Floating IPs

A floating IP is an additional public IPv4 address you reserve on the account and assign to a server. Manage them under Network (/client/network/floating-ips/).

Price

$3.00 per month, metered hourly like everything else, from the moment you reserve it until you release it.

Using one

1. Order it. The address is allocated to your account.
2. Assign it to a server.
3. Configure it inside the guest, because it is an additional address on the existing NIC and the guest does not learn about it on its own.

Configuring it in the guest

Find the public interface and add the floating address as a /32 without changing the server's primary address, gateway, or nameservers:

ip route show default
sudo ip address add 203.0.113.50/32 dev eth0
ip -br addr show

Then test it from outside, not from the server itself:

curl --interface 203.0.113.50 https://api.ipify.org

The ip address add command is temporary and disappears on reboot. Make it persistent with the network manager your image uses.

Ubuntu with Netplan

Open the existing file under /etc/netplan/ and append the floating /32 to the addresses list for the existing public interface. Keep the primary address and all existing routes in place:

network:
  version: 2
  ethernets:
    eth0:
      addresses:
        - PRIMARY.ADDRESS/PREFIX
        - 203.0.113.50/32

Validate before committing it:

sudo netplan try
sudo netplan apply

netplan try automatically rolls back if you lose connectivity and do not confirm. Use the interface name and primary prefix already present in your file; do not copy eth0 or the placeholder literally.

NetworkManager

Find the active connection name, add the /32, and reactivate it:

nmcli connection show --active
sudo nmcli connection modify "System eth0" +ipv4.addresses 203.0.113.50/32
sudo nmcli connection up "System eth0"

Replace System eth0 with the connection name from the first command.

Reassigning

Unassign it from one server and assign it to another. That is the "floating" part, and it is how you move an address during a migration without waiting for DNS. Assignment updates LayerOne's network authorization; it does not edit either guest.

Use this cutover order:

1. Prepare the application and persistent network configuration on the new server, but do not serve production traffic from the floating address yet.
2. Stop the application on the old server and remove the floating address from its interface.
3. Assign the address to the new server in the portal.
4. Wait until Filter sync shows Succeeded.
5. Apply the address on the new server and start the application.
6. Test from an external network and check the new server's logs.

If the move fails, stop the new application, remove the address there, assign it back in the portal, wait for sync, and restore it on the old guest. Do not leave the same floating address active in both guests.

Floating addresses can move only to compatible LayerOne servers in the address pool's location. They cannot float to another provider.

Releasing

Release returns the address to the pool and stops the charge. You are unlikely to get the same address back, so update anything that points at it first.

Reverse DNS

Floating IPs get PTR records the same way primary addresses do. See Reverse DNS.