.