How to get Real IP from Visitor?

Question

I'm using this PHP code to get a visitor's IP address:

<?php echo $_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR']; ?>

But, I can't get the real IP address from visitors when they are using a proxy. Is there any way to get a visitor's IP address in this case?

Answer 1

Try this php code.

<?PHP

function getUserIP()
{
    // Get real visitor IP behind CloudFlare network
    if (isset($_SERVER["HTTP_CF_CONNECTING_IP"])) {
              $_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'] = $_SERVER["HTTP_CF_CONNECTING_IP"];
              $_SERVER['HTTP_CLIENT_IP'] = $_SERVER["HTTP_CF_CONNECTING_IP"];
    }
    $client  = @$_SERVER['HTTP_CLIENT_IP'];
    $forward = @$_SERVER['HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR'];
    $remote  = $_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'];

    if(filter_var($client, FILTER_VALIDATE_IP))
    {
        $ip = $client;
    }
    elseif(filter_var($forward, FILTER_VALIDATE_IP))
    {
        $ip = $forward;
    }
    else
    {
        $ip = $remote;
    }

    return $ip;
}


$user_ip = getUserIP();

echo $user_ip; // Output IP address [Ex: 177.87.193.134]


?>

Answer 2

This is the most common technique I've seen:

function getUserIP() {
    if( array_key_exists('HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR', $_SERVER) && !empty($_SERVER['HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR']) ) {
        if (strpos($_SERVER['HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR'], ',')>0) {
            $addr = explode(",",$_SERVER['HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR']);
            return trim($addr[0]);
        } else {
            return $_SERVER['HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR'];
        }
    }
    else {
        return $_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'];
    }
}

Note that it does not guarantee it you will get always the correct user IP because there are many ways to hide it.

Answer 3

This is my approach:

 function getRealUserIp(){
    switch(true){
      case (!empty($_SERVER['HTTP_X_REAL_IP'])) : return $_SERVER['HTTP_X_REAL_IP'];
      case (!empty($_SERVER['HTTP_CLIENT_IP'])) : return $_SERVER['HTTP_CLIENT_IP'];
      case (!empty($_SERVER['HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR'])) : return $_SERVER['HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR'];
      default : return $_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'];
    }
 }

How to use:

$ip = getRealUserIp();

Answer 4

Proxies may send a HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR header but even that is optional.

Also keep in mind that visitors may share IP addresses; University networks, large companies and third-world/low-budget ISPs tend to share IPs over many users.

Answer 5

apply this code for get the ipaddress:

    if (getenv('HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR')) { $pipaddress = getenv('HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR');
 $ipaddress = getenv('REMOTE_ADDR'); 
    echo "Your Proxy IP address is : ".$pipaddress. "(via $ipaddress)" ; } 
    else { $ipaddress = getenv('REMOTE_ADDR'); echo "Your IP address is : $ipaddress"; }
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------

Answer 6

This is my function.

benefits :

• Work if $_SERVER was not available.
• Filter private and/or reserved IPs;
• Process all forwarded IPs in X_FORWARDED_FOR
• Compatible with CloudFlare
• Can set a default if no valid IP found!
• Short & Simple !

---

/**
 * Get real user ip
 *
 * Usage sample:
 * GetRealUserIp();
 * GetRealUserIp('ERROR',FILTER_FLAG_NO_RES_RANGE);
 * 
 * @param string $default default return value if no valid ip found
 * @param int    $filter_options filter options. default is FILTER_FLAG_NO_PRIV_RANGE | FILTER_FLAG_NO_RES_RANGE
 *
 * @return string real user ip
 */

function GetRealUserIp($default = NULL, $filter_options = 12582912) {
    $HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR = isset($_SERVER)? $_SERVER["HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR"]:getenv('HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR');
    $HTTP_CLIENT_IP = isset($_SERVER)?$_SERVER["HTTP_CLIENT_IP"]:getenv('HTTP_CLIENT_IP');
    $HTTP_CF_CONNECTING_IP = isset($_SERVER)?$_SERVER["HTTP_CF_CONNECTING_IP"]:getenv('HTTP_CF_CONNECTING_IP');
    $REMOTE_ADDR = isset($_SERVER)?$_SERVER["REMOTE_ADDR"]:getenv('REMOTE_ADDR');

    $all_ips = explode(",", "$HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR,$HTTP_CLIENT_IP,$HTTP_CF_CONNECTING_IP,$REMOTE_ADDR");
    foreach ($all_ips as $ip) {
        if ($ip = filter_var($ip, FILTER_VALIDATE_IP, $filter_options))
            break;
    }
    return $ip?$ip:$default;
}

Answer 7

If the Proxy is which you trust, you can try: (Assume the Proxy IP is 151.101.2.10)

<?php

$trustProxyIPs = ['151.101.2.10'];

$clientIP  = isset($_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR']) ? $_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'] : NULL;

if (in_array($clientIP, $trustProxyIPs)) {

    $headers = ['HTTP_CLIENT_IP', 'HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR'];

    foreach ($headers as $key => $header) {

        if (isset($_SERVER[$header]) && filter_var($_SERVER[$header], FILTER_VALIDATE_IP)) {

            $clientIP = $_SERVER[$header];

            break;
        }
    }
}

echo $clientIP;

This will prevent forged forward header by direct requested clients, and get real IP via trusted Proxies.

Answer 8

Yes, $_SERVER["HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR"] is how I see my ip when under a proxy on my nginx server.

But your best bet is to run phpinfo() on a page requested from under a proxy so you can look at all the availabe variables and see what is the one that carries your real ip.

Answer 9

This works for Windows and Linux! It doesn't matter if it's localhost or online..

    function getIP() {
    $ip = $_SERVER['SERVER_ADDR'];

    if (PHP_OS == 'WINNT'){
        $ip = getHostByName(getHostName());
    }

    if (PHP_OS == 'Linux'){
        $command="/sbin/ifconfig";
        exec($command, $output);
        // var_dump($output);
        $pattern = '/inet addr:?([^ ]+)/';

        $ip = array();
        foreach ($output as $key => $subject) {
            $result = preg_match_all($pattern, $subject, $subpattern);
            if ($result == 1) {
                if ($subpattern[1][0] != "127.0.0.1")
                $ip = $subpattern[1][0];
            }
        //var_dump($subpattern);
        }
    }
    return $ip;
}