Windows command that returns external IP

Question

Is there a command by which I can find my external IP of my router or my NAT\DSL Router, etc., eliminating the need to visit whatsmyip.net or similar.

Answer 1

There is no built-in command to do this. Part of the problem is that when you are connected to the internet through a router, your network hardware is not directly connected to the internet, so your system isn't specifically assigned an IP. It's possible you might even have multiple external IPs in some cases if you are behind a reverse proxy, as many corporate networks are set up. Your best bet might be to create a script which queries whatismyip.org, or trying to find if one already exists.

(As a tip, whatismyip.org is preferable to most other solutions, since it just returns your IP as plain text - no superfluous text, links, images or other garbage. It would be much easier to use in a custom script than most of the other IP-detection sites.)

Answer 2

You could use a DNS request instead of HTTP request to find out your public IP:

C:\> nslookup myip.opendns.com. resolver1.opendns.com

It uses resolver1.opendns.com dns server to resolve the magical myip.opendns.com. hostname to your ip address. (Note: the trailing . on the lookup prevents search domains from being appended, which can yield incorrect results.)

Unix version:

$ dig +short myip.opendns.com @resolver1.opendns.com

Answer 3

grab your own copy of curlfrom http://curl.haxx.se/download.html and then just

curl "http://myexternalip.com/raw"

or use powershell:

$wc = new-object System.Net.WebClient
$wc.DownloadString("http://myexternalip.com/raw")

(disclaimer: http://myexternalip.com was created by me)

Answer 4

This works nicely, I use it mostly with psexec when inspecting client computer connections.

nslookup myip.opendns.com resolver1.opendns.com

Answer 5

Create a file named ip.vbs and copy the following into it:

Option Explicit
Dim http : Set http = CreateObject( "MSXML2.ServerXmlHttp" )
http.Open "GET", "http://icanhazip.com", False
http.Send
Wscript.Echo http.responseText   'or do whatever you want with it
Set http = Nothing

Execute using

C:\>cscript ip.vbs

As nhinkle noted, it's best to choose a site that only returns the IP and not HTML + ads, etc. like:

• http://myip.dnsomatic.com
• http://whatismyip.org
• http://icanhazip.com
• http://www.whatismyip.com/automation/n09230945.asp

(source: formerly http://externip.com/about)

Answer 6

I made this batch script to do that a few months ago:

@echo off

:: WhatIsMyIP.cmd - returns public IP address
:: requires: wget.exe

if [%1]==[-h] goto :HELP
if [%1]==[--help] goto :HELP
if [%1]==[/?] goto :HELP

wget -q -O %temp%\MyIP http://www.whatismyip.com/automation/n09230945.asp
for /f "delims= " %%G in (%temp%\myip) do set PublicIP=%%G & del %temp%\MyIP
echo. & echo Your public IP address is %PublicIP% & echo.
if [%1]==[--clip] echo %PublicIP% | clip
goto :EOF

:HELP
echo. & echo Usage: whatismyip [--clip] & echo.
goto :EOF

:EOF

It gives you the option to put the IP address in the clipboard and it sets an environmental variable - %PublicIP%.

---

SIMPLER METHOD:

Now, I just do this instead:

curl icanhazip.com

or...

curl icanhazip.com | clip

...to get the current public IP address into the clipboard.

You need cURL.

Answer 7

With Powershell 3.0 (Windows 7 default is 2.0) you can use Invoke-WebRequest

For IPv4:

$tmp =Invoke-WebRequest -URI http://myip.dnsomatic.com/
$tmp.Content

For IPv6:

$tmp =Invoke-WebRequest -URI http://myexternalip.com/raw
$tmp.Content

This will give you a variable to work with if you have something specific you want to do with it. I'm actually using this to build a script to upload my router's dynamic IP periodically, have another machine test communication to it at regular intervals, and then update DNS with the latest IP if it has changed so I can access my gear from anywhere by using a name instead of having to constantly chase down the IP.

And of course - as the sites change or their outputs change you'll want to update this accordingly. :)

Answer 8

Try this:
Doesn't need any kind of external software installed.

@set @script=0 /*
  @echo off
    set @script=
    cscript //nologo //e:jscript "%~dpnx0"
  exit /b
*/

with (new ActiveXObject('Microsoft.XMLHTTP')) {
   open('GET', 'http://internet.yandex.ru/', false);
   send();

   WScript.echo(responseText.match(/IPv4:\s(\d+\.){3}\d+/g));
}

Answer 9

Without third party programs is hard on Windows as Telnet isn't supplied by default, but, if it is there (XP) or turned on (Windows Vista and above), simply type:

telnet curlmyip.com 80

the screen will flash, and you will just get a cursor... Next type:

GET

In capital letters... you will then see the headers, followed by your ip (and sorry I blurred it, just showing where it would be!):

Other answers here obviously work, but, I'm trying to keep to the question on something that can be used on any windows, without third party programs!

For Windows Vista and above, you can install telnet easily (and safely) through Programs and features, or use the following command:

pkgmgr /iu:”TelnetClient”

Answer 10

You can use ifcfg.me. it supports some internal commands that come with windows by default.

curl ifcfg.me
nslookup . ifcfg.me
telnet ifcfg.me
ftp ifcfg.me
finger @ifcfg.me

Answer 11

Here is what I figured out, it's possible to use in-built command to get public IP address but you do have access to internet

telnet icanhazip.com

or

telnet myip.gelma.net

Answer 12

I wanted to have a solution which works for Windows without installing third party tools. So I took the powershell option, which should run a script every hour.

You create this script with Notepad

$wc = new-object System.Net.WebClient
$ip = $wc.DownloadString("http://myexternalip.com/raw")
$LogTime = Get-Date -Format "MM-dd-yyyy_hh-mm-ss"
Add-Content C:\Users\Administrator\Desktop\logs\IPLog.txt $LogTime
Add-Content C:\Users\Administrator\Desktop\logs\IPLog.txt "`n"
Add-Content C:\Users\Administrator\Desktop\logs\IPLog.txt $ip
Add-Content C:\Users\Administrator\Desktop\logs\IPLog.txt "`n"

and save it as getIP.ps1 somewhere. You can call this script either directly in powershell or use the task planer as I did. This is the command for executing:

powershell -executionpolicy bypass -File C:\Users\Administrator\Desktop\getIP.ps1

In the task scheduler you create a new task. At Trigger you use the setting daily for every 1 day and under advanced option you choose every hour for the duration of immediately. Also check Run task as soon as possible after a scheduled start is missed in the Settings. Under Action you paste the above execution code.

The powershell code can be optimized, because I'm no powershell guru (my first time with it). Now I'm testing if the script is called every hour.

Answer 13

ipchicken.com will return your apparent IP address in text format if you can parse the returning HTML you extract your router's external IP. Alternately you can install one of those dynamic DNS agents that updates your apparent external IP to an FQDN and then just do nslookup on your FQDN to see your current IP number. There used to be free ones like DynDNS but most of them now require a paid subscription account.