Windows Server: Switching from DHCP to static IP

The purpose of this article is to walk you through moving a Windows Server from a DHCP-based setup to a static IP setup. The reason behind it is an upcoming network change, after which DHCP-based configurations on customer systems will no longer be supported.

Assumptions for this example

Throughout this article, the setup uses the following sample values:

To follow along, you’ll want your own specific details ready. You can look them up in the Account, where hovering over your IP reveals its gateway.

Additional real-world values used in this example are:

Note: Whenever possible, make these changes through the remote console (KVM) or the Windows console rather than over an active RDP session.

Opening the settings page

Sign in to the machine with the Administrator account, then open the Control Panel. From there, go to Network and Internet -> Network and Sharing Center -> Change adapter settings (on the left). Right-click the interface you want to change and choose Properties.

IPv4

To adjust the IPv4 settings, click the entry under “This connection uses the following items” that contains TCP/IPv4.

Choose “Use the following IP address” and enter your details. For our example, it looks like this:

You’ll also want to set the DNS servers manually, so fill those in as required.

When you click OK, the system may warn you that the gateway sits outside the subnet. That’s expected — confirm it by clicking Yes.

IPv6

To adjust the IPv6 settings, click the entry under “This connection uses the following items” that contains TCP/IPv6.

Choose “Use the following IPv6 address” and enter your details. For our example, it looks like this:

Here too you’ll need to set the DNS servers manually, so fill those in as required.

Wrapping up

Once you click OK in the adapter properties, the configuration takes effect. Your system is now ready to run without the DHCP server.