A Floating IP is a public, static IP address that can be assigned to Virtual Machines (VMs), Bare Metal servers, and Load Balancers, allowing them to receive external connections without having a public network interface. These products do not have a public network interface, but they can still receive incoming connections from the Internet.
## Use casesA Floating IP provides quick access from an external network to a Virtual Machine that does not have a public network interface. Assigning the address to the VM enables external connectivity.
Another method for providing access is by creating a public interface for the device. However, this can cause conflicts with the private routed interface as both are used for accessing the internet. Manual routing configuration is required in that case. A Floating IP is a convenient solution when only temporary access to an external network is needed or routing configuration is not desired.
## Floating IP routingWhen a floating IP is reserved and assigned to a Virtual Machine, the router directs incoming traffic to the device by forwarding packets intended for that IP. The VM is not aware of the floating IP — its network stack uses the private IP. Incoming connections addressed to the floating IP are forwarded to the VM's private interface by the router.
If the instance has multiple private IPv4 addresses within a routable private subnet, a unique floating IP can be assigned to each of these private addresses. Multiple private subnets from one network can be grouped to a single port, allowing the client to attach a Floating IP to any of the routable addresses.
## Verify subnet routabilityBefore assigning a floating IP, confirm that the target subnet has a gateway configured. The steps below show how to check and update this setting.
2. Click ... next to the subnet, then select **Edit**.
3. Under **Gateway IP**, confirm that **Specific** is selected. If **No gateway** is selected, switch to **Specific**, enter a gateway IP address, and click **Save**.
## Reserve a floating IP from the menu
A floating IP is assigned by a specific data center, and its address is linked to that location. It can only be transferred to a Virtual Machine within the exact location.
1. Select the region where the VM is located and navigate to **Networking** > **Floating IPs**.
2. A floating IP can be reserved without assigning it to a VM by clicking **Create a new floating IP**.
3. To reserve a floating IP and immediately assign it to a VM, enable the **Attach to existing instance** toggle, select the instance and interface, and click **Create a new floating IP**.
## Reserve a floating IP when creating a Virtual Machine
In the **Network settings** section, select **Private** as the network type. Select the network and subnet for the interface. Enable the **Use floating IP** toggle, click **Create a new floating IP**, and click **Add Interface** to save.
The Virtual Machine will be created with a private interface and a new floating IP assigned to it.
In the **Floating IPs** list, click **Attach to Instance** in the **Attached to** column, or click ... and select **Attach to Instance**.
Select the Virtual Machine in the **Attach floating IP** modal and click **Attach floating IP**.
## Detach a floating IP from a Virtual Machine
A floating IP can be detached from the **Floating IPs** section or from the Virtual Machine's interface. In the **Floating IPs** section, click ... next to the address and select **Detach from source** — the IP is released from the VM.
In the Virtual Machine menu, open the **Networking** tab and select the private interface. Click ... and select **Detach floating IP**. The IP will no longer be assigned to this machine.
Floating IPs are not tied to a single resource. Once detached, they remain reserved and available for reassignment to any VM, Bare Metal server, or Load Balancer within the same data center. This makes it straightforward to maintain a stable external address across infrastructure changes.
## Delete a floating IP
In the **Floating IPs** section, click ... next to the address and select **Delete**. The address is removed and billing stops.
Keep services reachable even when infrastructure changes by assigning and reassigning a floating IP address to a Virtual Machine. A floating IP is a static public address — it stays the same when moved between instances, so DNS records and client configurations remain valid.
Open a terminal and set these variables before running the examples:
```bash theme={null} export GCORE_API_KEY="{YOUR_API_KEY}" export GCORE_CLOUD_PROJECT_ID="{YOUR_PROJECT_ID}" export GCORE_CLOUD_REGION_ID="{YOUR_REGION_ID}" export INSTANCE_ID="{YOUR_INSTANCE_ID}" # UUID of the target VM export PORT_ID="{YOUR_PORT_ID}" # UUID of the VM's private interface; see Step 2 below ``` ## QuickstartThe scripts below reserve a floating IP and assign it to an existing Virtual Machine's private interface, then unassign and delete it. The VM's subnet must be [routable](/cloud/networking/create-and-manage-a-subnetwork#network-routing) for assignment to work.
Each step below explains what the call does, which parameters matter, and what the response looks like.
Deleting a floating IP releases the address and stops billing for it.
Reserve a public IP from the region pool and bind it to a VM's private interface. The [`gcore_cloud_floating_ip`](https://registry.terraform.io/providers/G-Core/gcore/latest/docs/resources/cloud_floating_ip) resource manages both reservation and assignment in a single configuration.
Creating the resource reserves a public IP from the region pool. Without `port_id`, the address is held unassigned with `status: DOWN`.
```hcl theme={null} resource "gcore_cloud_floating_ip" "example" { project_id = var.project_id region_id = var.region_id } output "floating_ip_address" { value = gcore_cloud_floating_ip.example.floating_ip_address } ```After `terraform apply`:
```bash theme={null} floating_ip_address = "109.61.46.198" ``` ## Assign to a Virtual MachineSetting `port_id` to a VM's private interface UUID binds the floating IP to that instance. Incoming packets are forwarded to the VM; outbound traffic continues to use the private IP.
```hcl theme={null} resource "gcore_cloud_floating_ip" "example" { project_id = var.project_id region_id = var.region_id port_id = "{PORT_ID}" } ```To find the `port_id`, retrieve the instance details and extract the port ID from each interface entry under `addresses`:
```bash theme={null} curl "https://api.gcore.com/cloud/v1/instances/{PROJECT_ID}/{REGION_ID}/{INSTANCE_ID}" \ -H "Authorization: APIKey $GCORE_API_KEY" \ | jq '.addresses | to_entries[].value[].port_id' ```After applying, `status` changes from `DOWN` to `ACTIVE`.
## Unassign from a Virtual MachineRemove `port_id` from the resource block and run `terraform apply`. The address returns to `DOWN` and remains reserved for reassignment.
```hcl theme={null} resource "gcore_cloud_floating_ip" "example" { project_id = var.project_id region_id = var.region_id # port_id removed — Terraform detaches the floating IP on next apply } ``` ```bash theme={null} terraform apply ``` ## Delete a floating IPRemove the resource block — Terraform detects the missing declaration and releases the address on the next `terraform apply`.
```hcl theme={null} # Remove or comment out this block: # resource "gcore_cloud_floating_ip" "example" { # project_id = var.project_id # region_id = var.region_id # } ``` ```bash theme={null} terraform apply ``` ## Import an existing floating IPUse when a floating IP was reserved outside Terraform and needs to be brought under configuration management.
```bash theme={null} terraform import gcore_cloud_floating_ip.example '{PROJECT_ID}/{REGION_ID}/{FLOATING_IP_ID}' ```