[c] Get IP address of an interface on Linux

How can I get the IPv4 address of an interface on Linux from C code?

For example, I'd like to get the IP address (if any) assigned to eth0.

My 2 cents: the same code works even if iOS:

#include <arpa/inet.h>
#include <sys/socket.h>
#include <netdb.h>
#include <ifaddrs.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <unistd.h>
#include <string.h>



#import "ViewController.h"

@interface ViewController ()

@end

@implementation ViewController

- (void)viewDidLoad {
    [super viewDidLoad];
    // Do any additional setup after loading the view, typically from a nib.
    showIP();
}



void showIP()
{
    struct ifaddrs *ifaddr, *ifa;
    int family, s;
    char host[NI_MAXHOST];

    if (getifaddrs(&ifaddr) == -1)
    {
        perror("getifaddrs");
        exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
    }


    for (ifa = ifaddr; ifa != NULL; ifa = ifa->ifa_next)
    {
        if (ifa->ifa_addr == NULL)
            continue;

        s=getnameinfo(ifa->ifa_addr,sizeof(struct sockaddr_in),host, NI_MAXHOST, NULL, 0, NI_NUMERICHOST);

        if( /*(strcmp(ifa->ifa_name,"wlan0")==0)&&( */ ifa->ifa_addr->sa_family==AF_INET) // )
        {
            if (s != 0)
            {
                printf("getnameinfo() failed: %s\n", gai_strerror(s));
                exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
            }
            printf("\tInterface : <%s>\n",ifa->ifa_name );
            printf("\t  Address : <%s>\n", host);
        }
    }

    freeifaddrs(ifaddr);
}


@end

I simply removed the test against wlan0 to see data. ps You can remove "family"

If you don't mind the binary size, you can use iproute2 as library.

iproute2-as-lib

Pros:

• No need to write the socket layer code.
• More or even more information about network interfaces can be got. Same functionality with the iproute2 tools.
• Simple API interface.

Cons:

• iproute2-as-lib library size is big. ~500kb.

In addition to the ioctl() method Filip demonstrated you can use getifaddrs(). There is an example program at the bottom of the man page.

If you're looking for an address (IPv4) of the specific interface say wlan0 then try this code which uses getifaddrs():

#include <arpa/inet.h>
#include <sys/socket.h>
#include <netdb.h>
#include <ifaddrs.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <unistd.h>
#include <string.h>
int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
    struct ifaddrs *ifaddr, *ifa;
    int family, s;
    char host[NI_MAXHOST];

    if (getifaddrs(&ifaddr) == -1) 
    {
        perror("getifaddrs");
        exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
    }


    for (ifa = ifaddr; ifa != NULL; ifa = ifa->ifa_next) 
    {
        if (ifa->ifa_addr == NULL)
            continue;  

        s=getnameinfo(ifa->ifa_addr,sizeof(struct sockaddr_in),host, NI_MAXHOST, NULL, 0, NI_NUMERICHOST);

        if((strcmp(ifa->ifa_name,"wlan0")==0)&&(ifa->ifa_addr->sa_family==AF_INET))
        {
            if (s != 0)
            {
                printf("getnameinfo() failed: %s\n", gai_strerror(s));
                exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
            }
            printf("\tInterface : <%s>\n",ifa->ifa_name );
            printf("\t  Address : <%s>\n", host); 
        }
    }

    freeifaddrs(ifaddr);
    exit(EXIT_SUCCESS);
}

You can replace wlan0 with eth0 for ethernet and lo for local loopback.

The structure and detailed explanations of the data structures used could be found here.

To know more about linked list in C this page will be a good starting point.