How to get Local IP Address in Golang with example

Typically, when you retrieve the IP address using Golang APIs, it provides a loopback address (127.0.0.1) configured in the /etc/hosts file, and it does not give the local public outbound IP address, such as 162.221.xxx.xxx.

This tutorial explains how to obtain a local IP address in Golang.

#How to get the Current Local outbound IP address in Golang

• Wrote a Golang function that returns a net.IP object.
• Created a connection by specifying a Google DNS server (8.8.8.8:80) using a UDP connection instead of TCP.
• The reason for using a UDP connection is that it doesn’t establish a connection to the target, and it avoids the need for a handshake or connection.
• The connect object’s getAddress method returns the IP address of the subnet.
• We can also obtain the IP address in CIDR notation.

Here is an example

package main

import (
 "fmt"
 "log"
 "net"
)
// Local address of the running system
func getLocalAddress() net.IP {
 con, error := net.Dial("udp", "8.8.8.8:80")
 if error != nil {
  log.Fatal(error )
 }
 defer con.Close()

 localAddress := con.LocalAddr().(*net.UDPAddr)

 return localAddress.IP
}
func main() {

 ipString := GetOutboundIP()
 fmt.Println(ipString)

}

#Conclusion

Obtaining a local IP address is straightforward with the net package. You can print the locally bound IP address easily using this package.