

If you come from a Windows background, you might expect loopback to itself be a synonym of localhost (and thus to be able to ping loopback, connect to servers on loopback, and so forth). All the 127.*.*.* addresses identify your computer on the loopback interface, but a server program can decide to bind just to a specific IP address. However, if you try to connect to, it will not. If you try connecting to, this will work too. In a web browser, go to: CUPS runs a web server on port 631, and this can be used to configure printing, regardless of what GUI you are running (or even if you are not running a GUI at all). One common, production (i.e., not just diagnostic) use of localhost on Ubuntu is to perform advanced printer configuration. TX packets:50121 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0 RX packets:50121 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0 Thus, to log in as bob via SSH to the SSH server running on your own machine, you would use: ssh other network adapters, the loopback device shows up in the output of ifconfig. This IP has the hostname of localhost mapped to it. For most purposes, though, it is only necessary to use one IP address, and that is 127.0.0.1. Addresses on Loopbackįor IPv4, the loopback interface is assigned all the IPs in the 127.0.0.0/8 address block. So if you want to experience the same site others do, the best course is usually to connect to your own server. You may be able to load the files in your browser too, though with server-side active content, it won't work the way it does when someone accesses it normally. But it is also helpful when a server offering a resource you need is running on your own machine.įor example, if you run a web server, you have all your web documents and could examine them file by file.

The loopback device is sometimes explained as purely a diagnostic tool. This is important for troubleshooting (it can be compared to looking in a mirror).

The loopback interface does not represent any actual hardware, but exists so applications running on your computer can always connect to servers on the same machine. When a network interface is disconnected-for example, when an Ethernet port is unplugged or Wi-Fi is turned off or not associated with an access point-no communication on that interface is possible, not even communication between your computer and itself. It is used mainly for diagnostics and troubleshooting, and to connect to servers running on the local machine. The loopback device is a special, virtual network interface that your computer uses to communicate with itself.
