How can i get ip address in php?

Many times we need to get the IP address of the visitor for different purposes. It is very easy to collect the IP address in PHP. PHP provides PHP $_SERVER variable to get the user IP address easily. We can track the activities of the visitor on the website for the security purpose, or we can know that who uses my website and many more.

The simplest way to collect the visitor IP address in PHP is the REMOTE_ADDR. Pass the 'REMOTE_ADDR' in PHP $_SERVER variable. It will return the IP address of the visitor who is currently viewing the webpage.

Note: We can display this IP address on the webpage and also even can store in database for many other purposes such as - for security, redirecting a visitor to another site, blocking/banning the visitor.

Get the IP address of the website

$_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'] - It returns the IP address of the user currently visiting the webpage.

For example

Output

But sometimes the REMOTE_ADDR does not return the IP address of the client, and the main reason behind is to use the proxy. In such type of situation, we will try another way to get the real IP address of the user in PHP.

Output

Flowchart:

The flowchart for the above program will be like given below.

Get the IP address of the website

We can also get the IP address of any website by its URL. Pass the URL of the website inside gethostbyname() function.

For example

Output

IP Address of Google is - 172.217.166.4
IP Address of javaTpoint is - 95.216.57.234

The simplest way to get the visitor’s/client’s IP address is using the $_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'] or $_SERVER['REMOTE_HOST'] variables.

However, sometimes this does not return the correct IP address of the visitor, so we can use some other server variables to get the IP address.

The below both functions are equivalent with the difference only in how and from where the values are retrieved.

getenv() is used to get the value of an environment variable in PHP.

// Function to get the client IP address
function get_client_ip() {
    $ipaddress = '';
    if (getenv('HTTP_CLIENT_IP'))
        $ipaddress = getenv('HTTP_CLIENT_IP');
    else if(getenv('HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR'))
        $ipaddress = getenv('HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR');
    else if(getenv('HTTP_X_FORWARDED'))
        $ipaddress = getenv('HTTP_X_FORWARDED');
    else if(getenv('HTTP_FORWARDED_FOR'))
        $ipaddress = getenv('HTTP_FORWARDED_FOR');
    else if(getenv('HTTP_FORWARDED'))
       $ipaddress = getenv('HTTP_FORWARDED');
    else if(getenv('REMOTE_ADDR'))
        $ipaddress = getenv('REMOTE_ADDR');
    else
        $ipaddress = 'UNKNOWN';
    return $ipaddress;
}

$_SERVER is an array that contains server variables created by the web server.

// Function to get the client IP address
function get_client_ip() {
    $ipaddress = '';
    if (isset($_SERVER['HTTP_CLIENT_IP']))
        $ipaddress = $_SERVER['HTTP_CLIENT_IP'];
    else if(isset($_SERVER['HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR']))
        $ipaddress = $_SERVER['HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR'];
    else if(isset($_SERVER['HTTP_X_FORWARDED']))
        $ipaddress = $_SERVER['HTTP_X_FORWARDED'];
    else if(isset($_SERVER['HTTP_FORWARDED_FOR']))
        $ipaddress = $_SERVER['HTTP_FORWARDED_FOR'];
    else if(isset($_SERVER['HTTP_FORWARDED']))
        $ipaddress = $_SERVER['HTTP_FORWARDED'];
    else if(isset($_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR']))
        $ipaddress = $_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'];
    else
        $ipaddress = 'UNKNOWN';
    return $ipaddress;
}

by Vincy. Last modified on July 2nd, 2022.

A single line of PHP script is sufficient to get IP address using PHP, ‘most of the times’.

First I will present that one line PHP code, then show a tiny function which almost covers the rest of the cases. Followed by a discussion on privacy issues to get the IP address.

This article has the following,

1. One line script to get IP address using PHP.
2. A simple function to get IP address in all the cases.
3. Discussion on privacy issues in getting IP address.

Get IP address using PHP in One Line

<?php
    $ipAddress = $_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'];
?>

$_SERVER is a PHP array which is set by the server. There is a possibility that this value may not have been set. Also be aware that, these headers can be easily spoofed by the users by setting an IP address themselves.

Get IP address using PHP

Following PHP script covers majority of the scenario and returns the user’s IP address.

<?php

/**
 * Gets IP address.
 */
function getIpAddress()
{
    $ipAddress = '';
    if (! empty($_SERVER['HTTP_CLIENT_IP'])) {
        // to get shared ISP IP address
        $ipAddress = $_SERVER['HTTP_CLIENT_IP'];
    } else if (! empty($_SERVER['HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR'])) {
        // check for IPs passing through proxy servers
        // check if multiple IP addresses are set and take the first one
        $ipAddressList = explode(',', $_SERVER['HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR']);
        foreach ($ipAddressList as $ip) {
            if (! empty($ip)) {
                // if you prefer, you can check for valid IP address here
                $ipAddress = $ip;
                break;
            }
        }
    } else if (! empty($_SERVER['HTTP_X_FORWARDED'])) {
        $ipAddress = $_SERVER['HTTP_X_FORWARDED'];
    } else if (! empty($_SERVER['HTTP_X_CLUSTER_CLIENT_IP'])) {
        $ipAddress = $_SERVER['HTTP_X_CLUSTER_CLIENT_IP'];
    } else if (! empty($_SERVER['HTTP_FORWARDED_FOR'])) {
        $ipAddress = $_SERVER['HTTP_FORWARDED_FOR'];
    } else if (! empty($_SERVER['HTTP_FORWARDED'])) {
        $ipAddress = $_SERVER['HTTP_FORWARDED'];
    } else if (! empty($_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'])) {
        $ipAddress = $_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'];
    }
    return $ipAddress;
}

echo "IP Address: " . getIpAddress();

Rest of the article is for comprehensiveness. If you just want to get IP address using PHP, you can stop at this point. Copy the above script and carry on with your IP address journey.

How to validate user’s IP address

IP address can be easily spoofed. It can come from behind a proxy server. CloudFlare like proxies can be involved. Localhost can return invalid IP address. So, if you want to validate an IP address, use the below script.

<?php

/**
 * To validate if an IP address is both a valid and does not fall within
 * a private network range.
 *
 * @param string $ip
 */
function isValidIpAddress($ip)
{
    if (filter_var($ip, FILTER_VALIDATE_IP,
        FILTER_FLAG_IPV4 |
        FILTER_FLAG_IPV6 |
        FILTER_FLAG_NO_PRIV_RANGE |
        FILTER_FLAG_NO_RES_RANGE) === false) {
        return false;
    }
    return true;
}

Flowchart to get IP address

Following flowchart explains the flow of control to get IP address using PHP.

Get user’s IP address for CloudFlare hosted websites

When the website is hosted using CloudFlare service, $_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'] will return the CloudFlare server’s IP address and not the user’s original IP address. So in such a situation, you can use the variable set by the CloudFlare server to get the IP address.

I have taken CloudFlare as example. There are many similar services. You need to talk to that service provider to know which request header they are setting and get the IP address accordingly.

if (isset($_SERVER["HTTP_CF_CONNECTING_IP"])) {
        $_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'] = $_SERVER["HTTP_CF_CONNECTING_IP"];
        $ipAddress = $_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'];
}

IP address reliability

$_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'] is the most reliable variable from the above list of variables. REMOTE_ADDR may not contain the real IP address of the TCP connection as well. It depends on the SAPI configuration.

If the user is behind a proxy server, HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR will be set. But this can be easily spoofed by the user by setting an IP address he wishes to expose.

Even the variable X-Forwarded-For or the Client-IP can be set by the user to any value he wishes.

Take an example of a shopping cart. You may display the product price according to the user’s country. In such a scenario, you may use the user’s IP address to determine the user’s country. In such a scenario, the code to get user’s IP address should be fool-proof.

IP address field length

When you are storing the IP address in the database, remember to have the field size as 45 for single IP. Because there is a possibility for IPv6 IP addresses. In its full form the IPv6 IP address can be 45 characters in length.

How to get the IP address of a host

Using a hostname, we can get the server’s IP address using the PHP’s built-in function gethostbyname. This returns the IPv4 address.

<?php
// to get IP address of a host
$ipAddress = gethostbyname('www.google.com');

echo "Google's IP Address is: " . $ipAddress;

?>

Output to get IP address for Google:

Google’s IP Address is: 142.250.67.36

Get hostname using the IP address

The reverse is also possible by using gethostbyaddr().

Privacy issues in getting users’ IP address

Client’s IP address can be considered as private information in certain legislation. It depends on the land of law. You never know from which geographic region you will get users.

As per GDPR (Article 4, Point 1; and Recital 49), IP address is a personal data. I would suggest to inform the user and get consent to log the IP address. Also, call it out explicitly in your “Privacy Policy” document.

Explicitly state that you are collecting and logging the client user’s IP address and the reason for doing so.

Conclusion

A good understanding of the scenario in which you are going to get IP address of the user is important. Then understand that the end user can easily spoof his IP address. Third understand each server variables, from where the IP address is fetched. Last but not the least, explicitly call out in your privacy policy that you are getting the client user’s IP address.

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